Portable Data Service for Mobile Device Account Decoupling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional mobile data plans restrict data usage to a single account associated with a mobile device, limiting flexibility and increasing the risk of overages when users need to access data from different devices or accounts.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a portable data service that allows users to register any mobile device with a service provider network, enabling data usage to be logged and billed to a user's existing account, regardless of the device used, through a temporary mobile directory number (MDN) and a portable data platform that manages data consumption and billing across multiple accounts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If data usage is restricted to a single account associated with a mobile device, then billing and account management are simplified, but flexibility and adaptability are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the association between accounts and mobile devices by introducing a portable data service that decouples data usage from device-specific accounts. Instead of binding data usage to a single device account, the system creates portable data sessions that can be transferred between devices while maintaining separate account associations, thus enabling flexibility without complicating individual account management
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a portable data service as an intermediary layer between users and the network infrastructure. This service acts as a mediator that manages data sessions across multiple devices and accounts, handling the complexity of multi-device data portability while presenting a simplified interface to users through automatic session management
2Adaptability or versatility
If users can access data from multiple devices, then flexibility is improved, but the risk of data overages and billing inaccuracies increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms through automatic session management and data usage tracking. The portable data service continuously monitors data session status across devices and automatically updates account associations, providing real-time feedback on data consumption and ensuring accurate billing by maintaining a clear audit trail of which account consumed which data on which device
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-establishing portable data sessions and assigning unique identifiers to data usage before actual consumption occurs. This allows the system to pre-configure data access rights and tracking parameters, ensuring that billing accuracy is maintained from the outset of data usage rather than attempting to correct issues afterward
Data Source
AI summary
Network devices receive configuration settings for a portable data account with a service provider. The portable data account provides for mobile data over a broadband cellular network. The network devices receive, via a mobile device, user credentials, for a user, to activate a portable data service for the mobile device. The network devices determine that the user credentials correspond to the portable data account, the portable data account being different than a default account associated with the mobile device. The network devices map a temporary mobile directory number (MDN), which is associated with the portable data account, to a unique identifier for the mobile device, and enforce the configuration settings for a portable data session, associated with the temporary MDN, for the portable data account. The network devices log mobile data, used by the mobile device, for the portable data session and create a billing record for the portable data session, the billing record being based on the logging and associated with the portable data account.