Proximity service provider system

• US 6,970,850 B1
• Filed: 10/26/2000
• Issued: 11/29/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Automated Business Companies
• Original Assignee: Automated Business Companies
• Inventors: Freeny, Jr., Charles C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell, James P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): WINTER, JOHN M
• Application Number:
  US09/697,557
• Time in Patent Office: 1,860 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705/13, 705/52, 700/241
• US Class Current: 705/52
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/1235 with control of digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/145 Payments according to the detected use or quantity
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/342 Cards defining paid or billed services or quantities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/385 using an alias or single-use codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/025 by means, e.g. cards, providing billing information at the time of purchase, e.g. identification of seller or purchaser, quantity of goods delivered or to be delivered

Abstract

Web-sites www.proximityservices.com, www.accessservices.com, www.vendingmachineservices.com, www.vehicleservices.com, www. meterservices.com, www.picopay.com, www.tollservices.com, for all the proximity service systems world wide are disclosed wherein customers can sign up for proximity services such as toll gate services at any toll gate in the world that has signed up to provide the service to customers, parking meter services etc. and the proximity systems owners are guaranteed their payments. In the preferred embodiment all transactions are approved at the local POS (toll gate, parking meter, checkout station, parking lot, pay phone, ATM, gas station, etc.) using a service provider identification number (SPIN) issued to the service provider owner each month for example. The local approved transactions are guaranteed by the web-site owners and the customers each have unique SPIN numbers that expire periodically such as each month. The web-site designs are designed to work most efficiently with all in one access devices such as, a wireless cell phone, a pager, or master PASS until that can directly activate proximity transaction units by delivering credit card, Smartcard, debit card, and or SPIN code data.

Claims

1. A method for managing a plurality of proximity service systems, comprising the steps of:

storing in a proximity service provider computer system a plurality of proximity service codes, each proximity service code being uniquely associated with one or more proximity service systems, each proximity service system providing a predetermined service in response to receiving an authorization code from a proximity authorization unit;

providing access to the proximity service codes stored in the proximity service provider computer system to a customer;

receiving from the customer the customer'"'"'s selection of one or more of the proximity service codes stored in the proximity service provider computer system by inputting a customer code uniquely identifying the particular customer and an identification of the selected proximity service codes;

providing to the customer by the proximity service provider computer system a proximity authorization code unique to the customer for the selected proximity service code and unique for the selected proximity authorization unit and a system customer code uniquely identifying the customer, the proximity authorization code permitting the customer to operate proximity service systems associated with the proximity service code by outputting the proximity authorization code by the customer using the customer'"'"'s proximity authorization unit for activating one of the proximity service systems associated with the selected proximity service codes to provide the predetermined service; and

receiving information, by the proximity service provider computer system, from the proximity service systems indicating usage of the proximity service systems, the information including proximity authorization codes identifying the customers using the proximity service systems, and proximity service codes identifying the proximity service systems, wherein at least some of the proximity service systems are owned by a first owner, and at least some of the proximity service systems are owned by a second owner, and wherein the method further comprises the steps of outputting statement for the first owner indicative of usage of the proximity service systems owned by the first owner, and outputting a statement for the second owner indicative of usage of the proximity service systems owned by the second owner.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

displaying to the customer a list of proximity authorization units by the proximity service provider computer system that are available to authorize the proximity service systems associated with the selected proximity service codes; and

receiving from the customer the customer'"'"'s selection of at least one of the displayed proximity authorization units.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of establishing the proximity service provider computer system as a web site on the Internet.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of collecting money from a third party based on the information received by the proximity service provider computer system indicating usage of the proximity service systems;

and placing the money into a predetermined account of an owner of at least some of the proximity service systems.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the third party is a legacy card company.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of outputting a statement for each customer identified by the proximity authorization codes received by the proximity service provider computer system indicating usage of the proximity service systems.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein in the step of outputting the statement, the statement includes the location of the proximity service systems providing the predetermined services, the amounts paid, and the dates of the providing of the predetermined services.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of outputting a statement for each customer identified by the proximity authorization codes received by the proximity service provider computer system indicating usage of the proximity service systems.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein in the step of outputting the statement, the statement includes the location of the proximity service systems providing the predetermined services, the amounts paid, and the dates of the providing of the predetermined services.

10. The method of claim 1,wherein the proximity service systems are selected from a group of proximity service systems comprising access services, vending machine services, vehicle services, meter services, audio and/or video communication services, and toll services.

