Billing system and method for charging users for utilization of shared resource
First Claim
1. A billing system comprising,a data acquisition section that acquires data representing a resource utilization rate;
- a first calculation section that calculates a utilization rate difference between the acquired resource utilization rate and a reference resource utilization rate; and
a second calculation section that substitutes said utilization rate difference for the argument of a predetermined math function to produce an adjustment payment.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a billing system that charges resource users for the utilization of a shared resource. The billing system acquires data representing a resource utilization rate at intervals, calculates a utilization rate difference between the acquired resource utilization rate and a reference (average) resource utilization rate, and substitutes the utilization rate difference for the argument of a predetermined math function, such as linear function, to produce a collective adjustment payment (surcharge or discount). Individual adjustment payments are obtained from the collective adjustment payment respectively for resource users.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. A billing system comprising,
a data acquisition section that acquires data representing a resource utilization rate; -
a first calculation section that calculates a utilization rate difference between the acquired resource utilization rate and a reference resource utilization rate; and a second calculation section that substitutes said utilization rate difference for the argument of a predetermined math function to produce an adjustment payment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A billing system comprising;
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a resource utilization rate data acquisition section that acquires a record of data representing resource utilization rates obtained over a period of time; a first calculation section that calculates an average value of resource utilization rates of said acquired record to produce a reference resource utilization rate; a second calculation section that calculates a utilization rate difference between each of said acquired resource utilization rates and said reference resource utilization rate; and a third calculation section that substitutes said utilization rate difference for the argument of a predetermined math function to produce an adjustment payment. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of billing comprising:
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maintaining a reference resource utilization rate and a predetermined math function to produce an adjustment payment in a storage device; acquiring data representing a resource utilization rate; calculating, by a billing computer, a utilization rate difference between the acquired resource utilization rate and a reference resource utilization rate read from said storage device; and substituting, by said billing computer, said utilization rate difference for the argument of said predetermined math function read from said storage device to produce an adjustment payment. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A method of billing comprising the steps of;
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maintaining a record of data representing a plurality of recourse utilization rates obtained at predetermined intervals over time and a predetermined math function to produce an adjustment payment in a storage device; a) acquiring said record of data from said storage device; b) calculating, by a billing computer, an average value of said acquired resource utilization rates to produce a reference resource utilization rate; c) calculating, by said billing computer, utilization rate differences between said acquired resource utilization rates and said reference resource utilization rate; and d) substituting, by said billing computer, each of said utilization rate differences for the argument of said predetermined math function read from said storage device to produce an adjustment payment. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A computer-readable storage medium that stores a billing program comprising the instructions of:
- acquiring data representing a resource utilization rate;
calculating a utilization rate difference between the acquired resource utilization rate and a reference resource utilization rate; and
substituting said utilization rate difference for the argument of a predetermined math function to produce an adjustment payment.
- acquiring data representing a resource utilization rate;
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39. A computer-readable storage medium that stores a billing program comprising the instructions of:
- a) acquiring a record of data representing resource utilization rates obtained over a period of time;
b) calculating an average value of resource utilization rates of said acquired data to produce a reference resource utilization rate;
c) calculating a utilization rate difference between each of said acquired resource utilization rates and said reference resource utilization rate; and
d) substituting the utilization rate difference for the argument of a predetermined math function to produce an adjustment payment.
- a) acquiring a record of data representing resource utilization rates obtained over a period of time;
Specification