Internet settlement system

• US 7,840,458 B2
• Filed: 09/24/2007
• Issued: 11/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Channel IP BV
• Original Assignee: Ipass Incorporated (Pareteum Corp.)
• Inventors: Ling, David, Hayden, Michael E., Guan, Xiaomei, Liu, Lynn Y.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Nga B.
• Application Number:
  US11/860,305
• Publication Number:
  US 20080021995A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,156 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/27, 705/32, 705/34, 705/39, 705/40, 455/408, 455/403, 455/456, 709/227
• US Class Current: 705/32
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0645 Rental transactions; Leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/083 using passwords cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using a predetermined code H04L9/3226
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/44 Augmented, consolidated or itemized billing statement or bill presentation
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0104 Augmented, consolidated or itemised billing statement, e.g. additional billing information, bill presentation, layout, format, e-mail, fax, printout, itemised bill per service or per account, cumulative billing, consolidated billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0176 Billing arrangements using internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/2013 Fixed data network, e.g. PDN, ATM, B-ISDN
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/068 using credential vaults, e.g. password manager applications or one time password [OTP] applications

Abstract

A method and apparatus for collecting information about an event in which a user accesses the Internet through the system of a first Internet Service Provider with whom the user does not have an account. The apparatus includes a first server that creates a record of the user'"'"'s Internet usage and sends the record to a second server. The second server collects records from a plurality of Internet Service Providers and forwards the records to a third server on a regular basis. The third server processes the data in the plurality of records and generates a report showing how much money the first Internet Service Provider is owed for allowing the user to access the Internet through the system of the first Internet Service Provider.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a routing server comprising;

a collection module, to execute in a processor of the routing server, to receive accounting records of a user'"'"'s Internet connection service usage of a network of the local Internet service provider, the local Internet service provider operated independently from a home Internet service provider of the user, the user not having an account with the local Internet service provider but having an account with the home Internet service provider and connecting to the Internet via the local Internet service provider; and

a settlement server comprising;

a loader, to execute in a processor of the settlement server, to receive and collect the accounting records from the routing server for a period of time; and

a report module, to execute in the processor of the settlement server, to generate a report of service usage for the period of time and to transmit the report of service usage to the home Internet service provider over the Internet.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the settlement server further comprises:

a filtering module, to execute in the processor of the settlement server, to filter the accounting records to correct the data prior to generation of the report.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a database capable of storing the accounting records of the user'"'"'s Internet connection service usage of the network of the local Internet service provider.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an authentication server to enable access to the network of the local Internet service provider for the user.

5. The system of claim 4, the authentication server further comprising:

a billing module, to execute in a processor of the authentication server, to collect data about an identity of the user and an amount of time that the user is connected to the Internet, to generate the accounting records from the collected data, and to provide the accounting records to the routing server.

6. A system comprising:

a memory;

one or more processors coupled to said memory comprising;

a loader, to execute in the one or more processors, to receive from a local Internet service provider over the Internet accounting records of a user'"'"'s Internet connection service usage of a network of the local Internet service provider, the local Internet service provider operated independently from a home Internet service provider of the user, the user not having an account with the local Internet service provider but having an account with the home Internet service provider and connecting to the Internet via the local Internet service provider;

a reporting module, coupled to the loader to execute in the one or more processors, to generate reports from the accounting records to be sent to the home Internet service provider over the Internet.

7. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

a filter, coupled to the loader to execute in the one or more processors, to generate filtered accounting records by removing erroneous data from the accounting records received by the loader for access by the reporting module.

8. A method comprising:

receiving, by one or more processors, accounting records of a user'"'"'s Internet connection service usage of a network of a local Internet service provider from the local Internet service provider, the local Internet service provider operated independently from a home Internet service provider of the user, the user not having an account with the local Internet service provider but having an account with the home Internet service provider and connecting to the Internet via the local Internet service provider;

generating, by the one or more processors, a report of service usage by the user from the accounting records; and

transmitting, by the one or more processors, the report of service usage to the home Internet service provider over the Internet.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein generating a report of service usage by the user from the accounting records comprises:

categorizing, by the one or more processors, the accounting records by the home Internet service provider; and

aggregating, by the one or more processors, the accounting records corresponding to a period of time for which the accounting records were collected.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein generating a report of service usage by the user from the accounting records comprises:

categorizing, by the one or more processors, the accounting records by the local Internet service provider; and

aggregating, by the one or more processors, the accounting records corresponding to a period of time for which the account records were collected.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein generating a report of service usage by the user from the accounting records comprises:

filtering, by the one or more processors, the accounting records; and

generating, by the one or more processors, a report of service by the user from the filtered accounting records.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein filtering the accounting records comprises:

removing, by the one or more processors, irrelevant records from the accounting records.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein filtering the accounting records comprises:

removing, by the one or more processors, error records from the accounting records.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein filtering the accounting records comprises:

reformatting, by the one or more processors, non-conforming records of the accounting records into a normalized form.

15. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

multiplying, by the one or more processors, a time period that the user was provided service by the local Internet service provider by a rate corresponding to a negotiated rate of the user'"'"'s home Internet service provider.

16. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

categorizing, by the one or more processors, a time that the user was provided service by a plurality of geographic locations; and

multiplying, by the one or more processors, a time in the plurality of geographic locations by a rate corresponding to a charge for service in the plurality of geographic locations for the user'"'"'s home Internet service provider.

17. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

categorizing, by the one or more processors, a time period that the user was provided service by the local Internet service provider; and

multiplying, by the one or more processors, a time the user was provided service by the local Internet service provider by a rate corresponding to a charge for using the local Internet service provider for the user'"'"'s home Internet service provider.

18. A machine-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:

receive accounting records of a user'"'"'s Internet connection service usage of a network of a local Internet service provider from the local Internet service provider, the local Internet service provider operated independently from a home Internet service provider of the user, the user not having an account with the local Internet service provider but having an account with the home Internet service provider and connecting to the Internet via the local Internet service provider;

generate a report of service by the user from the accounting records; and

transmit the report of service usage to the home Internet service provider over the Internet.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein causing the machine to generate a report of service by the user from the accounting records causes the machine to:

filter the accounting records; and

generate a report of service by the user from the filtered accounting records.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising instructions that causes the machine to:

categorize a time that the user was provided service by a plurality of geographic locations; and

multiply a time in the plurality of geographic locations by a rate corresponding to a charge for service in the plurality of geographic locations for the user'"'"'s home Internet service provider.