11. The method of claim 1,wherein an owner of the proximity service provider computer system guarantees payment to an owner of at least one of the proximity service systems when the proximity service system owned by the owner is operated by a proximity authorization code provided to the customer by the proximity service provider computer system.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein in the step of storing in the proximity service provider computer system the plurality of proximity service codes, the proximity service provider computer system is defined further as a plurality of Web sites established on the Internet.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein in the step of storing in the proximity service provider computer system the plurality of proximity service codes, each of the Web sites is directed to providing services for at least one type of proximity service system selected from the group comprising access services, vending machines services, vehicle services, meter services, audio and/or video communications services, and toll services.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

providing access to a plurality of individualized predetermined payment methods to the customer;

receiving from the customer the customer'"'"'s selection of one or more of the individualized predetermined payment methods.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

providing access to a plurality of individualized predetermined payment methods to an owner of proximity service systems; and

receiving from the owner of the owner'"'"'s selection of one or more of the individualized predetermined payment methods.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein at least one of the individualized predetermined payment methods are PSPS cyber card codes for permitting local authorization of transactions at the proximity service system.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of outputting a cyber card code to be at least one of incorporated into and stored by selected proximity service systems associated with the owner.

18. A method for managing a plurality of proximity service systems, comprising the steps of:

storing in a proximity service provider computer system a plurality of proximity service codes, each proximity service code being uniquely associated with one or more proximity service systems each proximity service system providing a predetermined service in response to receiving an authorization code from a proximity authorization unit;

providing access to the proximity service codes stored in the proximity service provider computer system to a customer;

receiving from the customer the customers selection of one or more of the proximity service codes stored in the proximity service provider computer system by inputting a customer code uniquely identifying the particular customer and an identification of the selected proximity service codes;

providing to the customer by the proximity service provider computer system a proximity authorization code unique to the customer for the selected proximity service code and unique for the selected proximity authorization unit and a system customer code uniquely identifying the customer, the proximity authorization code permitting the customer to operate proximity service systems associated with the proximity service code by outputting the proximity authorization code by the customer using the customer'"'"'s proximity authorization unit for activating one of the proximity service systems associated with the selected proximity service codes to provide the predetermined service;

providing access to the proximity service codes stored in the proximity service provider computer system to a first operator;

receiving from the first operator the second operator'"'"'s selection of one or more of the proximity service codes stored in the proximity service provider computer system by inputting an identification of the selected proximity service codes;

providing access to the proximity service codes stored in the proximity service provider computer system to a second operator;

receiving from the second operator the second operator'"'"'s selection of one or more of the proximity service codes stored in the proximity service provider computer system by inputting an identification of the selected proximity service codes;

receiving information, by the proximity service provider computer system, from the proximity service systems indicating usage of the proximity service systems, the information including proximity authorization codes identifying the customers using the proximity service systems, and proximity service codes identifying the proximity service systems; and

outputting a statement for the first operator indicative of usage of the proximity service systems operated by the first operator, and outputting a statement for the second operator indicative of usage of the proximity service systems operated by the second operator.

19. A method for managing a plurality of proximity service systems, comprising the steps of:

storing in a proximity service provider computer system a plurality of proximity service codes, each proximity service code being uniquely associated with one or more proximity service systems, each proximity service system providing a predetermined service in response to receiving an authorization code from a proximity authorization unit;

providing access to a plurality of individualized predetermined payment methods to the customer;

receiving from the customer the customer'"'"'s selection of one or more of the individualized predetermined payment methods;

providing access to the proximity service codes stored in the proximity service provider computer system to a customer based on the customer'"'"'s selection of the individualized predetermined payment methods;

receiving from the customer the customer'"'"'s selection of one or more of the proximity service codes stored in the proximity service provider computer system by inputting a customer code uniquely identifying the particular customer and an identification of the selected proximity service codes; and

providing to the customer by the proximity service provider computer system a proximity authorization code unique to the customer for the selected proximity service code and unique for the selected proximity authorization unit and a system customer code uniquely identifying the customer, the proximity authorization code permitting the customer to operate proximity service systems associated with the proximity service code by outputting the proximity authorization code by the customer using the customer'"'"'s proximity authorization unit for activating one of the proximity service systems associated with the selected proximity service codes to provide the predetermined service.

20. A local authorization system comprising:

a plurality of proximity authorization units, each proximity authorization unit capable of storing and outputting a unique request authorization code;

a proximity service provider providing a unique request authorization code to each of the proximity authorization units and each of the proximity authorization units storing the request authorization code provided by the proximity service provider, the request authorization code including a proximity service provider code and a customer code, the proximity service provider code uniquely identifying the proximity service provider providing the request authorization code to the proximity authorization unit and the customer code uniquely identifying a particular customer, the request authorization codes provided to the proximity authorization units being encrypted with a private key associated with the proximity service provider;

a plurality of proximity service units, each proximity service unit providing a predetermined service when activated in response to receiving and validating the request authorization code from one of the proximity authorization units, each proximity service unit receiving and storing a public key and the proximity service provider code from the proximity service provider, each proximity service unit validating each request authorization code received from one of the proximity authorization units by decrypting the request authorization codes with the public key and comparing the proximity service provider code received by the proximity service unit from the proximity service provider with the proximity service provider code decrypted from the request authorization codes received from the proximity authorization units, the proximity service unit providing the predetermined service upon matching the proximity service provider code received by the proximity service unit with the proximity service provider code decrypted from the request authorization code received from the proximity authorization unit.

