Application-Based Value Billing in Wireless Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless server-client systems offer limited flexibility for developers and content providers to package or up-sell applications, as they primarily support one-time purchases or fixed numbers of uses, restricting the ability to offer incremental purchases or value-based billing.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of an application-based value billing system that allows client devices to generate and transmit billing requests, including subscriber identification, and receive validation responses, enabling flexible pricing and licensing models without requiring content distribution or service enabling on the billing server.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional one-time purchase or fixed-use billing models are used in wireless systems, then billing system simplicity is maintained, but developer flexibility and revenue opportunities are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The client device autonomously generates billing requests based on application usage events without requiring server-side billing logic. The device itself performs the billing initiation, event tracking, and request transmission, eliminating the need for complex server-based billing management while enabling flexible pricing models.
Solution Approach 2:
The billing system is segmented into independent components: the client device handles billing request generation and transmission, while the server handles only validation and response. This separation allows the client to implement complex billing logic locally without increasing server complexity, resolving the contradiction between flexibility and complexity.
2Productivity
If content distribution and service enabling are required on the billing server, then centralized control is maintained, but system complexity and processing overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The billing request generation functionality is extracted from the server and placed in the client device. The server's workload is reduced to only validating received requests and sending responses, while the client device assumes responsibility for generating detailed billing requests based on local application events, thereby improving overall processing efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The client device performs preliminary billing processing by generating complete billing requests with all necessary event information before transmission to the server. This preliminary action at the client side eliminates the need for the server to perform complex content distribution or service enabling operations, reducing server workload while maintaining productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for application-based billing in a wireless subscriber billing system are disclosed. A wireless client device can generate and transmit a billing request to the billing system. The billing system generates a validation response to the billing request and transmits the validation response to the client device. The validation response can be processed by the client device to enable a service linked to the billing request.