Communication Terminal Device and Billing Device

• US 20070244814A1
• Filed: 04/04/2007
• Published: 10/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: S Aqua Semiconductor LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Fairfield Resources International Incorporated
• Inventors: Kiyomatsu, Hisanori, Takatori, Sunao
• Granted Patent: US 7,869,430 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/0855 involving a third party
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/1085 involving automatic teller machines [ATMs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3821 Electronic credentials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• 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 15/56 for VoIP communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/68 Payment of value-added services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8044 Least cost routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8083 involving reduced rates or discounts, e.g. time-of-day reductions or volume discounts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0184 involving reduced rates or discounts, e.g. time-of-day reductions, volume discounts, cell discounts, group billing, frequent calling destination(s) or user history list
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0196 Payment of value-added services, mainly when their charges are added on the telephone bill, e.g. payment of non-telecom services, e-commerce, on-line banking
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/202 VoIP; Packet switched telephony
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/2033 WLAN
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/22 Bandwidth or usage-sensitve billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/32 Involving wireless systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/42 Least cost routing, i.e. provision for selecting the lowest cost tariff
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/745 Least cost routing, e.g. Automatic or manual, call by call or by preselection

Abstract

For transmitting transmission data generated by a transmission data generator of a communication terminal device, a packet unit determining unit determines a packet unit for a lowest data communication rate for the transmission of the transmission data, among packet units (packet sizes) that can be recognized by a destination communication terminal device and that can be transmitted from the communication terminal device. A packet generator packetizes the transmission data according to the packet unit determined by the packet unit determining unit, and transmits the packetized transmission data to the destination communication terminal device.

Claims

1. A communication terminal device comprising:

a packet unit determining unit for determining a most appropriate packet unit for transmission data to be packetized; and

a packet generator for packetizing the transmission data based on a packet unit determined by said packet unit determining unit.

2. A communication terminal device according to claim 1, wherein said packet unit determining unit comprises means for determining the appropriate packet unit based on packet units that can be transmitted by the communication terminal device and packet units that can be transmitted by a destination communication terminal device.

3. A communication terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising at least one of:

means for transmitting a query about packet units that can be transmitted by a destination communication terminal device to the destination communication terminal device; and

means for responding to a query about packet units that can be transmitted by the communication terminal device from the destination communication terminal device.

4. A communication terminal device according to claim 2, further comprising:

means for storing information with respect to the packet units that can be recognized by the destination communication terminal device.

5. A communication terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising:

means for, if a retransmission request occurs while packets are being transmitted, transmitting data subsequent to the retransmission request according a smaller packet unit.

6. A billing device comprising:

means for generating a billing file storing information for billing which includes the type of a transmitted packet unit, the number of transmitted packets, and a packet communication rate, with respect to an ID to be billed; and

means for generating a charging file for the ID to be billed for a predetermined period.

7. A method for determining packet units for transmission data to be packetized and transmitted from a communication terminal device to a destination communication device, the method comprising the step of:

(1) determining packet units recognizable by said destination communication device for transmitting transmission data from said communication terminal device to said destination communication device;

(2) selecting a packet unit recognizable by said destination communication device to minimize the amount of transmission data for said packet unit; and

(3) packetizing said transmission data according to the packet unit selected in step (3).

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising transmitting said packetized transmission data from said communication terminal device to said destination communication device.

9. The method according to claim 7, further comprising determining whether information regarding packet units that can be recognized by said destination communication device is stored in a memory of said communication terminal device.

10. The method according to claim 8, further comprising:

generating a retransmission request after said transmitting step requesting a different packet unit size;

repacketizing said transmission data into a different packet unit size according to said retransmission request; and

transmitting said repacketized transmission data to said destination communication device.