METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR VALIDATING REAL TIME NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS

• US 20090063667A1
• Filed: 09/04/2008
• Published: 03/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Live Nation Entertainment Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Ticketmaster LLC (Live Nation Entertainment Incorporated)
• Inventors: Smith, Michael, Giannantonio, Frank
• Granted Patent: US 8,126,991 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/222
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561

Abstract

Methods and systems for managing network communications are described. An example resource management system includes a communications manager configured to access information regarding communication protocols used by corresponding broker systems and to provide message translations based on an origin and/or destination of the message to be transmitted. A message processor is coupled to the communications manager and is configured to serialize incoming and/or outgoing broker messages and to facilitate queuing of incoming and outgoing message traffic with broker systems. A communications configurer is configured to track one or more communication attributes of broker systems and changes thereto to ensure communications between the resource management systems are broker systems are conducted in accordance with the communication attributes of the broker systems. A communications rules provider is configured to determine which broker system is to be communicated with in order to fulfill a resource request.

Claims

1. A resource management system comprising:

a communications manager configured to access information regarding communication protocols used by corresponding broker systems and to provide message translations based on an origin and/or destination of the message to be transmitted;

a message processor coupled to the communications manager configured to serialize incoming and/or outgoing broker messages and to facilitate queuing of incoming and outgoing message traffic with broker systems;

a communications configurer configured to track one or more communication attributes of broker systems and changes thereto to ensure communications between the resource management systems are broker systems are conducted in accordance with the communication attributes of the broker systems;

a communications rules provider configured to determine which broker system is to be communicated with in order to fulfill a first ticket request;

a data store configured to store substantially real time status information regarding ticket inventories of a plurality of broker systems; and

a search engine interface configured enable searches across ticket inventories of the plurality of broker systems.

2. The resource management system as defined in claim 1, wherein the resource management system is configured to communicate with an auto-updater module associated with a first broker system to thereby facilitate software updates on the first broker system.

3. The resource management system as defined in claim 1, wherein the resource management system is configured to communicate with a secure addressable endpoint associated with a first broker system that maintains an inventory of event tickets and to obtain real-time status information regarding the inventory.

4. The resource management system as defined in claim 1, wherein the resource management system is configured to receive information regarding configurations changes for the plurality of broker systems.

5. The resource management system as defined in claim 1, wherein the resource management system is configured to provide information regarding:

the percentage and/or number of brokers available to accept ticket orders;

the percentage and/or number of brokers that have not reported information regarding their ticket inventory for one or more specified periods of time;

the percentage and/or number of brokers that have not upgraded a first software to a first software version;

the number of brokers utilizing a first version of the first software;

a unique identifier associated with a first broker associated with the first broker system;

a time the first broker system last connected to and/or provided an inventory updates to the resource management system.

6. The resource management system as defined in claim 1, wherein the resource management system is configured to provide information regarding the percentage and/or number of brokers that have not reported information regarding their ticket inventory for one or more specified periods of time.

7. The resource management system as defined in claim 1, wherein the resource management system is configured to maintain a blacklist specified by at least one broker that indicates by type which potential purchasers are not permitted to obtain resources from the at least one broker.

8. A method for managing network communications, comprising:

receiving a request for a first resource from a first requester at a resource management system, the resource management system coupled to a plurality of broker systems;

maintaining a resource data store storing resource identifiers and associated statuses updated in substantially real time based on status data received from the plurality of broker systems;

identifying a broker system controlling the first resource using the resource data store;

identifying a message format that will be understood by the broker system based at least in part on information obtained from a module associated with the broker system;

formatting a message in accordance with the identified message format, the message including an identifier associated with the first resource and an identifier associated with the first requester, wherein the message is intended to cause the first resource to be marked as sold and/or on hold;

at least partly causing the message to be serialized, wherein the serialized message is transmitted over a network to the broker system;

receiving an indication via the broker system as to whether the broker system has placed a hold on the first resource and/or marked the first resource as sold for the first requester; and

if an indication is received from the broker system that a hold has been placed on the first resource for the first requester and/or the first resource has been marked as sold for the first requester, at least partly causing the first resource to be transferred to the first requester.

9. The method as defined in claim 8, the method further comprising, causing at least in part a first resource request to be formatted as an XML message.

10. The method as defined in claim 8, the method further comprising causing the module to be provided via the resource management system to one or more broker systems.

