Software Metering Agent for Usage-Based Billing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional software licensing models are inflexible, requiring customers to purchase and manage licenses based on expected user numbers, leading to overprovisioning and underutilization, and do not accommodate changing hardware needs, resulting in inefficiencies and delays in adapting to changing customer requirements.
Innovation Solution
A pay-per-use (PPU) software metering system that collects and transmits usage metrics from software products, allowing vendors to dynamically price and bill based on actual usage, enabling flexible pricing and reducing the need for fixed licenses by using a software metering agent and utility metering appliance to gather and transmit data for billing purposes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional fixed licensing models are used, then license management is simple, but customer costs increase due to overprovisioning and inability to adjust to changing needs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the licensing model from traditional fixed licenses to usage-based metering. The metering agent divides software usage into measurable units (CPU time, memory, disk I/O) and the billing system segments costs accordingly, allowing customers to pay only for actual usage rather than maintaining fixed license allocations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic licensing by replacing static fixed licenses with a metering system that continuously monitors and adjusts software usage in real-time. The billing model dynamically adapts to changing customer needs, hardware configurations, and software usage patterns, enabling flexible pricing that responds to actual consumption rather than predetermined quotas.
2Productivity
If fixed number of licenses are purchased, then initial cost is predictable, but customer cannot instantly adjust licenses when hardware needs change
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the metering agent continuously monitors software usage metrics and transmits this data to the billing system. This real-time feedback loop enables the system to automatically detect hardware changes, usage patterns, and cost optimization opportunities, allowing instant license adjustment without manual intervention or delays.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary actions by having the metering agent continuously collect and transmit usage metrics before billing cycles occur. This proactive data collection enables the system to anticipate future needs and adjust licenses in advance of actual hardware changes or usage spikes, eliminating delays associated with reactive license adjustments.
3Loss of energy
If traditional licensing models are used, then implementation is straightforward, but customer pays for excess capacity when employees use software only part-time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical/fixed license system with an electronic metering system that digitally tracks software usage metrics. The metering agent substitutes manual license counting with automated electronic monitoring of CPU utilization, memory consumption, disk I/O, and other software performance metrics, enabling precise measurement of actual usage rather than relying on fixed license allocations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental parameters of software licensing from fixed user counts to continuous usage metrics. Instead of licensing based on predetermined numbers of users, the system measures actual software consumption parameters (CPU time, memory footprint, I/O operations) and bills accordingly, transforming the licensing model from discrete to continuous measurement.
4Reliability
If multiple different metrics are collected from different software products, then billing accuracy improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal metering agent that performs multiple functions: collecting various software metrics (CPU, memory, disk, network usage), transmitting data to the billing system, and supporting different software products. This multi-functional agent consolidates what would otherwise be separate metering systems into a single unified platform, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining billing reliability across diverse software applications.
Data Source
AI summary
A pay-per-use (PPU) software system uses reads metrics data from one or more PPU products and transmits the metrics data to a remote location for processing. The PPU system uses a utility metering appliance that monitors PPU software products on a given internal network through the use of software metering agents that reside on different computers. Metric gathering tools are supplied with the PPU software products and are registered with an agent. The utility metering appliance polls all of the software metering agents, which collect software metrics data from the registered tools. Each agent transmits the data back to the utility metering appliance, where it is stored for periodic transmission to a usage collection and billing system. The usage collection and billing system then forwards the metrics data to a billing computer so that a bill can be issued to the software product user. The software metrics data may also be forwarded to a portal for customer tracking of PPU product usage.