USSD Session Automation via SDK for Wireless Transactions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current USSD transactions on GSM wireless communication devices are cumbersome and error-prone, requiring users to remember short codes and navigate complex menus for services like mobile financial transactions, leading to increased user stress and potential time-out errors.
Innovation Solution
A software development kit (SDK) that simplifies USSD communication by allowing developers to create modern user interfaces using Man-Machine-Interface (MMI) codes, enabling automated data entry and reducing the need for users to remember short codes or phone numbers, and utilizing the SIM toolkit to interact directly with the network for streamlined transactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If users navigate traditional USSD menus manually, then they can access network services, but the process becomes slow and cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-configures USSD session parameters, menus, and navigation paths before the user initiates a transaction. The automated session manager prepares the communication state and pre-loads necessary network parameters, so that when the user triggers a transaction, the system can execute the sequence of USSD commands automatically without requiring manual navigation through menus at each step.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated USSD session manager performs the complex tasks of session initialization, parameter configuration, menu navigation, and data extraction automatically without requiring user intervention. The system serves itself by managing the entire USSD communication lifecycle, freeing the user from manual operations while maintaining service access.
2Reliability
If users manually enter data for transactions, then they can provide necessary information, but errors increase and time is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements automated feedback loops where the USSD session manager monitors network responses, validates data, and adjusts the transaction flow dynamically. When the network returns status information or correction requests, the system automatically processes this feedback and modifies subsequent commands without requiring user intervention, thereby reducing errors and time loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The manual mechanical process of typing and navigating menus is replaced by an automated software system that programmatically executes USSD commands and processes responses. The automated session manager substitutes human manual operations with computer-based command execution and data handling, eliminating typographical errors and reducing processing time.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the system provides detailed menu options, then users have more control, but the interface becomes more complex and error-prone
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the complex USSD interaction into discrete, manageable phases: session initialization, parameter configuration, data extraction, and completion. The automated session manager handles each phase separately with dedicated logic, making the overall complex process manageable through structured decomposition rather than presenting a monolithic complex interface to the user.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated USSD session manager acts as an intermediary between the user's high-level transaction requests and the complex underlying USSD protocol. It translates simple user intentions into detailed USSD commands and vice versa, shielding the user from protocol complexity while maintaining full service adaptability through the intermediary's intelligent translation layer.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for wireless transactions provides a software development kit (SDK) that provides accessibility to inherent communication capabilities within a wireless communication device. The communication capabilities are normally not accessible to a software developer. However, the SDK provides an appropriate interface that permits a software developer to create application programs for a variety of transactions between the wireless communication device and a mobile network operator (MNO). In some transactions, the MNO may function as a financial service provider in which a user has an account with an associated monetary value. The SDK provides a simplified technique for executing a financial transaction, such as making a payment or transferring money by presenting easy-to-use menus that avoid the difficulty of memorizing transaction codes, user phone numbers, and the like.