11. The method as defined in claim 8, the method further comprises receiving an indication as to whether at least one resource request requested a quantity of resources that exceeds a broker specified maximum.

12. The method as defined in claim 8, the method further comprises receiving an indication as to whether at least one resource request requested a quantity of resources that was less than a broker specified minimum.

13. The method as defined in claim 8, the method further comprising maintaining a blacklist specified by at least one broker that indicates which potential purchasers are not permitted to obtain resources from the at least one broker.

14. The method as defined in claim 8, the method further comprising maintaining a blacklist specified by least one broker that indicates by name which potential purchasers are not permitted to obtain resources from the at least one broker.

15. The method as defined in claim 8, the method further comprising maintaining a blacklist specified by at least one broker that indicates by type which potential purchasers are not permitted to obtain resources from the at least one broker.

16. The method as defined in claim 8, wherein the request specifies a quantity of resources greater than one.

17. The method as defined in claim 8, the method further comprising assigning unique resource identifiers to corresponding resources from the plurality of broker systems.

18. The method as defined in claim 8, wherein the first resource is an event admission voucher.

19. The method as defined in claim 8, the method further comprising at least partly causing at least one software application on the broker system to be automatically updated to enable a communication between the resource management system and the broker system.

20. The method as defined in claim 8, the method further comprising:

providing software that receives an indication as to a configuration change on at least one broker system; and

at least partly causing the module to be updated or replaced based at least in party on receiving an indication regarding a first configuration change.

21. The method as defined in claim 8, the method further comprising receiving an indication that a software configuration of the broker system has changed.

22. A method for managing network communications, comprising:

receiving at a ticket management system over a network from a plurality of broker systems substantially real-time status information regarding tickets managed by the broker systems;

maintaining a ticket data store storing ticket identifiers and associated real-time status information;

monitoring the communication status with the plurality of broker systems;

if the communication status of a given broker system is determined to be unsatisfactory, storing an indication that the status of tickets managed by the given broker system is not reliable and inhibiting the offering of tickets from the given broker;

receiving a request for a first ticket from a first requester at the ticket management system;

identifying a first broker system controlling the first ticket using the ticket data store;

formatting a message including an identifier associated with the first ticket and an identifier associated with the first requester;

transmitting the message over the network to the first broker system;

receiving an indication from the first broker system as to whether a hold has been placed on the first ticket for the first requester and/or the first ticket has been identified as sold for the first requester; and

if an indication is received from the broker system that a hold has been placed on the first ticket for the first requester and/or the first ticket has been identified as sold for the first requester, facilitating the transfer of the first ticket to the first requester.

23. The method as defined in claim 22, the method further comprising:

receiving communication protocol information from a plurality of broker systems, wherein at least one broker system uses a different communication protocol than at least one other broker system;

at least partly based on the received protocol information, identifying a communication protocol associated with the first broker; and

formatting the message in accordance with the identified protocol.

24. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein the first request specifies a quantity of tickets greater than one.

25. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein the message is a serialized XML message.

26. The method as defined in claim 22, the method further comprising assigning unique ticket identifiers to corresponding tickets from the plurality of broker systems.

27. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein the first ticket is an event admission voucher.

28. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein the first ticket is a ticket.

29. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein the first ticket is a ticket includes an association between a user identification device and a right to access an event stored in a data store.

30. The method as defined in claim 22, the method further comprising at least partly causing at least one software application on the first broker system to be updated.

31. The method as defined in claim 22, the method further comprising receiving an indication that a software configuration of the first broker system has changed.

32. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein a first request for a ticket includes:

a ticket quantity; and

a ticket identifier.

33. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein a first request for a ticket includes:

a seat section;

a starting seat; and

an ending seat.

34. The method as defined in claim 22, the method further comprising processing ticket request responses from a plurality of broker systems, wherein a first plurality of ticket responses include the following status:

success;

insufficient quantity;

requested tickets do not exist;

requested tickets already on hold.

35. The method as defined in claim 22, the method further comprising processing at least one response to a ticket request for a ticket from at least one broker system indicating that seats corresponding to the at least one request are contiguous.

36. The method as defined in claim 22, the method further comprising processing at least one response to a ticket request for a ticket from at least one broker system indicating a ticket ship date.

37. The method as defined in claim 22, the method further comprising processing at least one response to a ticket request for a ticket from at least one broker system indicating an order cross reference identifier.

