Predictive Rating Buffer for Telecommunication Balance Management

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Solution Overview

Problem

Telecommunication service providers face challenges in accurately representing real-time balance and data consumption for customers, leading to potential overages due to high network traffic and computational costs from frequent reporting to online charging systems.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a mediator or predictive rating buffer that allocates service quotas to devices, managing resource grants with expiration times, and reporting usage and charges efficiently to reduce data traffic between the network and online charging solutions.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If frequent reporting of customer device to service provider charging system is implemented, then real-time balance information accuracy is improved, but network traffic and computational costs increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebalance information accuracyVSAvoidnetwork traffic and computational costs

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by proactively pushing balance and consumption information to the device before the device needs to report, eliminating the need for frequent reporting while maintaining real-time accuracy

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

An intermediary component is introduced that manages the communication between the device and charging system, filtering and batching information transmissions to reduce network traffic while maintaining data accuracy

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If real-time balance monitoring is implemented, then overage prevention is improved, but network traffic increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveoverage preventionVSAvoidnetwork traffic

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The system proactively monitors balance and sends alerts to the device before the balance is depleted, preventing overages without requiring continuous real-time network communication

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The device is empowered to self-monitor its own balance and consumption locally, making autonomous decisions about usage without frequent network consultations, thus preventing overages while minimizing network traffic

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentUS10547497B1Methods and systems for providing predictive rating using a buffer

Publication Date: 2020.01.28 NETCRACKER TECHNOLOGY CORP

AI summary

The present solution relates to an improved system and method for reducing traffic flow between the customer's client device, network, and the charging system. The methods and systems described herein can provide a predictive rating buffer between the network and the charging system. The predictive rating buffer can receive, from the online charging solution, data about services to be provided to a client device. The predictive rating buffer can generate primary allocation balances for the client device. Network grants can be made to the client device by the primary allocation balances. If a primary allocation balance is exhausted, an incoming grant can be granted from a contingency allocation balance.