Dynamic, subscriber driven charging models for media distribution

• US 9,934,519 B2
• Filed: 01/04/2008
• Issued: 04/03/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Alexander, Michael E., Ramanathan, Sri, Schaffa, Frank A., Trevathan, Matthew B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Khattar, Rajesh
• Assistant Examiner(s): SEE, CAROL A
• Application Number:
  US11/969,536
• Publication Number:
  US 20090177536A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,742 Days
• Field of Search: 705 14
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

A system and method is provided to implement charging models for subscriber driven media agnostic content delivery across same or different networks. The method includes receiving content of a first media type over a network from a sending client. The method further includes sending the content or a reference to the content to a receiving client in a preferred media type and to a preferred device in accordance with at least one preference of the receiving client. The method also includes generating a billing record based on the content and user preferences of a sending client and/or a receiving client.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a computer device, content of a first media type over a network from a sending client, wherein the content is intended for distribution to a receiving client;

retrieving, by the computer device, preferences for both the sending client and the receiving client;

performing, by the computer device, a transcoding operation on the content to convert the content from the first media type to a preferred media type based on the preferences retrieved for the receiving client;

delivering, by the computer device, the content in the preferred media type to an edge content location for future retrieval by the receiving client;

providing, by the computer device, a notification to a preferred device of the receiving client that indicates the content is ready for delivery, wherein the notification is a reference to the content on the edge content location;

providing, by the computer device, a notification to a mobile device of the receiving client that indicates the content is ready for delivery;

receiving, by the computer device, a request from the preferred device of the receiving client for retrieval of the content on the edge content location;

sending, by the computer device, the content in the preferred media type to the preferred device in accordance with the preferences retrieved for the receiving client; and

generating, by the computer device, a billing record based on the content, a type of the preferred device, the retrieved preferences of the receiving client, and the preferred device being a non-IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) enabled device;

wherein the preferred device is a set-top box which is different from that of the mobile device;

location information of the receiving client is requested and received, by the computer device, in order to generate the billing record;

a geographic separation between the receiving client and the sending client is determined, by the computer device;

the preferences of the receiving client include a number of a plurality of devices of the receiving client in which the content is sent to including the preferred device; and

the billing record includes a premium billing charge based on any of the plurality of devices of the receiving subscriber in which the content is delivered to that are non-IMS enabled,

wherein the premium billing charge is further based on a route that the content is sent through in a Messaging Gateway Framework, and

wherein the preferences of the receiving client further includes;

the plurality of devices of the receiving client which are to receive the content;

time sensitivity of the content;

number of times the content is to be sent to the receiving client; and

whether the receiving client is a prepaid client, ad hoc client or post paid client.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the billing record is provided to at least one of the sending client and receiving client.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising notifying, by the computer device, at least one of the receiving client and the sending client of a billing event.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the billing record is based on computer resources required to send the content to the receiving client.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the computer resources required to send the content to the receiving client comprises processing cycles required to send the content to the receiving client.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the billing record includes the premium billing charge further based on the transcoding required to send the content to the receiving client, time sensitive nature of the content, a location of the preferred device, routing of the content to the receiving client, and the type of the preferred device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the billing record reflects no charge when the receiving client views an advertisement.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the billing record reflects no charge when the receiving party does not view the content.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a service provider generates the billing record for a fee or on a subscription basis.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps of claim 1 are provided on a computing infrastructure which is at least one of maintained, deployed, supported and created by a service provider.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising applying a billing charge in the billing record based on the type of the preferred device, which takes into account capabilities of the preferred device, the billing record including the premium billing charge based on the preferred device being a non-compatible device with the predetermined network.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the premium billing charge is further based on a selected charging model from a set-up window.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the premium billing charge is based on processing cycles required to perform the transcoding operation such that a number of the processing cycles required to perform the transcoding operation corresponds to a billing rate.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the premium billing charge is based on the time sensitivity of the client such that time sensitive content corresponds to a higher billing rate than non-time sensitive content.