38. The method as defined in claim 22, the method further comprising automatically tracking the configuration or a plurality of broker systems and facilitating the provision of software updates to the broker systems at least partly based on configuration changes.

39. The method as defined in claim 22, wherein the management system initiates communication with the first broker system.

40. The method as defined in claim 22, the method further comprising:

storing broker defined rules for a plurality of rules;

receiving a second request from a second requester for a second ticket, wherein the second requester is a broker;

identifying a second ticket broker that controls the second ticket;

accessing a rule defined by the second broker, wherein the second broker defined rule indicates whether the second broker will approve an order from another broker; and

applying the second broker rule to the second request.

41. The method as defined in claim 22, the method further comprising providing information regarding:

the percentage and/or number of brokers available to accept ticket orders;

the percentage and/or number of brokers that have not reported information regarding their ticket inventory for one or more specified periods of time;

the percentage and/or number of brokers that have not upgraded a first software to a first software version;

the number of brokers utilizing a first version of the first software;

a unique identifier associated with a first broker associated with the first broker system;

a time the first broker system last connected to and/or provided an inventory updates to the ticket management system.

42. The method as defined in claim 22, further comprising provide a report indicating the percent of tickets sold in a specified time period using a specified process.

43. The method as defined in claim 22, further comprising provide a report indicating the percent of an inventory of tickets that is eligible to be sold using a specified process.

44. The method as defined in claim 22, further comprising provide a report indicating the success rate for a plurality of brokers relating to completion of ticket transactions.

45. The method as defined in claim 22, further comprising provide a report indicating an amount of time that a given broker is connected to the management system.

46. The method as defined in claim 22, transmitting code configured to execute on the broker system, wherein the code marks a specified ticket as sold in response to a communication from the ticket management system.

47. A method for managing network communications, comprising:

receiving at a resource management system over a network from a plurality of broker systems substantially real-time status information regarding resources managed by the broker systems;

maintaining a resource data store storing resource identifiers and associated real-time status information;

receiving a request for a first resource from a first requester at the resource management system;

identifying a first broker system controlling the first resource using the resource data store;

formatting a message including an identifier associated with the first resource and an identifier associated with the first requester;

transmitting the message over the network to the first broker system;

receiving an indication from the first broker system as to whether the first resource has been reserved for the first requester; and

if an indication is received from the broker system that the first resource has been reserved for the first requester, facilitating the transfer of the first resource to the first requester.

48. The method as defined in claim 47, transmitting code configured to execute on the broker system, wherein the code marks a specified ticket as sold in response to a communication from the resource management system.

49. The method as defined in claim 47, the method further comprising:

monitoring the communication status with the plurality of broker systems;

if the communication status of a given broker system is determined to be unsatisfactory, storing an indication that the status of resources managed by the given broker system is not reliable and inhibiting the offering of resources from the given broker;

50. The method as defined in claim 47, the method further comprising:

receiving communication protocol information from a plurality of broker systems, wherein at least one broker system uses a different communication protocol than at least one other broker system;

at least partly based on the received protocol information, identifying a communication protocol associated with the first broker; and

formatting the message in accordance with the identified protocol.

51. The method as defined in claim 47, wherein the first request specifies a quantity of resources greater than one.

52. The method as defined in claim 47, wherein the message is a serialized XML message.

53. The method as defined in claim 47, the method further comprising assigning unique resource identifiers to corresponding resources from the plurality of broker systems.

54. The method as defined in claim 47, wherein the first resource is an event admission voucher.

55. The method as defined in claim 47, wherein the first resource is a ticket.

56. The method as defined in claim 47, wherein the first resource is a ticket includes an association between a user identification device and a right to access an event stored in a data store.

57. The method as defined in claim 47, the method further comprising at least partly causing at least one software application on the first broker system to be updated.

58. The method as defined in claim 47, the method further comprising receiving an indication that a software configuration of the first broker system has changed.

59. The method as defined in claim 47, wherein a first request for a resource includes:

a ticket quantity; and

a ticket identifier.

60. The method as defined in claim 47, wherein a first request for a resource includes:

a seat section;

a starting seat; and

an ending seat.

61. The method as defined in claim 47, the method further comprising processing ticket request responses from a plurality of broker systems, wherein a first plurality of ticket responses include the following status:

success;

insufficient quantity;

requested tickets do not exist;

requested tickets already on hold or sold.

