Device group partitions and settlement platform

• US 10,779,177 B2
• Filed: 12/12/2018
• Issued: 09/15/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Headwater Research LLC (Greg Raleigh)
• Original Assignee: Headwater Research LLC (Greg Raleigh)
• Inventors: Raleigh, Gregory G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Anwar, Mohammad S
• Application Number:
  US16/217,705
• Publication Number:
  US 20190261203A1
• Time in Patent Office: 643 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1407 Policy-and-charging control [PCC] architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1492 negotiation of tariff
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1496 involving discounts
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 Policy-based network configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0896 Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities flow or congestion control using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation, H04L47/76
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5006 Creating or negotiating SLA contracts, guarantees or penalties
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5022 by giving priorities, e.g. assigning classes of service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5029 Service quality level-based billing, e.g. dependent on measured service level customer is charged more or less
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5054 Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0876 Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/20 Traffic policing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2425 for supporting services specification, e.g. SLA
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2475 for supporting traffic characterised by the type of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/803 Application aware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/805 QOS or priority aware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/822 Collecting or measuring resource availability data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/824 Applicable to portable or mobile terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 : Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 : for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 : Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• 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 15/66 : Policy and charging system
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8016 : based on quality of service [QoS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8055 : Selecting cheaper transport technology for a given service
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/81 : Dynamic pricing, e.g. change of tariff during call
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 : Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 : Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 : Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 : Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0268 : using specific QoS parameters for wireless networks, e.g. QoS class identifier [QCI] or guaranteed bit rate [GBR] negotiating SLA or negotiating QoS H04W28/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0284 : detecting congestion or overload during communication monitoring arrangements H04L43/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0289 : Congestion control load shedding arrangements in network planning H04W16/08; performing reselection for handling the traffic H04W36/22; wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/20 : Negotiating bandwidth
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/14 : Reselecting a network or an air interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/144 : over a different radio air interface technology
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 : Accounting or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 : Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/02 : Access restriction performed under specific conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/04 : based on user or terminal location or mobility data, e.g. moving direction, speed
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/06 : based on traffic conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 : Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 : Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0212 : managed by the network, e.g. network or access point is master and terminal is slave
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0264 : by selectively disabling software applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 : Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 : Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Device group partitions and a settlement platform are provided. In some embodiments, device group partitions (e.g., partitions of devices based on associated device groups) are provided. In some embodiments, a settlement platform service is provided. In some embodiments, a settlement platform service is provided for partitioned devices. In some embodiments, collecting device generated service usage information for one or more devices in wireless communication on a wireless network; and aggregating the device generated service usage information for a settlement platform for the one or more devices in wireless communication on the wireless network is provided. In some embodiments, a settlement platform implements a service billing allocation and/or a service/transactional revenue share among one or more partners. In some embodiments, service usage information includes micro-CDRs, which are used for CDR mediation or reconciliation that provides for service usage accounting on any device activity that is desired. In some embodiments, each device activity that is desired to be associated with a billing event is assigned a micro-CDR transaction code, and a service processor of the device is programmed to account for that activity associated with that transaction code. In some embodiments, a service processor executing on a wireless communications device periodically reports (e.g., during each heartbeat or based on any other periodic, push, and/or pull communication technique(s)) micro-CDR usage measures to, for example, a service controller or some other network element for CDR mediation or reconciliation.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processor of a network device, wherein the processor is configured to;

for each of a plurality of wireless end-user devices, connect through a respective secure control plane link to a respective service processor executing on that wireless end-user device;

for each of the plurality of wireless end-user devices, control, through the respective secure control plane link, respective settings for the respective service processor according to a corresponding device group partition from a plurality of such partitions, wherein different ones of the corresponding device group partitions are independently managed by respective service provider partners, the respective settings defining device activities that are to be accounted by a service processor as device-generated service usage information for the corresponding device group partition;

collect, through the respective secure control plane links, the respective device-generated service usage information from each of the plurality of wireless end-user devices; and

aggregate the device-generated service usage information for a settlement platform according to respective device group partitions, such that a respective service activity report for each device group partition includes the collected device-generated service usage information specific to the wireless end-user devices belonging to that device group partition; and

a memory coupled to the processor and configured to provide the processor with instructions.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising the settlement platform, the settlement platform configured to provide the service activity report for each device group partition to the respective service provider partner for that partition.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the service activity report for a given respective service provider partner comprises only a portion of the aggregated device-generated service usage information for a corresponding device group partition.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising the processor configured to control the respective settings for one or more of the respective service processors according to multiple device group partitions, the respective settings defining device activities that are to be accounted by a service processor as device-generated service usage information for all of the multiple device group partitions.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein for the collected device-generated service usage information from the respective service processors with settings controlled according to multiple device group partitions, the processor is configured to aggregate the device-generated service information to multiple service activity reports according to the respective ones of the multiple device group partitions.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a secure interface allowing a respective service provider partner to securely control one or more of the respective service processor settings for a device group partition managed by that respective service provider partner.