Content capability clearing house systems and methods

• US 8,259,623 B2
• Filed: 08/16/2006
• Issued: 09/04/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amdocs Canadian Managed Services Inc. (Amdocs Ltd.), Amdocs Development Limited (Amdocs Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Bridgewater Systems Corp. (Amdocs Ltd.)
• Inventors: Momtahan, Parham, Jones, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Ly, Anh-Vu H
• Assistant Examiner(s): PHAM, TITO Q
• Application Number:
  US11/504,703
• Publication Number:
  US 20070258460A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,211 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/260
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/15 in relation to multipoint traffic arrangements for broadcast or multicast in data networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/785 among multiple network domains, e.g. multilateral agreements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/805 QOS or priority aware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/808 User-type aware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/60 Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/61 taking into account QoS or priority requirements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context

Abstract

A content capability clearing house that can act as a trusted and neutral mediator among network providers to manage rich content capabilities among multiple networks is provided. Content capabilities that can be brokered include, but are not limited to, quality of service and content screening. In an embodiment, a content capability clearing house includes a receiver that receives content capability request messages and other messages from network providers. A content capability request message includes a quality of service request and/or a subscriber profile request for use with content screening and subscriber specific advertisements. The present invention includes a series of methods for determining content capabilities for data transmission over a transaction between a content provider and a subscriber in which a content capability clearing house is used to efficiently broker and manage the capability among multiple network providers.

Claims

1. A system for brokering content capabilities to establish an end-to-end communications path upon receipt of a content capability request from a content provider, comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a content capability request message from a network provider supporting a content provider, wherein the content capability request message indicates that the content provider desires to establish an end-to-end communications path for providing a content delivery session between the content provider and a subscriber at a specified quality of service, and includes a subscriber identifier that identifies the subscriber for use with content screening;

a policy decider configured to associate a network profile with the received subscriber identifier, wherein the network profile includes network capabilities and policies for a network provider used by the subscriber, wherein upon receipt of a content capability request message, the policy decider determines whether the subscriber'"'"'s network provider will support the requested quality of service based on the subscriber'"'"'s network profile and supports content screening based on the subscriber identifier;

a transmitter configured to transmit a second content capability request message, wherein the second content capability request message is transmitted to the subscriber'"'"'s network provider to establish an end-to-end communications path based on the received content capability request and processing the received content capability request by the policy decider;

a subscriber profile database, wherein the subscriber profile database includes a content tracking repository that is configured to record content viewed by subscribers; and

a subscriber preference generator, wherein the subscriber preference generator is configured to generate subscriber preference information based on the content tracking repository for the subscriber identified in the content capability request.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a network profile database, wherein the network profile database is configured to store network capabilities and policies for a plurality of network providers.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit subscriber preference information in a content capability confirmation message to the content provider;

wherein the subscriber preference information includes information regarding a subscriber'"'"'s viewing history across multiple content providers.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a transaction identifier configured to generate a unique transaction identification for each content capability request message that is received.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a charging information database, wherein the charging information database is configured to include network provider service charging agreements.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the charging information database is configured to record transaction information that provides for settlement of charges among network providers using the system.

7. A method for establishing the content delivery capabilities for an end-to-end communications transaction between a content provider supported by a first network provider and a subscriber supported by a second network provider, comprising:

receiving a content capability request from the first network provider, wherein the content capability request from the first network provider indicates that the content provider desires to establish an end-to-end connection for providing a content delivery session between the content provider and the subscriber at a specific quality of service and includes a subscriber identifier that identifies the subscriber for use with content screening;

determining a network profile for the subscriber'"'"'s network provider, wherein the network profile comprises network capabilities and policies;

validating whether the subscriber'"'"'s network provider can provide the specified quality of service and content tailored to the subscriber, wherein the validating is based upon the determined network profile and the subscriber identifier;

screening content to be delivered based on the subscriber identifier;