62. The method as defined in claim 47, the method further comprising processing at least one response to a resource request for a ticket from at least one broker system indicating that seats corresponding to the at least one request are contiguous.

63. The method as defined in claim 47, the method further comprising processing at least one response to a resource request for a ticket from at least one broker system indicating a ticket ship date.

64. The method as defined in claim 47, the method further comprising processing at least one response to a resource request for a ticket from at least one broker system indicating an order cross reference identifier.

65. The method as defined in claim 47, the method further comprising automatically tracking the configuration or a plurality of broker systems and facilitating the provision of software updates to the broker systems at least partly based on configuration changes.

66. The method as defined in claim 47, the method further comprising:

storing broker defined rules for a plurality of rules;

receiving a second request from a second requester for a second resource, wherein the second requester is a broker;

identifying a second ticket broker that controls the second resource;

accessing a rule defined by the second broker, wherein the second broker defined rule indicates whether the second broker will approve an order from another broker; and

applying the second broker rule to the second request.

67. The method as defined in claim 47, the method further comprising providing information regarding:

the percentage and/or number of brokers available to accept ticket orders; and

the percentage and/or number of brokers that have not reported information regarding their ticket inventory for one or more specified periods of time.

68. The method as defined in claim 47, the method further comprising providing information regarding:

the percentage and/or number of brokers that have not upgraded a first software to a first software version; and

the number of brokers utilizing a first version of the first software.

69. The method as defined in claim 47, the method further comprising providing information regarding:

a unique identifier associated with a first broker associated with the first broker system; and

a time the first broker system last connected to and/or provided an inventory updates to the resource management system.

70. The method as defined in claim 47, further comprising provide a report indicating the percent of tickets sold in a specified time period using a specified process.

71. The method as defined in claim 47, further comprising provide a report indicating the percent of an inventory of tickets that is eligible to be sold using a specified process.

72. The method as defined in claim 47, further comprising provide a report indicating the success rate for a plurality of brokers relating to completion of ticket transactions.

73. The method as defined in claim 47, further comprising provide a report indicating an amount of time that a given broker is connected to the management system.

74. Programmatic code stored on a computer readable medium, that when executed is configured to:

receive from a plurality of broker systems substantially real-time status information regarding resources managed by the broker systems;

maintain a resource data store storing resource identifiers and associated real-time status information;

receive a request for a first resource from a first requester;

identify a first broker system controlling the first resource using the resource data store;

generate a message including an identifier associated with the first resource and an identifier associated with the first requester;

transmit the message to the first broker system;

receive an indication as to whether the first broker system has made available the first resource to the first requester; and

if an indication is received from the broker system that the broker system has made available the first resource to the first requester, facilitate the transfer of the first resource to the first requester.

75. The programmatic code as defined in claim 74, wherein the programmatic code is further configured to process at least one response to a resource request for a ticket from at least one broker system indicating that seats corresponding to the at least one request are contiguous.

76. The programmatic code as defined in claim 74, wherein the programmatic code is further configured to process at least one response to a resource request for a ticket from at least one broker system indicating a ticket ship date.

77. The programmatic code as defined in claim 74, wherein the programmatic code is further configured to process at least one response to a resource request for a ticket from at least one broker system indicating an order cross reference identifier.

78. The programmatic code as defined in claim 74, wherein the programmatic code is further configured to automatically track the configuration or a plurality of broker systems and facilitating the provision of software updates to the broker systems at least partly based on configuration changes.

79. The programmatic code as defined in claim 74, wherein the programmatic code is further configured:

to store broker defined rules for a plurality of rules;

receive a second request from a second requester for a second resource, wherein the second requester is a broker;

identify a second ticket broker that controls the second resource;

access a rule defined by the second broker, wherein the second broker defined rule indicates whether the second broker will approve an order from another broker; and

apply the second broker rule to the second request.

80. The programmatic code as defined in claim 74, wherein the programmatic code is further configured to provide information regarding:

the percentage and/or number of brokers available to accept ticket orders; and

the percentage and/or number of brokers that have not reported information regarding their ticket inventory for one or more specified periods of time.

81. The programmatic code as defined in claim 74, wherein the programmatic code is further configured to provide information regarding:

the percentage and/or number of brokers that have not upgraded a first software to a first software version; and

the number of brokers utilizing a first version of the first software.

82. The programmatic code as defined in claim 74, wherein the resources are event tickets.