Scalable billing with de-duplication in aggregator

• US 8,898,078 B2
• Filed: 05/21/2010
• Issued: 11/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Pearson, Malcolm Erik, Setzer, Matthew Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Glass, Shay S
• Application Number:
  US12/785,305
• Publication Number:
  US 20110288974A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,649 Days
• Field of Search: 705/34
• US Class Current: 705/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1428 Invoice generation, e.g. customization, lay-out, database processing, algorithms for calculating the bill or formatting invoices as WWW pages invoicing in general G06Q30/04
• 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 15/41 Billing record details, i.e. parameters, identifiers, structure of call data record [CDR]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/43 Billing software details
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/44 Augmented, consolidated or itemized billing statement or bill presentation
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/70 Administration or customization aspects; Counter-checking correct charges
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/73 Validating charges

Abstract

Scalable handling of billing events that affect one or more accounts. A computing system partitions received events into a number of channels, perhaps by account identifier. The channels receive the events, process the events, and forwards the events to an aggregator to allow the events to be aggregated by account to allow for easier computation of a bill. The aggregator also performs de-duplication of events to help reduce the risk of double billing.

Claims

1. A method, implemented at a computing system that includes one or more processors, for handling a plurality of events, the method comprising:

an act of the computing system receiving a plurality of events in the form of event messages, each of at least some of the events affecting one or more of a plurality of accounts;

an act of the computing system using the one or more processors to partition each of the plurality of events into a corresponding one of a plurality of channels, such that each of the plurality of channels receives a subset of the plurality of events, at least a particular one of the plurality of channels being configured to;

de-duplicate events by;

identifying any duplicate events within the corresponding subset of the plurality of events that are received at the particular channel based on a first de-duplication scheme that includes checking first event data; and

discarding any identified duplicate events, such that the corresponding subset of the plurality of events is a subset of original events only; and

dispatch each original event in the subset of original events to a corresponding aggregator; and

an act of the corresponding aggregator processing the events received from the particular channel, including;

performing an additional de-duplicating of the events received from the particular channel to remove any duplicate events introduced during the dispatch, the additional de-duplicating being performed with a different de-duplication scheme than the first de-duplication scheme and which checks different event data than the first event data that is checked in the first de-duplication scheme; and

aggregating the events received from the particular channel.

2. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of partitioning for an event is determined based on an account identifier associated with the event.

3. The method in accordance with claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of channels handles events for a corresponding set of account identifiers, wherein the act of partitioning for an event is determined by assigning the event to the channel for the corresponding set of account identifiers within which the account identifier for the event resides.

4. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of partitioning for an event is determined based on a geographical location in which the event occurred, a geographical location associated with a consumer to be charged for the event, or a geographical location associated with a provider to be paid for the event.

5. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of the corresponding aggregator performing an additional de-duplicating of the events received from the particular channel comprises:

an act of the computing system using Bloom filter to determine that the event is a duplicate of another event; and

an act of the computing system updating the Bloom filter to reflect the receipt of the event.

6. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of the corresponding aggregator performing an additional de-duplicating of the events received from the particular channel comprises:

an act of the computing system using Bloom filter to determine that the Bloom filter is inconclusive as to whether or not the event is a duplicate of another event; and

an act of the computing system performing further processing to determine that the event is a duplicate of another event.

7. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of events has a unique identifier, wherein the act of the corresponding aggregator performing an additional de-duplicating of the events received from the particular channel comprises:

an act of the computing system comparing the unique identifier of the event to the unique identifiers for previously received events.

8. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of events has a unique identifier, wherein the act of the corresponding aggregator performing an additional de-duplicating of the events received from the particular channel comprises:

an act of the computing system using a time-order identifier index to identify duplicates.

9. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of events has a unique identifier, wherein the act of the corresponding aggregator performing an additional de-duplicating of the events received from the particular channel comprises:

an act of the computing system using a batched event index to identify duplicates.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the first de-duplication scheme includes checking the event identifier against a list of event identifiers already received.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the particular channel is also configured to sequence each of the subset of the plurality of events and appending each of the subset of the plurality of events with a corresponding channel sequence number, and wherein the second de-duplication scheme includes checking the channel sequence number.

10. A computer program product comprising one or more computer storage devices having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to carry out a method for handling a plurality of events, including the following:

receiving a plurality of events in the form of event messages, each of at least some of the events affecting one or more of a plurality of accounts;

partitioning each of the plurality of events into a plurality of channels, each of the plurality of events into a corresponding one of a plurality of channels, such that each of the plurality of channels receives a subset of the plurality of events, at least a particular one of the plurality of channels being configured to;

de-duplicate events by;

identifying any duplicate events within the corresponding subset of the plurality of events that are received at the particular channel based on a first de-duplication scheme that includes checking first event data; and

discarding any identified duplicate events, such that the corresponding subset of the plurality of events is a subset of original events only; and

dispatch each original event in the subset of original events to a corresponding aggregator; and

an act of the corresponding aggregator processing the events received from the particular channel, including;

performing an additional de-duplicating of the events received from the particular channel to remove any duplicate events introduced during the dispatch, the additional de-duplicating being performed with a different de-duplication scheme than the first de-duplication scheme and which checks different event data than the first event data that is checked in the first de-duplication scheme; and

aggregating the events received from the particular channel.

11. A computer system, comprising:

one or more processors;

system memory; and

one or more computer storage devices having stored thereon computer-executable instructions representing the following;

a routing module that is configured to;

receive a plurality of events in the form of event messages, each of at least some of the events affecting one or more of a plurality of accounts; and

partition each of the plurality of events one of a plurality of channels;

the plurality of channels, each of the plurality of channels being configured to receive a subset of the plurality of events, and to;

de-duplicate events by;

identifying any duplicate events within the corresponding subset of the plurality of events that are received at the particular channel based on a first de-duplication scheme that includes checking first event data; and

discarding any identified duplicate events, such that the corresponding subset of the plurality of events is a subset of original events only; and

dispatch each original event in the subset of original events to a corresponding aggregator; and

an act of the corresponding aggregator processing the events received from the particular channel, including;

performing an additional de-duplicating of the events received from the particular channel to remove any duplicate events introduced during the dispatch, the additional de-duplicating being performed with a different de-duplication scheme than the first de-duplication scheme and which checks different event data than the first event data that is checked in the first de-duplication scheme; and

aggregating the events received from the particular channel.