Method and system for associating a plurality of transaction data records generated in a service access system
First Claim
1. A method of associating a plurality of transaction data records generated in a service access system including at least one service provider, the transaction data records being generated in response to a user accessing the service access system during a single user session, the method including:
- allowing commencement of the single user session only if the user is positively authenticated by the service access system, and upon positive authentication, storing a unique session identification in a session identification field in an authentication transaction storage area at a transaction processing facility;
generating the unique session identification that is uniquely associated with the single user session and which is receivable by the at least one service provider, the unique session identification being included in the transaction data record;
providing the unique session identification in a user identification string of each transaction data record when the single user session is authorized;
generating a unique code that is uniquely associated with the single user session and including the unique code in the user identification string;
retrieving the transaction data records from the at least one service provider and storing each transaction data record in an accounting transaction storage area based on unique session identification data;
receiving the transaction data records at a transaction processing facility from the at least one service provider;
processing the transaction data records using the unique session identification of each transaction data record; and
using the unique session identification to identify at least one of duplicate alias records, ISDN dual-channel records, invalid session length records, and overlapping accounting records.
11 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of, and system for, associating a plurality of transaction data records generated in a service access system including a plurality of service providers is provided. The transaction data records are generated in response to a user accessing the system during a single user session. The method includes generating a unique session identification that is uniquely associated with the single user session and which is receivable by the service providers. The unique session identification is included in the transaction data record. The plurality of transaction data records is received at a transaction processing facility from the service providers and processes using the unique session identification of each transaction data record. In certain embodiments, the unique session identification is provided in a user identification string of each transaction data record when the user session is authentication.
166 Citations
51 Claims
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1. A method of associating a plurality of transaction data records generated in a service access system including at least one service provider, the transaction data records being generated in response to a user accessing the service access system during a single user session, the method including:
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allowing commencement of the single user session only if the user is positively authenticated by the service access system, and upon positive authentication, storing a unique session identification in a session identification field in an authentication transaction storage area at a transaction processing facility; generating the unique session identification that is uniquely associated with the single user session and which is receivable by the at least one service provider, the unique session identification being included in the transaction data record; providing the unique session identification in a user identification string of each transaction data record when the single user session is authorized; generating a unique code that is uniquely associated with the single user session and including the unique code in the user identification string; retrieving the transaction data records from the at least one service provider and storing each transaction data record in an accounting transaction storage area based on unique session identification data; receiving the transaction data records at a transaction processing facility from the at least one service provider; processing the transaction data records using the unique session identification of each transaction data record; and using the unique session identification to identify at least one of duplicate alias records, ISDN dual-channel records, invalid session length records, and overlapping accounting records. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for processing transaction data records generated in a service access system including at least one service provider, the transaction data records being generated in response to a user accessing the system during a single user session, the system including:
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a session identification generator to generate a unique session identification that is uniquely associated with the single user session and which is receivable by the at least one service provider, the unique session identification being included in ones of the transaction data records, the session identification generator further to provide unique session identification data in a user identification string of each transaction data record when the user session is authorized, the session identification generator further to generate a unique code that is uniquely associated with the single user session, the unique code being included in the user identification string; and a transaction processing facility to process the transaction data records received from the at least one service provider using the unique session identification of each record, the transaction processing facility further to store the unique session identification in a session identification field in an authentication transaction storage area, the storing performed upon positive authentication of the user by the system, the authentication to allow commencement of the session, the transaction processing facility further to receive transaction data records from the at least one service provider and stores each transaction data record in an accounting transaction storage area based on the unique session identification data, the transaction processing facility further to periodically receive batch loading transaction data records from the at least one service provider to construct modified session identification data records, and to store the modified session identification data records in a session identification field in a batch history storage area. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of processing a plurality of transaction data records generated in a service access system including at least one service provider, method including:
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receiving the transaction data records from the at least one service provider, each transaction data record being generated in response to a user accessing the system during a single user session; and identifying transaction data records associated with the single user session based on a session identification included in each transaction data record, each session identification uniquely identifying a single user session; identifying the unique session identification in a user identification string of each transaction record; identifying a unique code that is uniquely associated with the single user session and included in the user identification string, storing each transaction data record received from the service providers in an accounting transaction storage area based on the unique session identification data; and comparing session identification data in the authentication transaction storage area and the accounting transaction area to identify missing accounting records. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A transaction processing facility for processing a plurality of transaction data records generated in a service access system including at least one service provider, the transaction processing facility arranged to:
