SCALABLE BILLING WITH DE-DUPLICATION IN AGGREGATOR

• US 20110288974A1
• Filed: 05/21/2010
• Published: 11/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Pearson, Malcolm Erik, Setzer, Matthew Charles
• Granted Patent: US 8,898,078 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1428 Invoice generation, e.g. customization, lay-out, database processing, algorithms for calculating the bill or formatting invoices as WWW pages invoicing in general G06Q30/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/41 Billing record details, i.e. parameters, identifiers, structure of call data record [CDR]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/43 Billing software details
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/44 Augmented, consolidated or itemized billing statement or bill presentation
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/70 Administration or customization aspects; Counter-checking correct charges
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/73 Validating charges

Abstract

Scalable handling of billing events that affect one or more accounts. A computing system partitions received events into a number of channels, perhaps by account identifier. The channels receive the events, process the events, and forwards the events to an aggregator to allow the events to be aggregated by account to allow for easier computation of a bill. The aggregator also performs de-duplication of events to help reduce the risk of double billing.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for handling a plurality of events, the method comprising:

an act of a computing system receiving a plurality of events in the form of event messages, each of at least some of the events affecting one or more of a plurality of accounts;

an act of the computing system partitioning each of the plurality of events into a plurality of channels, each of the plurality of channels receiving a subset of the plurality of events; and

for at least one of the plurality of channels, an act of an aggregator aggregating the events received from the corresponding channel.

2. The computer-implemented method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of partitioning for an event is determined based on an account identifier associated with the event.

3. The computer-implemented method in accordance with claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of channels handles events for a corresponding set of account identifiers, wherein the act of partitioning for an event is determined by assigning the event to the channel for the corresponding set of account identifiers within which the account identifier for the event resides.

4. The computer-implemented method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of partitioning for an event is determined based on a geographical location in which the event occurred, a geographical location associated with a consumer to be charged for the event, or a geographical location associated with a provider to be paid for the event.

5. The computer-implemented method in accordance with claim 1, wherein for at least one of the events, the aggregator performs an act of checking that the event is not a duplication of another event.

6. The computer-implemented method in accordance with claim 5, wherein the act of checking that the event is not a duplicate of another event comprises:

an act of using Bloom filter to determine that the event is a duplicate of another event; and

an act of updating the Bloom filter to reflect the receipt of the event.

7. The computer-implemented method in accordance with claim 5, wherein the act of checking that the event is not a duplicate of another event comprises:

an act of using Bloom filter to determine that the Bloom filter is inconclusive as to whether or not the event is a duplicate of another event; and

an act of performing further processing to determine that the event is a duplicate of another event.

8. The computer-implemented method in accordance with claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of events has a unique identifier, wherein the act of checking that the event is not a duplicate of another event comprises:

an act of comparing the unique identifier of the event to the unique identifiers for previously received events.

9. The computer-implemented method in accordance with claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of events has a unique identifier, wherein the act of checking that the event is not a duplicate of another event comprises:

an act of using a time-order identifier index to identify duplicates.

10. The computer-implemented method in accordance with claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of events has a unique identifier, wherein the act of checking that the event is not a duplicate of another event comprises:

an act of using a batched event index to identify duplicates.

11. A computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable media having thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of the computing system, cause the computing system to perform a method for handling a plurality of events received in the form of event messages, each of at least some of the events affecting one or more of a plurality of accounts, the method comprising:

an act of the computing system partitioning each of at least some of the plurality of events into a plurality of channels, each of the plurality of channels receiving a subset of the plurality of events; and

for at least one of the plurality of channels, an act of an aggregator aggregating the events received from the corresponding channel.

12. The computer program product in accordance with claim 11, wherein the act of partitioning for an event is determined based on an account identifier associated with the event.

13. The computer program product in accordance with claim 11, wherein each of the plurality of channels handles events for a corresponding set of account identifiers, wherein the act of partitioning for an event is determined by assigning the event to the channel for the corresponding set of account identifiers within which the account identifier for the event resides.

14. The computer program product in accordance with claim 11, wherein the act of partitioning for an event is determined based on a geographical location in which the event occurred.

15. The computer program product in accordance with claim 11, wherein the act of partitioning for an event is determined based on a geographical location associated with a consumer to be charged for the event.

16. The computer program product in accordance with claim 11, wherein the act of partitioning for an event is determined based on a geographical location associated with a provider to be paid for the event.

17. The computer program product in accordance with claim 11, wherein for at least one of the events, the aggregator performs an act of check that the event is not a duplication of another event.

18. The computer program product in accordance with claim 17, wherein the act of checking that the event is not a duplicate of another event comprises:

an act of using Bloom filter to determine that the event is a duplicate of another event; and

an act of updating the Bloom filter to reflect the receipt of the event.

19. The computer program product in accordance with claim 17, wherein the act of checking that the event is not a duplicate of another event comprises:

an act of using Bloom filter to determine that the Bloom filter is inconclusive as to whether or not the event is a duplicate of another event; and

an act of performing further processing to determine that the event is a duplicate of another event.

20. A computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable media having thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of the computing system, cause the computing system to perform a method for handling a plurality of events received in the form of event messages, each of at least some of the events affecting one or more of a plurality of accounts, the method comprising:

an act of the computing system partitioning each of at least some of the received plurality of events into a plurality of channels, wherein each of the plurality of channels handles events for a corresponding range of accounts;

for at least one of the plurality of channels, an act of an aggregator aggregating the events received from the corresponding channel; and

for at least one of the events, an act of the aggregator performing an act of check that the event is not a duplication of another event.