Method and system for the bundling and pricing of wireless hotspots

• US 8,140,364 B2
• Filed: 01/16/2008
• Issued: 03/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kannan, Ramakrishnan, Subbian, Karthik, Wynter, Laura
• Primary Examiner(s): JABR, FADEY S
• Application Number:
  US12/015,299
• Publication Number:
  US 20090182599A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,525 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1.1, 705/7.11, 455/456.1, 370/328, 709/223
• US Class Current: 705/7.11
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0206 Price or cost determination based on market factors
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1439 time-based
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1485 Tariff-related aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/49 Connection to several service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/93 using near field or similar technologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing

Abstract

A method (and structure) for providing services for wireless hotspots. The services are offered to selectively include bundled hotspots as well as single hotspots.

Claims

1. A method of providing services for wireless hotspots, said method comprising:

receiving a request from a user relative to wireless hotspot service in a geographic area; and

offering, using a processor on a computer, said services to selectively include bundled hotspot services in said geographic area, each hotspot service bundle including hotspots of different hotspot owners in said geographic area and being priced as a bundle of hotspots rather than single hotspot prices, as well as single hotspot services with single hotspot prices, said offering said services further comprising;

presenting a map of said geographic area to said user, said map displaying available hotspot locations in said geographic area; and

presenting pricing information concerning said available hotspot locations, including any hotspot services available as bundled hotspot service.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said services are provided through a use of Wireless Community Networks (WCN).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said services comprise services with prices offered to users, said method further comprising:

determining optimal prices of the bundled hotspots.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining equitable allocations of revenues from the bundles of bundled hotspots to bundle participants.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein said services comprise services with prices offered to users, said prices being determined in accordance with a utility function representing a utility of each hotspot and bundle of hotspots, said utility function comprising

U_kh^t=v_kh−

α

_k*r_h^t+β

_k*loc_h+γ

_kspeed_h^t∀

k=1 . . . K,∀

h=1 . . . N,tε

{1,{1,2},{1,2,3}}

where t is a time period, k represents a user class, and h represents the hotspot or bundle of hotspots in question, ν

, α

, β and

γ

respectively represents a weight of attributes to that user class for that hotspot/bundle during that time period of reference, r represents a price, loc represents a location-index, and speed represents a quality-of-service of the hotspot or bundle of hotspots.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein said optimal prices of services of said hotspots comprise a set of prices for a desired time period and individual and bundled use of selected hotspots, in accordance with a calculation of:

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining multi-day bundles and multi-day groupings of single hotspots.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining prices for said bundled hotspots, said prices allowing hotspot and hotspot bundle prices to depend on a speed of a connection/capacity of a router.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein earned revenues of said bundled hotspots are shared using a mechanism in accordance with a Shapley Value Division.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said mechanism for calculating said earned revenues comprises a calculation of revenues of hotspots as:

11. The method of claim 1, as executed as a sequence of machine-readable steps on a processor of a server interacting with a user terminal capable of interacting with said hotspots, said method further comprising:

transmitting information of said offering of bundled hotspot services to allow said user to respond to said offering.

12. The method of claim 1, as executed on a processor of a user terminal, having been downloaded as an application program on said user terminal.

13. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory tangibly storing a sequence of machine-readable instructions defining steps to provide services for wireless hotspots in a specified geographic area,

said steps offering said services to selectively include bundled hotspots as well as single hotspots, said bundled hotspots comprising at least one bundle of services from different hotspot owners in said specified geographic area, said at least one bundle being priced as a bundle rather than prices for separate hotspot services,

said steps further defining steps to receive a request from a user, present a map of said geographic area to said user upon receiving said request, said map displaying available hotspot locations in said geographic area, and

said steps further defining steps to present pricing information concerning said available hotspot locations, including any hotspot services available as bundled hotspot service; and

a processor to execute said machine-readable instructions.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, as comprising a server that provides to users the hotspot services, said processor at least one of:

transmits said machine-readable instructions upon request, so that a user can use a user terminal to receive and selectively execute said sequence of machine-readable instructions and respond to said offering; and

executes said sequence of machine-readable steps and transmits said offering to said user.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, as comprising a user terminal capable of interfacing with said hotspots, wherein said processor executes instructions for a user interfacing with a server, to view a map and select hotspot service available in said geographic area, said apparatus further comprising:

a display to permit said user to view said offering; and

an interface to allow said user to select at least one of said bundled hotspot services or said single hotspot services.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said services comprise services with prices offered to users, said apparatus further comprising a calculator for:

determining optimal prices of the bundled hotspots; and

determining equitable allocations of revenues from the bundles of bundled hotspots to bundle participants.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said calculator further at least one of:

determines multi-day bundles and multi-day groupings of single hotspots; and

determines prices for said bundled hotspots, said prices allowing hotspot and hotspot bundle prices to depend on a speed of a connection/capacity of a router.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to perform steps of a method of providing services for wireless hotspots in a given geographic area, said method comprising:

offering said services to selectively include bundled hotspots as well as single hotspots in said geographic area, said services for bundled hotspots comprising at least one bundle of services from different hotspot owners in said geographic area,

wherein said offering said services further comprises, upon receiving a request from a user, presenting a map of said geographic area to said user, said map displaying available hotspot locations in said geographic area and presenting to said user pricing information concerning said available hotspot locations, including any hotspot services available as bundled hotspot service.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, comprising at least one of machine-readable instructions:

stored on a hard drive of a computer serving as a server on a network providing said service;

stored on a memory of said server computer as instructions being currently executed by said server computer;

stored on a memory of a user terminal as potentially permitting said user to execute said method as a user of said services;

stored on a memory of a user terminal currently executing said method as a user of said services; and

stored on a stand alone diskette of computer-executable instructions to be inserted into a drive of a computer so that said instructions can be loaded onto said computer.