Traffic Shaping of Cellular Service Consumption Through Delaying of Service Completion According to Geographical-Based Pricing Advantages
First Claim
1. A system for shaping of traffic and utilization patterns among a plurality of cells within a rate plan region, said system comprising:
- a traffic shaping server cooperative with a cellular telephone and data network, said traffic shaping server comprising at least one computer and one or more computer programs, and having and using behavior shaping rules, user rate plans, and customer profiles to define marked discounts in order to modify service consumption behaviors in favor of underutilized or cost-effective cells, wherein underutilization comprises a historical traffic level below a network service provider preference, and wherein cost-effectiveness comprises a cost by said network service provider to operate a cell, its associated equipment, and associated personnel;
a discount indicator portion of a user display disposed in a mobile communications device, said discount indicator configured to indicate a discount value available for consuming wireless service from a selected cell, said discount indicator comprising an iconic indicator, said discount value being a discount from said network service provider'"'"'s rate plan for a user of said mobile communications device, said discount indicator being controlled by said traffic shaping server;
a geo-cost policy accessible by said traffic shaping server, said geo-cost policy defining a set of rules and conditions according to said network service provider'"'"'s rate plan discount value;
an indicator control configured to allow said traffic shaping server to modify an appearance of said discount indicator according to said geo-cost policy; and
a service control portion of said mobile communications device configured;
to delay and block completion of a service from said mobile communications device to said network initiated by a user of said mobile communications device while said mobile communications device is not in range of said selected cell,to queue initiation of said service by receiving and storing user-input information on said mobile communications device, andto automatically complete said queued services upon present conditions meeting said geo-cost policy rules including said mobile communications device arriving in range of said selected cell by delivering said stored information using network communications thereby delaying the use of user-initiated services until geo-cost policy conditions are met.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Changes in user behavior of usage of wireless services from a mobile device are encouraged in order to effect shaping of traffic and utilization patterns among a plurality of cells within a rate plan region, wherein a discount indicator disposed in said mobile device is provided to notify a user of a discount available for consuming wireless service from a given cell. A geo-cost policy established for that user or mobile device in which rules and conditions according to the available discounts and class of service are defined. A service completer queues services and automatically completes queued services upon present conditions meeting said geo-cost policy rules, such as delaying and later delivering messages when the mobile device relocates to a cell where discounts are being offered.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A system for shaping of traffic and utilization patterns among a plurality of cells within a rate plan region, said system comprising:
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a traffic shaping server cooperative with a cellular telephone and data network, said traffic shaping server comprising at least one computer and one or more computer programs, and having and using behavior shaping rules, user rate plans, and customer profiles to define marked discounts in order to modify service consumption behaviors in favor of underutilized or cost-effective cells, wherein underutilization comprises a historical traffic level below a network service provider preference, and wherein cost-effectiveness comprises a cost by said network service provider to operate a cell, its associated equipment, and associated personnel; a discount indicator portion of a user display disposed in a mobile communications device, said discount indicator configured to indicate a discount value available for consuming wireless service from a selected cell, said discount indicator comprising an iconic indicator, said discount value being a discount from said network service provider'"'"'s rate plan for a user of said mobile communications device, said discount indicator being controlled by said traffic shaping server; a geo-cost policy accessible by said traffic shaping server, said geo-cost policy defining a set of rules and conditions according to said network service provider'"'"'s rate plan discount value; an indicator control configured to allow said traffic shaping server to modify an appearance of said discount indicator according to said geo-cost policy; and a service control portion of said mobile communications device configured; to delay and block completion of a service from said mobile communications device to said network initiated by a user of said mobile communications device while said mobile communications device is not in range of said selected cell, to queue initiation of said service by receiving and storing user-input information on said mobile communications device, and to automatically complete said queued services upon present conditions meeting said geo-cost policy rules including said mobile communications device arriving in range of said selected cell by delivering said stored information using network communications thereby delaying the use of user-initiated services until geo-cost policy conditions are met. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A set of interoperating computer memories, a first memory operable by a traffic shaping server computer, a second memory operable by mobile communications device, said memories encoding computer program code comprising:
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server code disposed in said first memory and configured to provide said traffic shaping server computer cooperative with a cellular telephone and data network which uses behavior shaping rules, user rate plans, and customer profiles to define marked discounts in order to modify service consumption behaviors in favor of underutilized or cost-effective cells, wherein underutilization comprises a historical traffic level below a network service provider preference, and wherein cost-effectiveness comprises a cost by said network service provider to operate a cell, its associated equipment, and associated personnel; user display control code disposed in said second memory configured to display a discount indicator in a mobile communications device indicating a discount value available for consuming wireless service from a selected cell, said discount indicator comprising an iconic indicator, said discount value being a discount from said network service provider'"'"'s rate plan for a user of said mobile communications device, said discount indicator being controlled by said traffic shaping server; policy management code disposed in at least one of said memories, configured to access a geo-cost policy defining a set of rules and conditions according to said network service provider'"'"'s rate plan discount value; server display control code disposed in said first memory and configured to control said discount indicator by said traffic shaping server according to said geo-cost policy; and service control code disposed in said second memory and configured; to delay and block completion of a service from said mobile communications device to said network initiated by a user of said mobile communications device while said mobile communications device is not in range of said selected cell, to queue initiation of said service by receiving and storing on said mobile communications device information from said user; and to automatically complete said queued services by said mobile communications device upon present conditions meeting said geo-cost policy rules including said mobile communications device arriving in range of said selected cell by delivering said stored information using network communications thereby delaying the use of user-initiated services until geo-cost policy conditions are met. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification