Differentiated debiting in a gprs telecommunication and data communication system

Field of the Invention

p00002The present invention relates to a telecommunication and data communication system that includes a debit device and a debitting method and, in particular, a system as claimed in claim 1 and a method as claimed in claim 9.

Background of the invention

p00003With regard to the introduction of communication systems based on the GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), new debit mechanisms have been introduced, which make it possible to debit the user for amount of data, rather than for the time that the user It is connected to the communication system. The basic principle in these systems is that all data, regardless of what they represent, or what server they come from, will have the same price to transmit them from the communication network to a mobile user, and vice versa. With today's systems it is also possible to vary the cost according to, for example, when the data is transmitted day and night.

p00004International patent application WO 00/72571 shows a procedure and system for IP-based telephony, where the charge for a call is debited to the recipient of the call, called "billing to the recipient of the call". In the system, the recipient of the call must confirm on each occasion that he / she is willing to pay for the call in question. In the summary of the Japanese application JP, A, 2000-151811, a system for IP telephony is shown that makes it possible for an Internet user to establish a connection by making the so-called "collect calls" and, thus, gain access free of charge to the home page of an advertiser.

p00005International patent application WO-00/16579 refers to mechanisms to support user charges with service areas located in a mobile telecommunications network comprising a packet radio network. The solution is based on the idea that the packet radio network is adapted to classify the detail elements related to the charges of the CDR (Call Detail Record) into multiple classes, depending on whether the corresponding event occurred or not while the mobile station was in a cell of an LSA (Local Service Area). This means that the mobility support element can effectively classify the detail elements into two classes, depending on whether or not the corresponding event occurred while the mobile station was in an LSA cell. Classifying the elements of detail into two classes is sufficient, if the LSA cells are similar in terms of charges. If there are more than two types of charges, for example, more than two different fees, then the detail items should be classified into a corresponding number of classes.

p00006A disadvantage of these systems is that the cost owed cannot be varied according to the information content in the amount of data, or according to who or from where, for example, from which service server, the information originates, or to whom or where the information will be transmitted

The object of the invention

p00007The object of the invention is to provide a telecommunication and data communication system, and the corresponding procedure, that overcomes said disadvantages, that is, to provide a system / procedure that makes possible the differentiated costs of debit or, in other words, to provide a system / procedure that not only debits a user or a service provider based on the connection time, or the amount of data transmitted, but a system / procedure that can also provide debit variations based on the information content of the transmitted amount of data.

Summary of the Invention

p00008The present invention relates to a telecommunication and data communication system that includes a debit mechanism and a debit procedure and, in particular, a system / procedure such that it is characterized in that the debit device enables differentiated debit costs.

p00009The system / method according to the invention includes a base station BS and a service network node SGSN (GPRS server support node) on which said base station BS is arranged. In addition, an internal network, provided by an operator, is connected by said service network SGSN node. The internal network is connected to an external network by means of a GGSN node (GPRS gateway support node) network interconnection. In said external network, in addition, a service server is provided, provided by a service provider, and which provides information content to a user through a mobile station. The system / method according to the invention additionally includes a debit device that enables debit variations that depend on the content of information in the amount of data that is transmitted, and the source / destination service provider identified by its IP address of / where the amount of data originates / transmits. In addition, said debit device debits a user based on the service provider's specifications.

p00010In the system / method according to the invention, the SGSN (GPRS Service Support Node) nodes of the service network and the GGSN (GPRS Gateway Support Node) network interconnection nodes generate the so-called Data Detail Records Call (CDR), which includes information about users, the service provider and the service server and, in particular, information about the amount of data transmitted on the uplink (respectively, ascending), and under what conditions this is done. In addition, Call Detail Records (CDRs) respond separately from the amounts of data that have been transmitted to (respectively, from) the service servers of different service providers, where a cost split is made.

p00011In an embodiment of the invention, said cost division is effected by a post-processing device, in which some costs associated with the user's CDR (Call Details Record) are due to the user, and other costs are due to the service provider. services. In another embodiment, said cost division is carried out by the SGSN nodes of the service network and the GGSN network interconnection nodes, in which the service provider is assigned an identity for which a CDR has been created (Detail Record Call), which is willing to include information about services to be debited from the service provider, where the user and the service provider are debited based on the information that exists in their Call Detail Records (CDR).

p00012Brief description of the drawing

p00013The invention will now be described in detail, with reference to the attached drawing, in which

p00014Figure 1 schematically shows an embodiment of the system according to the invention.

Detailed description of the invention

p00015The present invention relates to a wireless telecommunication and data communication system and to a corresponding method that includes a debit device that provides differentiated debit costs. The system / method according to the invention allows, for example, variations of the debit according to the content of information in the amount of data transmitted, and according to, from, or to which server comes or, respectively, the information is transmitted. In addition, the system / procedure allows a user, free of charge, or with a debit level that the user and a service provider have agreed, to transmit information between the service provider's service server and the user in that system. Preferably, said system is a packet switched mobile communication system.

p00016An embodiment of the telecommunication and data communication system according to the invention will now be described with reference to Figure 1. The system 10 according to the invention, preferably, is a GSM communication system of the GPRS, packet switched, or a UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) system that provides packet switched wireless communication with the mobile stations 12, such as mobile phones which include protocols for wireless communication, for example, WAP (Wireless Applications Protocol), and transportable computers, for example, portable and handheld computers, which can communicate wirelessly with the base stations BS 14 (Base Station) included in the system 10. The base stations BS 14 constitute a wireless communication interface between the mobile stations 12 and the communication system 10. In addition, the base stations BS 14 are connected to an internal network 18 of the operator, by means of the so-called nodes SGSN 16 (Service Support Nodes of the GPRS) of the service network. In addition to the internal network 18, the so-called GGSN nodes 20 (GPRS gateway support nodes) of network interconnection are arranged, which connect the internal network with the external network 22. An example of an external network 22 is the Internet, but an internal network 18 of a second operator, of course, can also be connected by means of GGSN nodes 20 of network interconnection with an internal network of a first operator. Preferably, a certain number of service servers 24, which are provided by service providers, are arranged in the external network 22. The service servers 24 provide information to the user through their mobile station 12. The information may be presented to the user through of your mobile station 12, indicating / declaring the address that makes the service server 24 accessible via the external network 22. When the external network 22 is the Internet, the user indicates / declares an address according to the HTTP (HyperText Transport Protocol), which is the protocol used to connect the servers to a web server. In addition, each service server 24 is identified in a TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) network through its IP address.

p00017In the system 10 according to the invention, both the SGSN 16 nodes of the service network and the GGSN 20 network interconnection nodes generate the so-called Call Detail Records (CDR), not shown in Figure 1. The Call Detail Records (CDR) contain information about users, service providers and service servers 24 and, in particular, information about the amount of data that has been transmitted on the uplink (respectively, downlink). ), and under what conditions this is done.

p00018In an embodiment of the system according to the invention, traffic to / from certain servers 24 defined in advance is caused to be free of charge for the user, while the service provider is caused to pay for this traffic. This is done, in the Call Detail Records (CDR), by separately accounting for the amounts of data that have been transmitted to / from these service servers 24, apart from the amount of data that has been transmitted to / from other servers 24 services. To this end, it is sufficient to identify these service servers 24 through their IP address. This separate posting allows a cost split. This is done through a post-processing device (not shown in Figure 1) that divides the costs associated with a user so that some services are paid by the service provider that, through its service server 24, has provided the service, and others, or parts of others, costs are paid by the user. In the post-processing device, traffic prices to / from a user, accordingly, are set by a price allocation decided in advance.

p00019In another embodiment of the system according to the invention, the cost division between the service user and the service provider is managed by the system that creates the Call Detail Records (CDR), that is, the network SGSN 16 nodes of services and GGSN 20 network interconnection nodes. This can be done by allocating to the service provider an identity for which a Call Details Record (CDR) is created that includes information about all traffic to (respectively, from) the service provider 24 of the service provider. In the services free of charge for the user, the user's Call Details Record (CDR) will not include information about the amount of data that is transmitted to / from server 24 of the service provider, but this information, on the other hand , will be in the Call Details Record (CDR) of the service provider and the cost for these services will be debited to the service provider.

p00020By means of the debit mechanism according to the invention, a user can therefore use certain services free of charge and other services with a reduced or full charge.

p00021Services at no cost to the user can be supplemented, advantageously, with user functionality that provides evidence that you are visiting a service at no cost. Preferably, a dedicated application in the user's environment is used for this purpose, or an additional function in an existing application (for example, a browser docker) that receives information about which IP addresses are free of charge by a user. master system controlled by the operator.

p00022In a further development of the invention, it includes a debit possibility corresponding to the Payment Gallery of the circuit-switched world. In this further development it is possible for the service provider, according to its own decision, to decide the cost of its services. This can be done in such a way that the traffic to / from the service server 24 of the service provider is not debited by zero value, but by the price that the service provider wants per unit of data. This further development of the system includes devices to make the user aware that he is about to download data with a higher price.

p00023In another embodiment of the system according to the invention, devices for the so-called gradual debit are included. Through these devices, a fixed basic tariff is owed to all users, and only when the user is exceeding a certain communicated amount of data per period is an extra cost due.

p00024In addition, the system according to the invention is suitable for creating simple payment services for downloading electronic products, for example, software. The system is also well adapted, for example, to banks, loan institutes, insurance companies, e-commerce companies, travel agencies and other companies that want their customers to switch to customer services and order mechanisms based on net.

p00025The present invention has been described by means of exemplary embodiments, but it should be noted that other embodiments are conceivable. The scope of the invention is limited only by the appended claims.