Network Subscriber Usage Recording System with Audit
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current network usage data recording systems face challenges in accurately collecting, recording, and reporting usage data due to the complexity of data sources and types, leading to revenue leakage and inefficiencies in billing, especially with the transition to usage-based billing plans and increased bandwidth demands.
Innovation Solution
A network subscriber usage data recording system with an audit system that includes an encapsulator for converting network data into normalized metered events, an aggregator for processing these events, and an auditor for generating audit events to ensure data integrity and accuracy, thereby addressing the challenges of data processing and billing precision.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If network service providers implement usage-based billing plans to accurately charge subscribers, then billing precision is improved, but device complexity increases due to the need to collect, correlate, and aggregate data from multiple independent network data sources
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the complex data collection and processing task into separate functional modules: collectors gather data from individual network sources, a correlator matches usage data with session information, and an aggregator consolidates results. This segmentation allows each component to handle specific data sources independently, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining billing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a correlator as an intermediary component that bridges usage data from network elements and session information from billing systems. This mediator correlates IP addresses, timestamps, and user identifiers to accurately attribute usage to specific subscribers, enabling precise billing without requiring direct integration between all data sources.
2Measurement precision
If network service providers collect and correlate detailed usage data from multiple sources, then data accuracy is improved, but loss of time increases due to the complex processing required
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary correlation of usage data with session information at the point of data collection. By pre-matching IP addresses with user identifiers and pre-aggregating usage metrics before billing processing, the system reduces the computational burden during billing cycles, maintaining data accuracy while minimizing processing delays.
3Reliability
If network service providers implement comprehensive usage monitoring to prevent bandwidth abuse, then reliability is improved, but loss of energy increases due to continuous data collection and processing
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential usage metrics needed for billing and monitoring purposes from the complete network data stream. By selecting specific data elements such as IP addresses, byte counts, packet counts, and timestamps while filtering out redundant information, the system maintains reliable usage monitoring with reduced processing energy consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the present invention provide a network subscriber usage recording system and method with configurable audit system. In one embodiment, a network subscriber usage recording system comprises an encapsulator for reading a plurality of network subscriber metadata records from a network data source and converting the network data records to a plurality of data normalized metered events. An aggregator is provided for processing the data normalized metered events to create aggregated normalized metered events. An auditor is provided for generating audit normalized metered events based on the data normalized metered events.