METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR THE BUNDLING AND PRICING OF WIRELESS HOTSPOTS

• US 20090182599A1
• Filed: 01/16/2008
• Published: 07/16/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Subbian, Karthik, Kannan, Ramakrishnan, Wynter, Laura
• Granted Patent: US 8,140,364 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0206 Price or cost determination based on market factors
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1439 time-based
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1485 Tariff-related aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/49 Connection to several service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/93 using near field or similar technologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing

Abstract

A method (and structure) for providing services for wireless hotspots. The services are offered to selectively include bundled hotspots as well as single hotspots.

Claims

1. A method of providing services for wireless hotspots, said method comprising:

offering said services to selectively include bundled hotspots as well as single hotspots.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said services are provided through a use of Wireless Community Networks (WCN).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said services comprise services with prices offered to users, said method further comprising:

determining optimal prices of the bundled hotspots.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining equitable allocations of revenues from the bundles of bundled hotspots to bundle participants.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining multi-day bundles and multi-day groupings of single hotspots.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining prices for said bundled hotspots, said prices allowing hotspot and hotspot bundle prices to depend on a speed of a connection/capacity of a router.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein earned revenues of said bundled hotspots are shared using a mechanism in accordance with a Shapley Value Division.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein said services comprise services with prices offered to users, said prices being determined in accordance with a utility function representing a utility of each hotspot and bundle of hotspots, said utility function comprising

U_kh^t=υ

_kh−

α

_k*r_h^t+β

_k*loc_h+γ

_kspeed_h^t

∀

k=1 . . . K,∀

h=1 . . . N,tε

{1,{1,2},{1,2,3}}

where t is a time period, k represents a user class, and h represents the hotspot or bundle of hotspots in question, υ

, α

, β and

γ

respectively represents a weight of attributes to that user class for that hotspot/bundle during that time period of reference, r represents a price, loc represents a location-index, and speed represents a quality-of-service of the hotspot or bundle of hotspots.

9. The method of claim 1, as implemented as a sequence of machine-readable steps on a user terminal capable of interacting with said hotspots, said method comprising having received information of said offering of bundled hotspot services to allow said user to respond to said offering.

10. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory to store a sequence of machine-readable instructions defining steps to provide services for wireless hotspots, said method comprising offering said services as selectively including bundled hotspots as well as single hotspots.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

means to execute said sequence of machine-readable steps.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, as comprising a server that provides service of a Wireless Community Network (WCN).

13. The apparatus of claim 10, as comprising a user terminal capable of interfacing with said hotspots, said apparatus further comprising:

a display to permit said user to view said offering; and

an interface to allow said user to select at least one of said bundled hotspots.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said services comprise services with prices offered to users, said apparatus further comprising a calculator for:

determining optimal prices of the bundled hotspots; and

determining equitable allocations of revenues from the bundles of bundled hotspots to bundle participants.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, said calculator further at least one of:

determines multi-day bundles and multi-day groupings of single hotspots; and

determines prices for said bundled hotspots, said prices allowing hotspot and hotspot bundle prices to depend on a speed of a connection/capacity of a router.

16. A computer-readable medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to perform steps of a method of

providing services for wireless hotspots, said method comprising:

offering said services selectively including bundled hotspots as well as single hotspots.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, as comprising at least one of machine-readable instructions:

stored on a hard drive of a computer serving as a server on a network providing said service;

stored on a memory of said server computer as instructions being currently executed by said server computer;

stored on a memory of a user terminal as potentially permitting said user to execute said method as a user of said services

stored on a memory of a user terminal currently executing said method as a user of said services; and

stored on a stand alone diskette of computer-executable instructions to be inserted into a drive of a computer so that said instructions can be loaded onto said computer.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, as either currently-executing or as selectively executable on a computer serving as a server on a Wireless Community Network (WCN).