Computer architecture and method for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming internet and/or electronic commerce data for storage into a data storage area

• US 6,151,601 A
• Filed: 11/12/1997
• Issued: 11/21/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: NCR Voyix Corporation
• Original Assignee: NCR Corporation
• Inventors: Papierniak, Karen A., Chiang, Luo-Jen, Thaisz, James E., Diwekar, Anjali M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shah, Sanjiv
• Application Number:
  US08/968,728
• Time in Patent Office: 1,105 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1, 707/2, 707/8, 707/9, 707/10, 707/102, 707/104
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/258 Data format conversion from or to a database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/95 Retrieval from the web
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing

Abstract

A computer system collects, analyzes and/or transforms Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers. The Internet and/or electronic commerce data includes one or more of business operational data and network operational data. The mapping system includes a database storing the Internet and/or electronic commerce data for interrogation by the CSP, and at least one computer station including data transformation and database load utilities. The computer station performs one or more of the functions: of transforming and organizing the business operational data; analyzing, and organizing the web server operational data pertaining to web page requests, accesses, and browsing into the format suitable to be loaded into said database; analyzing and organizing the Internet operational data pertaining to network sessions and accesses; correlating the network sessions, and authorization and application access data to customers; creating directories of applications; translating raw system data pertaining to Internet and/or electronic commerce applications into a business context; and correlating the business operational data and the network operational data into one or more datasets.

Claims

1. In a computer system for supporting and analyzing Internet and/or electronic commerce data over the world wide web for service providers including at least one of commerce service providers and Internet service providers received from one or more sources, the computer system including at least one user station transmitting a user request, at least one server, connectable to said at least one user station, said at least one server providing said at least one user station access to one or more external data sources, and at least one data collection and analysis system, a mapping system for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of the service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis, the Internet and/or electronic commerce data including at least one of business operational data and network operational data, said mapping system comprising:

a database storing the Internet and/or electronic commerce data for interrogation by the service provider; and

at least one computer station, responsively connectable to said database and including data transformation and database load utilities, said at least one computer station performing at least one of the functions of;

transforming and organizing the business operational data into a format suitable to be loaded into said database;

analyzing, and organizing the network operational data pertaining to network sessions and accesses into the format suitable to be loaded into said database;

analyzing, and organizing the web server operational data pertaining to web page requests, accesses, and browsing into the format suitable to be loaded into said database;

correlating the network sessions, accounting data, authorization data and web access data to at customers including at least one of individuals and groups;

creating categories to facilitate the loading and access of information pertaining to on-line content or Internet and/or electronic commerce applications;

translating raw system data pertaining to Internet and/or electronic commerce applications into at least one of a business and marketing context; and

at least one of correlating the business operational data and the network operational data into one or more datasets prior to loading into said database, and referencing the one or more datasets in other databases.

2. A mapping system for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 1, wherein the network operational data includes at least one of how long a user keeps files on a server without deleting, how current is user data refreshed, how the user updates the user data, how the user manipulates the user data over time, and user physical location.

3. A mapping system for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 1, wherein the business operational data includes business data, and the business data includes at least one of pre-paid user data, how the user purchases services and products, user discounts, billing rates, and user free subscriptions.

4. A mapping system for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 1, wherein the Internet and/or electronic commerce data information is retrieved from a distributed on-line, and interactive environment including multiple client browsers.

5. A mapping system for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 4, wherein the multiple client browsers are capable of accessing a web server storing information.

6. A mapping system for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 5, wherein the multiple client browsers are capable of accessing a web server or server storing information including customer support material and sales campaign schedules.

7. A mapping system for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 1, wherein said database stores metadata, and the metadata is used to track and define the Internet and/or electronic commerce data and operational data stored in said database and sources of the Internet and/or electronic commerce data and the operational data feeding said database.

8. A mapping system for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 1, wherein said database stores metadata, and the metadata provides a comprehensive description of each component and source of the Internet and/or electronic commerce data and operational data used to populate said database.

9. A mapping system for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 1, wherein said database stores metadata, and the metadata comprises schema for Internet data sources, and schema for business data sources.

10. A mapping system for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 9, wherein the schema for Internet data sources includes type of system logs, description of each log, location of each log, data format for each log entry, and operational considerations.

11. A mapping system for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 9, wherein the schema for business data sources includes tables, files and/or data elements that must be added to said database to enable decision-support functionality.

12. A mapping system for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 1, wherein the one or more datasets are stored in an RDBMS structure.