15. A method of implementing charging models for charging a subscriber for sending subscriber driven media content delivery across different networks, comprising:

receiving, by a computing device, selection from a sending subscriber of a first charging model for delivering the subscriber driven media content across the different networks, the first charging model being based at least on a media type of the content and a location from which the content is being delivered from,

receiving, by the computing device, selection from a receiving subscriber of a second charging model based at least on complexity of transcoding the content from the media type to a preferred media type of the receiving subscriber, a location at which the content is being delivered, a number and type of a plurality of devices of the receiving subscriber that are configured to receive the content in the preferred media type, and the plurality of the devices of the receiving subscriber being set-top boxes and being non-IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) enabled devices;

generating, by the computing device, a billing report for the sending subscriber that includes charges based on the first charging model; and

generating, by the computing device, a billing report for the receiving subscriber that includes charges based on the second charging model and premium charges for any of the plurality of devices of the receiving subscriber in which the content is delivered to that are non-IMS enabled and a network route required to deliver the content from the sending subscriber to the receiving subscriber,

wherein the billing report for the receiving subscriber further includes premium charges based on a time sensitive nature of the content, the location at which the content is being delivered, and an amount of content that is to be viewed by the receiving subscriber.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the second charging model is further based on a number of times the content is to be sent to the receiving subscriber and whether the receiving subscriber is a prepaid subscriber, ad hoc subscriber or post paid subscriber.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the billing report for the sending subscriber further includes premium charges based on computer resources expended in order to send the content to the receiving subscriber.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising making no charge on the billing report for the receiving subscriber based on an agreement with the receiving subscriber to view an advertisement.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the charging platform is at least one of maintained, deployed, supported and created by a service provider.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein

the charges in the in the billing report for the receiving subscriber based on the type of the plurality of devices of the receiving subscriber that are configured to receive the content takes into account capabilities of the plurality of devices.

21. A computer program product comprising a computer readable hardware storage device having readable program code embodied in the computer readable hardware storage device, the program code executable by a computer device to cause the computer device to:

receive content of a first media type over a network from a sending client, wherein the content is intended for distribution to a receiving client;

retrieve preferences for both the sending client and the receiving client;

perform a transcoding operation on the content to convert the content from the first media type to a preferred media type based on the preferences retrieved for the receiving client;

deliver the content in the preferred media type to an edge content location for future retrieval by the receiving client;

determine a location of the receiving client;

provide a notification to a preferred device of the receiving client that indicates the content is ready for delivery;

provide a notification to a mobile device of the receiving client that indicates the content is ready for delivery;

receive a request from the preferred device of the receiving client for retrieval of the content on the edge content location;

send the content in the preferred media type to the preferred device in accordance with the preferences retrieved for the receiving client;

generate a billing record for the sending client that includes billing charges based on the preferences received for the sending client; and

generate a billing record for the receiving client that includes a billing charge based on the preferred type of the content to be delivered to the receiving client, a type of the preferred device, a number of a plurality of devices of the receiving client in which the content is sent to including the preferred device, and the preferred device being a non-IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) enabled device, and a premium billing charge based on the location of the receiving client, any of the plurality of devices of the receiving client in which the content is delivered to that are non-IMS enabled, and a network route required to deliver the content from the sending client to the receiving client,

wherein the preferred device is a set-top box which is different from that of the mobile device, and

wherein the billing charge on the billing record for the receiving client is further based on;

the plurality of devices of the receiving client which are to receive the content;

time sensitivity of the content;

number of times the content is to be sent to the receiving client;

amount of content that is to be viewed by the receiving client; and

whether the receiving client is a prepaid client, ad hoc client or post paid client.

22. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein:

the billing charge in the billing record for the receiving client based on the type of the preferred device takes into account capabilities of the preferred device; and

the billing record includes the premium billing charge based on the preferred device being a non-compatible device with the predetermined network.