Method and system for processing records in a communications network

• US 6,714,978 B1
• Filed: 12/15/1999
• Issued: 03/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: WorldCom, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Porter, Kelvin R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lim, Krisna
• Application Number:
  US09/464,647
• Time in Patent Office: 1,567 Days
• Field of Search: 709/208, 709/223, 709/249, 709/200, 709/201, 709/224, 379/68, 379/219
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/14 specially adapted for billing systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1403 Architecture for metering, charging or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1482 involving use of telephony infrastructure for billing for the transport of data, e.g. call detail record [CDR] or intelligent network infrastructure
• 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 15/49 Connection to several service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/55 for hybrid networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/58 based on statistics of usage or network monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/745 Customizing according to wishes of subscriber, e.g. friends or family
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/775 Account specifications on parallel communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/80 Rating or billing plans; Tariff determination aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8083 involving reduced rates or discounts, e.g. time-of-day reductions or volume discounts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8228 Session based
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0108 Customization according to wishes of subscriber, e.g. customer preferences, friends and family, selecting services or billing options, Personal Communication Systems [PCS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0152 General billing plans, rate plans, e.g. charge rates, numbering plans, rate centers, customer accounts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0164 Billing record, e.g. Call Data Record [CDR], Toll Ticket[TT], Automatic Message Accounting [AMA], Call Line Identifier [CLI], details, i.e. parameters, identifiers, structure
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0184 involving reduced rates or discounts, e.g. time-of-day reductions, volume discounts, cell discounts, group billing, frequent calling destination(s) or user history list
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0188 Network monitoring; statistics on usage on called/calling number
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/44 : Charging/billing arrangements for connection made over different networks, e.g. wireless and PSTN, ISDN, etc.
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/46 : Connection to several service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/7277 : Account specifications on parallel communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/7833 : Session based
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13036 : Serial/parallel conversion, parallel bit transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/1305 : Software aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13103 : Memory
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/1313 : Metering, billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13176 : Common channel signaling, CCS7
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13345 : Intelligent networks, SCP

Abstract

In a communications network that provides services to a plurality of users, events occurring during service processing are accumulated in an event record and sent to a record processor to perform post-processing, such as assessing charges to be billed to users of the network. Each service processing node in the communications network accumulates event records, bundles them with instructions as to how they are be processed, and dispatches them to one or more record processors. Before being sent to a record processor, an event record is augmented with instructions describing how to perform processing upon the events in the event record. The record processors are general-purpose processors and the instructions for post-processing are carried within the event records themselves. Post-processors are no longer required to be dedicated to a particular purpose such as billing computation. Furthermore, deployment of post-processing function is more timely and can be integrated with deployment of service processing functions to network service processors.

Claims

1. A system for providing communications services to a plurality of users, comprising:

at least one service processor that controls a traffic-bearing transport network to perform services for a plurality of users, generates a record of events associated with the performing of services, and adds to the record of events at least one instruction for processing recorded events; and

at least one record processor that receives the record of events from the service processor, extracts the instruction for processing recorded events, and processes the record of events using the instruction obtained therefrom.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a network management system that distributes the instruction for processing recorded events to the service processor.

3. The system of claim 2, further comprising:

a service development environment wherein the instruction for processing records is created and sent to the network management system to be distributed to the service processor.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein said instruction is executable code in the form of JAVA byte-code.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein said instruction is executable code in the form of applets.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein said instruction is executable code in the form of servlets.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein said instruction is executable code in the form of JAVA BEANS.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein said instructions is executable code in the form of serialized software objects.

9. A system for providing communications services to a plurality of users, comprising:

at least one service processor that controls a traffic-bearing transport network to perform services for the plurality of users, generates a record of events associated with the performing of services, and transforms the record of events into an executable file; and

at least one record processor that receives the executable file from the service processor and accomplishes processing of the record of events by executing the executable file.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein said executable file is in the form of JAVA byte-code.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein said executable file is in the form of applet code.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein said executable file is in the form of servlet code.

13. The system of claim 9 wherein said executable file is in the form of JAVA BEANS code.

14. The system of claim 9 wherein said executable file is in the form of serialized software objects.

15. A method for providing services in a communications network, wherein a plurality of users are coupled to a transport network that is controlled by at least one service processor, the method comprising the steps of:

generating from the service processor a record of events indicative of service processing events;

converting the record of events into an executable file;

conveying the executable file to at least one record processor; and

executing within the record processor the executable file.

16. A method for providing services in a communications network wherein a plurality of users are coupled to a transport network that is controlled by at least one service processor, the method comprising the steps of:

generating from the service processor a record of events indicative of service processing events;

adding to the record of events at least one instruction to be used by at least one record processor in processing the record of events;

converting the record of events into an executable file;

conveying the executable file to the record processor;

extracting the instruction from the record of events into the run-time processing environment of the record processor;

executing, in the record processor, the instruction extracted from the record of events to process the events recorded therein; and

outputting, from the record processor, the results of executing the instruction upon the events conveyed in the record of events.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of distributing the instruction to the service processor from a network management system.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

developing the instruction in a service development environment; and

distributing the developed instruction to the network management system for distribution to the service processor.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the adding of the instruction to the record of events is performed selectively based upon the types of events existing in the record of events.

20. A method for processing events occurring during service processing in a communications system, the method comprising the steps of:

creating a record of events occurring during service processing;

adding at least one processing method to the record of events to produce an enhanced record;

conveying the enhanced record at least one record processor;

extracting the processing method from the enhanced record of events into the memory of the record processor;

applying, in the record processor, the processing method to process the events recorded in the at enhanced record; and

outputting the results of the record processor applying the processing method to the events recorded in the enhanced record.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the adding of each processing method is selectively done based upon the types of events present in the record of events.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of retaining the processing method in a persistent storage associated with the record processor for use upon at least one subsequent record of events.

23. A method for managing the distribution of instructions to record processors from a communications system that generates service processing event records, comprising the steps of:

adding at least one instruction to a service processing event record to form an interpretable file;

determining whether the instruction is to be retained by at least one record processor;

designating, using a designator in the interpretable file, whether the instruction is to be retained by the record processor;

conveying the interpretable file to the record processor; and

determining, in the record processor whether to upload the instruction into the persistent storage of the record processor responsive to the designator in the interpretable file.