Location-Dependent Billing via External Tags
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing location-dependent billing methods for mobile services lack precision and are costly, as they rely on imprecise location determination and require expensive technical implementations.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that uses a mobile terminal with an identification module to establish a local communication connection with external location tags via wireless interfaces like ZigBee, Bluetooth, or NFC, allowing for precise billing rate selection based on location identification, which can include geographic coordinates, and ensures secure and encrypted data transmission to a central unit for billing purposes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional location-dependent billing methods are used, then billing can be performed based on general location zones, but the location determination precision is insufficient and technical implementation is costly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces location tags as intermediary objects deployed in the physical environment. These tags act as mediators between the mobile terminal and the billing system, providing precise location information through wireless communication without requiring complex centralized location determination infrastructure. The tags store location identification data that can be directly read by the terminal's identification module.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical/cellular-based location determination systems with wireless communication-based location tag reading. Instead of relying on complex network-based triangulation or cell tower positioning, the system uses direct wireless reading of location tags via short-range communication interfaces, significantly reducing technical complexity while improving precision.
2Measurement precision
If precise location determination is implemented using traditional methods, then billing accuracy improves, but the cost of technical implementation increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs inexpensive location tags that can be deployed widely in the environment. These tags are low-cost devices that provide location information through simple wireless communication. The system replaces expensive centralized location determination infrastructure with numerous cheap, distributed location tags, achieving high billing accuracy at low implementation cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile terminal autonomously reads location tag information using its identification module and wireless interface without requiring complex server-side location determination. The terminal self-determines its location by reading nearby tags and uses this information for billing purposes, reducing the need for expensive network infrastructure.
3Measurement precision
If location tags are deployed in the environment, then location identification precision improves, but the system complexity and data security requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements encryption and authentication mechanisms in advance before data transmission occurs. Location tags and mobile terminals are pre-configured with security credentials, and encrypted communication channels are established before sensitive billing data is exchanged. This preliminary security setup ensures data protection without compromising the precision of location identification.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for location-dependent billing for a services that are available to a mobile terminal, a local communication connection is set up to a fixably installed external location tag with a corresponding wireless interface between the fixably installed tag and the mobile terminal, the method including the steps of accessing the external location tag and transmitting a billing rate code from the external location tag to the mobile terminal, forwarding the billing rate code from the mobile terminal to a central unit of a mobile communication network, in which the mobile terminal is logged, determining a geographic location identification of the external location tag by evaluation of the billing rate code at the central unit, and selecting a billing rate for billing for the service available to the user based on the billing rate code at the central unit.