Systems and Methods for Billing Content Providers for Designated Content Delivered Over a Data Network
First Claim
1. A data network that provides a plurality of end users metered access to content from an external data network that is communicably coupled to the data network, the data network comprising:
- a caching server i) serving to at least one particular end user of the plurality of end users select content of a content provider on behalf of the content provider and ii) tracking data network usage that is related to serving the select content to the particular end user;
a deep packet inspection (DPI) server inspecting content that is passed to the plurality of end users in order to log usage of the data network by the plurality of end users, the DPI server i) configured with at least one identifier for identifying the select content and ii) configured to track usage of the data network that is not related to delivery of the select content by filtering usage of the data network that is related to delivery of content comprising the at least one identifier; and
a billing server i) interfacing with the caching server and the DPI server to identify the tracked data network usage, ii) assessing a usage fee to the particular end user for data network usage by the particular end user that is not related to the delivery of the select content to the particular end user and iii) assessing a usage fee to the content provider for data network usage that is related to delivery of the select content to the at least one end user.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Some embodiments provide multi-tenant billing systems and methods whereby data network usage fees that are associated with delivering select content of different content providers over a data network are passed to the content provider that originates or is the source for that select content instead of the end users that request and receive the select content. A deep packet inspection server or a billing server may be configured with a list of identifiers to distinguish between the network usage that is related to the delivery of the designated free content from the network usage that is not related to the delivery of the designated free content. The network usage can be distinguished by filtering or processing usage logs that track the network usage using the configured list of identifiers. Such filtering or processing can be done in real-time or in a delayed manner in a standalone or integrated system.
25 Citations
18 Claims
-
1. A data network that provides a plurality of end users metered access to content from an external data network that is communicably coupled to the data network, the data network comprising:
-
a caching server i) serving to at least one particular end user of the plurality of end users select content of a content provider on behalf of the content provider and ii) tracking data network usage that is related to serving the select content to the particular end user; a deep packet inspection (DPI) server inspecting content that is passed to the plurality of end users in order to log usage of the data network by the plurality of end users, the DPI server i) configured with at least one identifier for identifying the select content and ii) configured to track usage of the data network that is not related to delivery of the select content by filtering usage of the data network that is related to delivery of content comprising the at least one identifier; and a billing server i) interfacing with the caching server and the DPI server to identify the tracked data network usage, ii) assessing a usage fee to the particular end user for data network usage by the particular end user that is not related to the delivery of the select content to the particular end user and iii) assessing a usage fee to the content provider for data network usage that is related to delivery of the select content to the at least one end user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. For a data network that provides a plurality of end users metered access to content from an external data network that is communicably coupled to the data network, a billing system comprising a microprocessor and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium with an executable program stored thereon for billing for usage of the data network by the plurality of end user subscribers, wherein the program instructs the microprocessor to perform sets of instructions for:
-
tracking data network usage that is related to content that is delivered to the plurality of end users; tracking data network usage that is related to delivery of designated content of a content provider by identifying a set of the plurality of end users the designated content is delivered to and by metering data network usage related to delivering the designated content to each end user of the set of end users; processing the tracked data network usage to determine billable data network usage by a particular end user of the plurality of end users by removing data network usage that is related to delivery of the designated content to the particular end user from overall data network usage by the particular end user; and billing the particular end user for the billable data network usage, wherein the billable data network usage includes data network usage by the particular end user that is not related to delivery of the designated content and does not include data network usage by the particular end user that is related to the delivery of the designated content. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A data network that provides a plurality of end user subscribers of the data network metered access to content from an external data network, wherein the external data network is communicably coupled to the data network, the data network comprising:
-
a caching server i) serving to at least one particular end user subscriber of the plurality of end user subscribers, select content of a content provider on behalf of the content provider and ii) tracking to a server log, data network usage that is related to serving the select content to the particular end user subscriber; a deep packet inspection (DPI) server tracking usage of the data network by each end user subscriber of the plurality of end user subscribers to an end user usage log of a plurality of end user usage logs; and a billing server assessing a fee to a particular end user subscriber of the plurality of end user subscribers based on billable data network usage by the particular end user subscriber, the billable data network usage determined by filtering data network usage that is related to delivery of the select content to the particular end user subscriber from overall data network usage by the particular end user subscriber, wherein the overall data network usage by the particular end user subscriber is tracked to a particular end user usage log of the plurality of end user usage logs. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
Specification