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receive the transaction data records from the at least one service provider, each transaction data record being generated in response to a user accessing the system during a single user session; identify transaction data records associated with the single user session based on a unique session identification included in each transaction data record, each session identification uniquely identifying a single user session; identify the unique session identification in a user identification string of each transaction record; store each transaction data record received from the at least one service provider in an accounting transaction storage area based on the unique session identification; and search for duplicate session identifications in the accounting transaction storage area to identify duplicate transaction records. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A method of connecting a user to an access service provider, the method including:
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creating a unique session identification associated with a single user session during which the user accesses the access service provider, the unique session identification being provided in a user identification string of a transaction data record when the user session is authorized; generating a unique code that is uniquely associated with the single user session and including the unique code in the user identification string; and providing the unique session identification in a format suitable for communication using a protocol from one of Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), Password Authentication Protocol (PAP), Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP), Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS) protocol, Terminal Access Controller Access Control System (TACACS) protocol, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), NT Domain authentication protocol, Unix password authentication protocol, HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), HyperText Transfer Protocol over Secure sockets layer (HTTPS), Extended Authentication Protocol (EAP), Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol, Token Ring protocol and Secure Remote Password protocol (SRP), the unique session identification being provided within a user string with a maximum length of 63 characters. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44)
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45. A connection apparatus for connecting a user to an access service provider, the apparatus including:
a session identification generator to create a unique session identification associated with each session that is authorized, the session identification generator further to generate a unique code that is uniquely associated with a single user session, the unique code being included in a user identification string, the unique session identification being provided in a format suitable for communication using a protocol from one of Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), Password Authentication Protocol (PAP), Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP), Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS) protocol, Terminal Access Controller Access Control System (TACACS) protocol, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), NT Domain authentication protocol, Unix password authentication protocol, HyrperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), HyperText Transfer Protocol over Secure sockets layer (HTTPS), Extended Authentication Protocol (EAP), Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol, Token Ring protocol and Secure Remote Password protocol (SRP), the unique session identification being provided within a user string with a maximum length of 63 characters. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48)
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49. A machine-readable medium including instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a method of associating a plurality of transaction data records generated in a service access system including at least one service provider, the transaction data records being generated in response to a user accessing the system during a single user session and method including:
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generating a unique session identification that is uniquely associated with the single user session and which is receivable by the at least one service provider, the unique session identification being included in the transaction data record; providing the unique session identification in a user identification string of each transaction data record when the user session is authorized, the unique session identification being provided in a format suitable for communication using a protocol from one of Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), Password Authentication Protocol (PAP), Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP), Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS) protocol, Terminal Access Controller Access Control System (TACACS) protocol, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), NT Domain authentication protocol, Unix password authentication protocol, HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), HyperText Transfer Protocol over Secure sockets layer (HTTPS), Extended Authentication Protocol (EAP), Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol, Token Ring protocol and Secure Remote Password protocol (SRP); generating, by means of a counter, a unique code at a connection application via which the user requests access; combining the unique code with a connection application identification which identifies the connection application; receiving the plurality of transaction data records at a transaction processing facility from the at least one service provider; processing the transaction data records using the unique session identification of each transaction data record; and constructing a modified transaction record data from at least one of the unique session identification, a customer identification from an authenticating service provider, customer data, customer routing data for internal customer routing, user identification data, customer domain data used by the user for internal routing, and non routing data customer data of a transaction data record.
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50. A machine-readable medium including instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a method of processing a plurality of transaction data records generated in a service access system including at least one service provider, the method including:
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receiving the transaction data records from the at least one service provider, each transaction data record being generated in response to a user accessing the system during a single user session; and identifying transaction data records associated with the single user session based on a session identification included in each transaction data record, each session identification uniquely identifying a single user session; identifying the unique session identification in a user identification string of each transaction record; identifying a unique code that is uniquely associated with the single user session and included in the user identification string; storing each transaction data record received from the service providers in an accounting transaction storage area based on the unique session identification data; periodically receiving batch loading transaction data records from the at least one service provider; constructing modified session identification data records from the transaction data records; and storing the modified session identification data records in a session identification field in a batch history storage area.
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51. A machine-readable medium including instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a method for processing a plurality of transaction data records generated in a service access system including at least one service provider, the method including:
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receiving the transaction data records from the at least one service provider, each transaction data record being generated in response to a user accessing the system during a single user session; identifying transaction data records associated with the single user session based on a session identification included in each transaction data record, each session identification uniquely identifying a single user session; identifying the unique session identification in a user identification string of each transaction record; and constructing a modified transaction record data record from at least one of the unique session identification, a customer identification from the authenticating service provider, customer data, customer routing data for internal customer routing, user identification data, customer domain data used by the user for internal routing, and non routing data customer data of a transaction data record.
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Specification