DISTRIBUTED FORECASTING AND PRICING SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A method of distributed forecasting and pricing for a commodity supplied by a provider to a user, the method comprising:
- the provider announcing a pricing plan;
the provider receiving a forecast of an estimated amount of the commodity from the provider that the user will use over a given period of time;
the provider providing the user with an actual amount of the commodity over the given period of time; and
the provider charging the user for the actual amount of the commodity provided to the user by the provider over the given period of time based on said pricing policy, said actual amount of the commodity provided to the user, and accuracy of said forecast.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method, system and computer program product for distributed forecasting and pricing for a commodity supplied by a provider to a user. In one embodiment, the provider announces a pricing plan, and the provider receives a forecast of an estimated amount of the commodity from the provider that the user will use over a given period of time. The provider provides the user with an actual amount of the commodity over the given period; and the provider charges the user for the actual amount of the commodity provided to the user based on the pricing policy, the actual amount of the commodity provided to the user, and the accuracy of the forecast. In an embodiment, the forecast is received by the provider after the provider announces the pricing plan and before the given period begins. The forecast may be received from the user or from a third-party forecaster.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method of distributed forecasting and pricing for a commodity supplied by a provider to a user, the method comprising:
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the provider announcing a pricing plan; the provider receiving a forecast of an estimated amount of the commodity from the provider that the user will use over a given period of time; the provider providing the user with an actual amount of the commodity over the given period of time; and the provider charging the user for the actual amount of the commodity provided to the user by the provider over the given period of time based on said pricing policy, said actual amount of the commodity provided to the user, and accuracy of said forecast. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An article of manufacture, comprising:
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at least one tangible computer readable device having computer readable program code logic tangibly embodied therein to provide pricing for a commodity supplied by a provider to a user, the method comprising; receiving a forecast to the provider of an estimated amount of the commodity from the provider that the user will use over a given period of time; and determining a charge to the user for an actual amount of the commodity provided to the user by the provider over the given period of time based on a pricing policy specified by the provider, said actual amount of the commodity provided to the user, and accuracy of said forecast. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of distributed forecasting and pricing for a commodity supplied by a provider to a multitude of users, the method comprising:
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the provider announcing a pricing plan; for each of the multitude of users, the provider receiving a forecast of an estimated amount of the commodity from the provider that said each user will use over a given period of time; the provider providing each of the multitude of users with an actual amount of the commodity over the given period of time; and the provider charging each of the multitude of users for the actual amount of the commodity provided to said each user by the provider over the given period of time based on said pricing policy, said actual amount of the commodity provided to said each user, and accuracy of said forecast for said each user. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification