Communications pricing and charging maintenance sub-system and process
First Claim
1. A process for generating billable amounts in respect of data records for the supply of goods or services over a period of time, said process comprising:
- a period charge interface object, which provides control functionality for use by the process in relation to charges incurred over a period of time;
a tax table object, defining tax rates and callable by said period charge interface object;
a tax calculation object for calculating tax values in respect of said supply of goods or services, callable by the period charge interface object;
an accumulation object, for accumulating values returned to the period charge object from the tax calculation object,wherein, in use, input data including a period start date and a period end date are supplied to the period charge interface object, tax rates are supplied to the period charge interface object from the tax table object, a tax calculation is made by the tax calculation object, and the resulting calculated tax values are supplied to the accumulation object; and
wherein a "table manager" object is arranged to supply values to the tax table object and to select operational policy options.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Pricing and charging arrangements available to communication network operators or service providers take account of factors such as taxes which affect the billable value and which may be put in place in many different ways and at variable times in relation to data processing exercises which need to be carried out. A system is provided which can be used in generating bills by applying modifying factors which can be changed or added to in a relatively easy manner. An object-oriented front end for a legacy system can be used in design and subsequently embedded. Programs developed in an object oriented environment are converted into instructions implementable by a procedurally based processing device. An activity hierarchy of functions is created for each object, a data subject area is created for each object and a main calling program specifies the relationship between the programs and data areas so as to retain encapsulation of the original object oriented definition. This is particularly useful for developing new systems in an object oriented environment which may then be embedded into existing procedurally based systems.
-
Citations
39 Claims
-
1. A process for generating billable amounts in respect of data records for the supply of goods or services over a period of time, said process comprising:
-
a period charge interface object, which provides control functionality for use by the process in relation to charges incurred over a period of time; a tax table object, defining tax rates and callable by said period charge interface object; a tax calculation object for calculating tax values in respect of said supply of goods or services, callable by the period charge interface object; an accumulation object, for accumulating values returned to the period charge object from the tax calculation object, wherein, in use, input data including a period start date and a period end date are supplied to the period charge interface object, tax rates are supplied to the period charge interface object from the tax table object, a tax calculation is made by the tax calculation object, and the resulting calculated tax values are supplied to the accumulation object; and wherein a "table manager" object is arranged to supply values to the tax table object and to select operational policy options. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. Apparatus for processing data representing a supply of goods or services over a period of time to calculate tax associated with said supply, comprising processing means facilitating execution within an object orientated environment, characterised by the provision of:
-
a "period charge" interface object; a "tax table" object defining tax rates and callable by the period charge interface object; a tax calculation object for calculating tax for individual items, callable by the period charge interface object; and an "accumulation" object for accumulating values returned to the period charge object from said tax calculation object, wherein input data including a period start date and a period end date are supplied to the period charge interface object, tax rates are supplied to the period charge object from the tax table object, the tax calculation is made by the tax calculation object, and calculated tax value is supplied to the accumulation object.
-
-
10. A method of converting programs developed under an object oriented environment into instructions implementable by a procedurally based processing device, said method comprising:
-
(a) creating an activity hierarchy of functions for each of said objects; (b) creating a data subject area for each of said objects; and (c) defining a matrix of processes against data entities resulting from steps (a) and (b) arranged to specify the relationship between object derived programs and object derived data subject areas to thereby retain encapsulation as defined by an object oriented program. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A data processing system, for use in pricing and charging equipment, to process data relevant to a period of time by selecting and applying appropriately one or more date-related modifying factors, the system comprising:
-
i) a data input for the data, said data a) relating to one or more chargeable event(s), b) containing for each chargeable event at least one charge-related value, as duration, and at least one event date, and c) wherein, for at least one chargeable event, an event date comprises a start date and an end date relating to a period of time; ii) a process control module for controlling processing of said data; iii) a first data store for holding at least one set of definitions, each definition comprising, directly or indirectly, at least one of said modifying factors and at least one definition including one or more dates of validity relating to a modifying factor; iv) a second data store arranged in sections for allocation to respective modifying factors; v) means for determining a relevant identifier for each charge-related value; and vi) calculating means for calculating a set of charge values from said charge-related values together with price data wherein the process control module is arranged, on receipt of the data at the input, to control the system such that it; vii) determines a relevant identifier for each charge-related value from the data; viii) accesses the first data store and locates the relevant definition or definitions for that identifier; ix) calculates a set of charge values from said charge-related values together with price data; x) sorts the charge values according to modifying factor, using the relevant definition; and xi) outputs the charge values to the relevant sections of the second data store, the charge value for any chargeable event for which the event date comprises a start date and an end date being apportioned between sections in accordance with any date of validity included in a relevant definition. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
-
-
38. A configuration management system, for use in configuring pricing and charging equipment for processing data which has an associated set of modifying factors, by selecting and applying appropriately one or more of said modifying factors, the configuration management system including a data processing system for use in pricing and charging equipment, to process data relevant to a period of time by selecting and applying appropriately one or more date-related modifying factors, the data processing system comprising:
-
i) a data input for the data, said data a) relating to one or more chargeable event(s), b) containing for each chargeable event at least one charge-related value, as duration, and at least one event date, and c) wherein, for at least one chargeable event, an event date comprises a start date and an end date relating to a period of time; ii) a process control module for controlling processing of said data; iii) a first data store for holding at least one set of definitions, each definition comprising, directly or indirectly, at least one of said modifying factors and at least one definition including one or more dates of validity relating to a modifying factor; iv) a second data store arranged in sections for allocation to respective modifying factors; v) means for determining a relevant identifier for each charge-related value; and vi) calculating means for calculating a set of charge values from said charge-related values together with price data wherein the process control module is arranged, on receipt of the data at the input, to control the system such that it; vii) determines a relevant identifier for each charge-related value from the data; viii) accesses the first data store and locates the relevant definition or definitions for identifier; ix) calculates a set of charge values from said charge-related values together with price data; x) sorts the charge values according to modifying factor, using the relevant definition; and xi) outputs the charge values to the relevant sections of the second data store, the charge value for any chargeable event for which the event date comprises a start date and an end date being apportioned between sections in accordance with any date of validity included in a relevant definition.
-
-
39. A process for use in pricing and charging event-related data relevant to a period of time, the data having been output by a communications system, said process comprising:
-
i) determining a relevant identifier for each charge-related value from the data; ii) accessing a first data store and locating a relevant definition or definitions for that identifier; iii) calculating a set of charge values from said charge-related values together with price data; iv) sorting the charge values according to modifying factor, using the relevant definition; and
outputting the charge values to relevant sections of a second date store;wherein the charge value for any chargeable event for which the event date comprises a start date and an end date being apportioned between sections of the second data store in accordance with any date of validity included in a relevant definition.
-
Specification