Transaction processing

• US 20040032936A1
• Filed: 08/15/2002
• Published: 02/19/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Horel, Gerald, Patwari, Jaiteerth, Nguyen, Phil, Yu, Julie
• Granted Patent: US 7,113,766 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/114.03
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1403 Architecture for metering, charging or billing
• 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 15/07 Split billing, i.e. both A-party and B-party charged for the communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/09 Third party charged communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/41 Billing record details, i.e. parameters, identifiers, structure of call data record [CDR]
• 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 2215/22 Bandwidth or usage-sensitve billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/32 Involving wireless systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/64 Split billing, sharing the cost of calls, e.g. between calling and called parties
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/66 Third party billing, i.e. third party can also be the predetermined telephone line of the caller if he is calling from another telephone set
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing

Abstract

Systems and methods consistent with the present invention provide a transaction processing during which a transaction billing event is created. Metadata associated with an application is stored in a transaction manager database. When a wireless device downloads an application, raw transaction information is sent to and stored in the database. The raw transaction data may include a subset of the metadata and additional information included by other devices and/or systems. Billing events are created by correlating the metadata and the raw transaction data. In addition, subscription billing events, such as those having reoccurring charges, are calculated by evaluating those transactions having a subscription transaction type and their associated metadata stored in the database.

Claims

1. A method for processing a transaction, comprising:

receiving a first metadata contain a first reference and related to the transaction;

receiving a first raw transaction data containing the first reference and related to the transaction;

correlating the first metadata and the first raw transaction data using the first reference; and

creating a billing event by processing the first raw transaction data and the first metadata, wherein the billing event contains billing information associated with the transaction.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transaction occurs over a wireless network.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving a subscription transaction having an associated reoccurring charge and creating a second billing event using a second metadata associated with the subscription transaction, wherein the second billing event includes the reoccurring charge.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata includes pricing information associated with the transaction.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the data transaction is an application download and the metadata includes pricing information associated with the application download.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a third metadata contain a third reference and related to a third transaction;

receiving a third raw transaction data containing the third reference and related to the third transaction;

correlating the third metadata and the third raw transaction data using the third reference; and

creating a billing event by processing the third raw transaction data and the third metadata, wherein the billing event contains billing information associated with the transaction and wherein the first raw transaction data is associated with a first entity'"'"'s network and the third raw transaction data is associated with a third entity'"'"'s network.

7. A billing processing server, comprising:

a database for storing metadata, raw transaction data and a billing event;

a conversion engine for evaluating the raw transaction data using the metadata; and

an interface to extract the billing event for a billing entity.

8. The billing processing server of claim 7, further comprising:

a subscription engine for evaluating the metadata associated with a subscription transaction and creating a second billing event based on a the metadata associated with the subscription transaction.

9. A method of processing a data transaction in a wireless network, comprising:

receiving raw transaction data containing an application identifier and from an application download server, wherein the raw transaction data identifies information associated with a application download to a wireless device;

storing metadata containing an application identifier and associated with the application downloaded to the wireless device;

correlating the metadata and the raw transaction data using the application identifier; and

creating a billing event containing pricing information associated with the data transaction of downloading an application by processing the raw transaction data and the metadata.

10. A system for processing a data transaction in a wireless network, comprising:

means for receiving raw transaction data containing an application identifier and from an application download server, wherein the raw transaction data identifies information associated with a application download to a wireless device;

means for storing metadata containing an application identifier and associated with the application downloaded to the wireless device;

means for correlating the metadata and the raw transaction data using the application identifier; and

means for creating a billing event containing pricing information associated with the data transaction of downloading an application by processing the raw transaction data and the metadata.

11. A computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions for processing a data transaction that when executed perform a method, comprising:

receiving raw transaction data containing an application identifier and from an application download server, wherein the raw transaction data identifies information associated with a application download to a wireless device;

storing metadata containing an application identifier and associated with the application downloaded to the wireless device;

correlating the metadata and the raw transaction data using the application identifier; and

creating a billing event containing pricing information associated with the data transaction of downloading an application by processing the raw transaction data and the metadata.