Methods and apparatus for resource utilization tracking, accounting and/or billing
First Claim
1. A method of determining and using information relating to the cost of delivering an amount of service to a user, the service corresponding to use of a first communications channel to support communication with at least one of a plurality of communication devices, the method comprising:
- aggregating system cost component values corresponding to at least one system cost component corresponding to said service to generate a first chargeable cost component value; and
transmitting both said amount of service and said first chargeable cost component value to an accounting server using an accounting protocol.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Utilization of resources used to provide a service, and/or costs associated with providing system resources for a service, are tracked in a system where the available resources vary depending on a variety of conditions including resource utilization by other users. The methods are well suited for systems such as mobile communications systems, where the amount of resources and/or costs to a system of providing a service are dynamic and can change on a relatively rapid time scale. Resource unitization is tracked on a per subscriber basis. Service charges can be determined as a function of both the amount of resources consumed and the amount of data delivered, with the amount of resources being used to deliver a fixed amount of data units varying as a function of environmental and/or other conditions. Service charges are sometimes determined as a function of the impact of providing the service to a first user on other system users.
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Citations
52 Claims
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1. A method of determining and using information relating to the cost of delivering an amount of service to a user, the service corresponding to use of a first communications channel to support communication with at least one of a plurality of communication devices, the method comprising:
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aggregating system cost component values corresponding to at least one system cost component corresponding to said service to generate a first chargeable cost component value; and
transmitting both said amount of service and said first chargeable cost component value to an accounting server using an accounting protocol. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 42, 46, 47, 48)
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26. A method of determining and using information relating to the cost of delivering data units through a first communications channel to at least one of a plurality of communication devices, said first communications channel having a transmission capacity that varies as a function of a plurality of factors including physical conditions, the method comprising:
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counting a number of first type data units transmitted into said first communications channel directed to a first communications device to generate a first count of first type data units;
monitoring utilization of at least a first communications resource to generate a count indicating the amount of the monitored first communications resource used to transmit said first count of first type data units; and
storing information indicating the first number of first type data units transmitted and the count indicating the amount of the monitored first communications resource used for said transmission for a first period of time, said first period of time being at least 10 seconds. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A communications device, the device comprising:
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means for determining information relating to the cost of delivering data units through a first communications channel to at least one of a plurality of communication devices, said first communications channel having a transmission capacity that varies as a function of a plurality of factors including physical conditions, said means for determining including;
i) means for counting a number of first type data units transmitted into said first communications channel directed to a first communications device to generate a first count of first type data units;
ii) means for monitoring utilization of at least a first communications resource to generate a count indicating the amount of the monitored first communications resource used to transmit said first count of first type data units;
iii) means for storing information indicating the first number of first type data units transmitted and the count indicating the amount of the monitored first communications resource used for said transmission for a first period of time, said first period of time being at least 10 seconds; and
means for communicating said stored information to another device.
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Specification