transmitting a second content capability request based on the received content capability request to the subscriber'"'"'s network provider;

receiving a content capability confirmation from the subscriber'"'"'s network provider; and

transmitting a second content capability confirmation based on the received content capability confirmation to the first network provider;

wherein a subscriber profile database includes a content tracking repository that is configured to record content viewed by subscribers;

wherein a subscriber preference generator is configured to generate subscriber preference information based on the content tracking repository for the subscriber identified in the content capability request.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising generating a transaction identification for the transaction.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising storing the transaction identification and charging information related to the transaction.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein transmitting the content capability request to the subscriber'"'"'s network provider further comprises transmitting a subscriber Internet Protocol (IP) address, content category and charging identification.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising updating a profile for the subscriber based on the transaction.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein receiving the content capability request from the first network provider further comprises receiving a subscriber IP address and content category.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the network profile for subscriber'"'"'s network provider further comprises associating a network to a subscriber based on the subscriber IP address.

14. The method of claim 7, further comprising validating whether the first network provider has a service charging agreement that supports charging for a premium fee in order to guarantee the specified quality of service included in the content capability request.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein when the service charging agreement does not support charging for the premium fee, denying the content capability request.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising wherein when the service charging agreement supports charging for the premium fee, guaranteeing the specified quality of service requested in the content capability request received from the first network provider.

17. A computer-readable storage device having computer program logic recorded thereon, execution of which, by a computing device, causes the computing device to perform operations for establishing content delivery capabilities for an end-to-end communications transaction between a content provider supported by a first network provider and a subscriber supported by a second network provider, comprising:

receiving a content capability request from the first network provider, wherein the content capability request from the first network provider indicates that the content provider desires to establish an end-to-end connection for providing a content delivery session between the content provider and the subscriber at a specific quality of service and includes a subscriber identifier that identifies the subscriber for use with content screening;

determining a network profile for the subscriber'"'"'s network provider, wherein the network profile comprises network capabilities and policies;

validating whether the subscriber'"'"'s network provider can provide the specified quality of service and content tailored to the subscriber, wherein the validating is based upon the determined network profile and the subscriber identifier;

screening content to be delivered based on the subscriber identifier;

transmitting a second content capability request based on the received content capability request to the subscriber'"'"'s network provider;

receiving a content capability confirmation from the subscriber'"'"'s network provider; and

transmitting a second content capability confirmation based on the received content capability confirmation to the first network provider;

wherein a subscriber profile database includes a content tracking repository that is configured to record content viewed by subscribers;

wherein a subscriber preference generator is configured to generate subscriber preference information based on the content tracking repository for the subscriber identified in the content capability request.

18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 17, further comprising generating a transaction identification for the transaction.

19. The computer-readable storage device of claim 18, further comprising storing the transaction identification and charging information related to the transaction.

20. The computer-readable storage device of claim 18, wherein transmitting the content capability request to the subscriber'"'"'s network provider further comprises transmitting a subscriber Internet Protocol (IP) address, content category and charging identification.

21. The computer-readable storage device of claim 17, further comprising updating a profile for the subscriber based on the transaction.

22. The computer-readable storage device of claim 17, wherein receiving the content capability request from the first network provider further comprises receiving a subscriber IP address and content category.

23. The computer-readable storage device of claim 22, wherein determining the network profile for subscriber'"'"'s network provider further comprises associating a network to a subscriber based on the subscriber IP address.

24. The computer-readable storage device of claim 17, further comprising validating whether the first network provider'"'"' has a service charging agreement that supports charging for a premium fee in order to guarantee the specified quality of service included in the content capability request.

25. The computer-readable storage device of claim 24, wherein when the service charging agreement does not support charging for the premium fee, denying the content capability request.

26. The computer-readable storage device of claim 24, further comprising wherein when the service charging agreement supports charging for the premium fee, guaranteeing the specified quality of service requested in the content capability request received from the first network provider.