21. A proximity service provider system for managing a plurality of proximity service systems, the proximity service provider system comprising:

at least one PSPS Web site established on the Internet, the PSPS Web site comprising;

an owner database server receiving an owner'"'"'s offering of proximity service systems, including a physical location for each proximity service system, a payment method for each proximity service system and a financial location for depositing money collected from usage of the proximity service systems, each of the proximity service systems being identified by a stored proximity service code, the payment method selected by the owner for each proximity service system serving as a predetermined payment method for the particular proximity service system;

a customer database server permitting a customer to select proximity service systems identified by the stored proximity service codes in the owner database server, the customer database server receiving a customer'"'"'s selection of proximity service systems offered by the owner of the proximity service systems, the customer'"'"'s selection Including a selection of a payment method from the predetermined payment methods for each proximity service system selected by the customer; and

further wherein the PSPS Web Site is constructed by a method comprising the steps of;

providing a master operating software system designed by the steps of;

providing, first, a design matrix having at least two axes with the system application programs being represented on one of the axes, and user requirement elements for providing services to at least two of users of proximity services, owners of proximity services, operators of proximity services and financial services being represented by another one of the axes, the system application programs each defining a particular technology, and each of the user requirement elements defining a particular user requirement;

locating one unique intersection point between each of the user requirement elements represented on one of the axes and the system application programs represented by another one of the axes in the design matrix; and

developing a technology converter requirement for each intersection point, each technology converter requirement using the system application program at each intersection point to develop an output satisfying the user requirement element at the corresponding intersection point.

22. The proximity service provider system of claim 21, wherein the owner database server receives information from the proximity service systems indicating usage of the proximity service systems, the information including proximity authorization codes identifying the customers using the proximity service systems, and proximity service codes identifying the proximity service systems.

23. The proximity service provider system of claim 22, further comprising the steps of collecting money from a third party based on the information received by the owner database server indicating usage of the proximity service systems;

and placing the money into the financial location designated by the owner of at least some of the proximity service systems.

24. The proximity service provider system of claim 23, wherein the third party is a legacy card company.

25. A proximity service provider system for managing a plurality of proximity service systems the proximity service provider system comprising:

at least one PSPS Web site established on the Internet, the PSPS Web site comprising;

an owner database server receiving a first owner'"'"'s offering proximity service systems, including a physical location for each proximity service system, a payment method for each proximity service system and a financial location for depositing money collected from usage of the proximity service system, each of the proximity service systems offered by the first owner being identified by a stored proximity service code, the payment method selected by the first owner for each proximity service system serving as a predetermined payment method for the particular proximity service system, and receiving a second owner'"'"'s offering, the owner database server receiving a second owner'"'"'s offering of proximity service systems, including a physical location for each proximity service system, a payment method for each proximity service system and a financial location for depositing money collected from usage of the proximity service systems, each of the proximity service systems offered by the second owner being identified by a stored proximity service code, the payment method selected by the second owner for each proximity service system serving as a predetermined payment method for the particular proximity service system;

a customer database server permitting a customer to select proximity service systems identified by the stored proximity service codes in the owner database server, the customer database server receiving a customer'"'"'s selection of proximity service systems offered by the owner of the proximity service systems, the customer'"'"'s selection including a selection of a payment method from the predetermined payment methods for each proximity service system selected by the customer;

wherein the owner database server receives information from the proximity service systems indicating usage of the proximity service systems, the information including proximity authorization codes identifying the customers using the proximity service systems, and proximity service codes identifying the proximity service systems; and

wherein the owner database server outputs a statement for the first owner indicative of usage of the proximity service systems owned by the first owner, and outputs a statement for the second owner indicative of usage of the proximity service systems owned by the second owner.

26. The proximity service provider system of claim 25, wherein the customer database server outputs a statement for each customer identified by the proximity authorization codes received by the owner database server indicating usage of the proximity service systems.

27. The proximity service provider system of claim 25, further comprising an operator database server permitting an operator to select proximity service systems identified by the stored proximity service code in the owner database server.

28. The proximity service provider system of claim 27, wherein the operator database server receives information from the proximity service systems indicating usage of the proximity service systems, the information including proximity authorization codes identifying the customers using the proximity service systems, and proximity service codes identifying the proximity service systems.

29. The proximity service provider system of claim 25, wherein the proximity service systems are selected from a group of proximity service systems comprising access services, vending machine services, vehicle services, meter services, audio and/or video communication services, and toll services.