13. A mapping system for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 1, wherein said at least one computer station joins the one or more datasets using RDBMS technology.

14. A mapping system for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 1, wherein said at least one computer station generates one or more categories for at least one of on-line content and Internet and/or electronic commerce applications, and the categories form the basis of lookup tables in said database.

15. A mapping system for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 14, wherein said at least one computer station parses the categories as a basis to generate one or more lookup tables indicative of subscriber-customer preferences.

16. A method of collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers including at least one of commerce service providers and Internet service providers received from one or more sources, for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis, the Internet and/or electronic commerce data including at least one of business operational data and Internet operational data, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) storing in a database the Internet and/or electronic commerce data for interrogation by the service provider;

(b) performing by at least one computer station at least one of the functions of;

(1) transforming and organizing the business operational data into a format suitable to be loaded into the database;

(2) analyzing, and organizing the web server operational data pertaining to web page requests, accesses, and browsing into the format suitable to be loaded into said database;

(3) analyzing, and organizing the Internet operational data pertaining to Internet sessions and accesses into the format suitable to be loaded into the database;

(4) correlating the Internet sessions, and authorization and web server access data to customers including at least one of individuals and groups;

(5) creating directories of applications to facilitate the loading and access of information pertaining to on-line content or Internet and/or electronic commerce applications;

(6) translating raw system data pertaining to Internet and/or electronic commerce applications into a business context; and

(7) correlating the business operational data and the Internet operational data into one or more datasets prior to loading into said database.

17. A method for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 16, wherein the Internet operational data includes at least one of how long a user keeps files on a server without deleting, how current is user data refreshed, how the user updates the user data, how the user manipulates the user data over time, and user physical location.

18. A method for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 16, wherein the business operational data includes business data, and the business data includes at least one of pre-paid user data, how the user purchases services and products, user discounts, billing rates, and user free subscriptions.

19. A method for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 16, wherein the Internet and/or electronic commerce data information is retrieved from a distributed on-line, and interactive environment.

20. A method for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 19, wherein the multiple client browsers are capable of accessing a web server storing information.

21. A method for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 20, wherein the multiple client browsers are capable of accessing a web server or server storing information including customer support material and sales campaign schedules.

22. A method for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 16, wherein said database stores metadata, and the metadata is used to track and define the Internet and/or electronic commerce data stored in said database and sources of the Internet and/or electronic commerce data feeding said database.

23. A method for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 16, wherein said database stores metadata, and the metadata provides a comprehensive description of each component and source of the electronic commerce data used to populate said database.

24. A method for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 16, wherein said database stores metadata, and the metadata comprises schema for Internet data sources, and schema for business data sources.

25. A method for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 24, wherein the schema for Internet data sources includes type of system logs, description of each log, location of each log, data format for each log entry, and operational considerations.

26. A method for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 24, wherein the schema for business data sources includes tables, files and/or data elements that may be added to said database to enable decision-support functionality.

27. A method for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 16, wherein the one or more datasets are stored in an RDBMS structure.

28. A method for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 16, wherein said at least one computer station joins the one or more datasets using RDBMS technology.

29. A method for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 16, wherein said at least one computer station generates one or more reference directories for at least one of on-line content and Internet and/or electronic commerce applications, and the reference directories form the basis of lookup tables in said database.

30. A method for collecting, analyzing and/or transforming the Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis according to claim 16, wherein said at least one computer station parses the categories as a basis to generate one or more lookup tables indicative of subscriber-customer preferences.

31. A computer program memory, storing computer instructions to collect, analyze and/or transform Internet and/or electronic commerce data of service providers including at least one of Internet service providers and commerce service providers received from one or more sources for storage into a data storage area for subsequent retrieval and analysis over one or more networks, the computer instructions including:

(a) storing in a database the Internet and/or electronic commerce data for interrogation by the CSP;

(b) performing by at least one computer station at least one of the functions of;

(1) transforming and organizing the business operational data into a format suitable to be loaded into the database;

(2) analyzing, and organizing the web server operational data pertaining to web page requests, accesses, and browsing into the format suitable to be loaded into said database;

(3) analyzing, and organizing the network operational data pertaining to network sessions and accesses into the format suitable to be loaded into the database;

(4) correlating the network sessions, and authorization and application access data to customers;

(5) creating directories of applications to facilitate the loading and access of information pertaining to on-line content or Internet and/or electronic commerce applications;

(6) translating raw system data pertaining to Internet and/or electronic commerce applications into a business context; and

(7) correlating the business operational data and the network operational data into one or more datasets prior to loading into said database.