Billing method and device in a cellular packet radiocommunication network

• US 8,744,936 B2
• Filed: 10/09/2002
• Issued: 06/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Gemalto SA (Thales SA)
• Original Assignee: Gemalto SA (Thales SA)
• Inventors: Guion, Christian, Ben Amor, Ghazi, Rhelimi, Alain, Habbal, Omar
• Primary Examiner(s): Ebersman, Bruce I
• Assistant Examiner(s): ANDERSON, JOHN A
• Application Number:
  US10/492,387
• Publication Number:
  US 20040210528A1
• Time in Patent Office: 4,255 Days
• Field of Search: 705/40, 705/35, 455/406, 455/405, 709/228
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/146 using digital cash
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/30 the meter or calculation of charges not being controlled from an exchange
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/41 Billing record details, i.e. parameters, identifiers, structure of call data record [CDR]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/48 Secure or trusted billing, e.g. trusted elements or encryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/67 Transmitting arrangements for sending billing related information
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/854 Available credit
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0156 Secure and trusted billing, e.g. trusted elements, encryption, digital signature, codes or double check mechanisms to secure billing calculation and information
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0164 Billing record, e.g. Call Data Record [CDR], Toll Ticket[TT], Automatic Message Accounting [AMA], Call Line Identifier [CLI], details, i.e. parameters, identifiers, structure
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/2026 Wireless network, e.g. GSM, PCS, TACS
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/204 UMTS; GPRS
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/22 Bandwidth or usage-sensitve billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/32 Involving wireless systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/48 Sending information over a non-traffic network channel or another connection than the one actually used, e.g. signalling, D-channel, data and voice
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/8166 Available credit
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing

Abstract

This invention proposes a method to obtain the cost of transmitting a set of data from a transmitting means (2, 3, 16) to a receiving means (2, 3, 16) via a network (4), which consists of creating and sending with the set of data itself a data item, called a ticket (19, 23), used to determine the volume and/or the value of said set of data transmitted. Using said ticket, the receiving means can take into account the cost of executing said set of data thereby simplifying the billing. This invention also concerns the systems used to implement said method especially in cellular packet radiocommunication networks.

Claims

1. A method to obtain the cost of transmitting a set of data from a service provider server computer to a end-user terminal, having a user associated therewith, via a cellular packet radio-communication network, the method comprising:

the server computer;

creating and sending, with the set of data, a data item, called a ticket, used to determine volume or value of said set of data transmitted;

translating the set of data into a set of plurality of packets of a cellular packet radio communication network; and

injecting into the set of a plurality of packets of a cellular packet an additional packet which is the ticket; and

the end-user terminal;

receiving the set of data including the ticket;

determining the volume or the value of said set of a plurality of packets transmitted from the received ticket, said volume or said value being indicated by the received ticket; and

processing the determined volume or value of the set of a plurality of packets according to a prescribed billing model and to determine whether financial rights associated with the user of the end-user terminal authorize access to the received data.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising operating the end-user terminal to check the financial rights of the end-user terminal and comparing the purchasing power of said end-user terminal with the amount required to execute said set of data received, amount indicated by said ticket.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising operating the end-user terminal to before checking the financial rights, to check the access rights of the end-user terminal to said set of data received.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising saving in a module of the end-user terminal the volume or the value of said set of data transmitted and of transmitting the stored data in order to determine the cost of transmission.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the ticket also contains one or more of the following items of information:

the rank of the ticket in the set of packets transmitted with the ticket, the identity of the service provider, the certificate of the service provider, the serial number of said packets, the value of the packets to be returned to the end-user terminal, the type of data transmitted.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising updating counters of information concerning reception of the ticket and of said set of data in the end-user terminal.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein, when the end-user terminal which have received said ticket have executed the set of data transmitted, said end user terminal creates a cancelled ticket which the end-user terminal sends to the service provider which had sent the ticket to indicate that the set of data has been received and executed.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising querying all providers which have received said cancelled ticket and of collecting all said tickets received last, said cancelled ticket containing the total sum of the value or the volume of all packets received by a station for given service provider.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the service provider and the end user terminal sign and encrypt the data that the transmitting and end-user terminal transmit, respectively.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the end-user terminal is a mobile telephone.

11. The method according to claim 1, comprising operating a smart card of the end-user terminal to analyze the received ticket.

12. The method according to any one of the previous claims, wherein:

the end-user terminal is a mobile telephony station, the mobile telephony station extracts the ticket and sends the ticket to a subscriber card or a module included in the mobile telephony station, and

the subscriber card or said module determines the volume or the value of said set of data transmitted from the extracted ticket.