Data processing: financial – business practice – management – or co – For cost/price
Reexamination Certificate
1998-03-05
2001-03-06
Voeltz, Emanuel Todd (Department: 2761)
Data processing: financial, business practice, management, or co
For cost/price
C705S052000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06199054
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates generally to cost metering for digital data payloads, and particularly to a system and method for metering and assessing costs for providing data transmission and security services.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Information exchange mechanisms using the Internet have been available essentially for free to end users, who until the late 1980's were primary members of academic institutions and large companies. As of 1996, good billing models have not been developed for charging end users for Internet data transmission services. Furthermore, since data transmission security mechanisms are not widely available, there have been no major initiative in developing billing mechanisms that would rely on the end user's machine to perform data transmission cost metering, herein also called postage computation. Specifically, electronic mail (e-mail) is and has been widely available as a free service. No satisfactory billing model exists for charging the customers for this service. However, due to the large bandwidths required for multimedia and value added forms of information services, it may not be possible to maintain quality services without appropriately billing subscribers for the services they use.
Two significantly different charging models are available from the two conventional predominant mechanisms of information communication;
Mailing services, such as the U.S. postal service and various private courier services, typically bill their customers before providing services. The charges are usually based on the physical distance a package is to be transported, the mail agreements between the countries of origination and destination, the physical weight or size of the packages to be delivered, speed of service, and type of packages. Telephony services bill their customers for the time the telephone connection circuits are engaged. Customers are not billed based on the information content transmitted.
Telephone services provide options for customers to pay a monthly fee to utilize a certain amount of bandwidth between the two points whenever there is a need. Billing mechanisms for on-demand bandwidth assignment are still being worked out. Higher bandwidth in telephony is needed when a large amount of information is to be transported in a short amount of time.
Facsimile machines provide another method of information exchange that depends directly on telephony service, and thus cost is metered based on the amount of time required for document transmission, the distance between sender and receiver, and the applicable telephone usage rates.
Neither mail services nor telephone services directly base their charges on information content.
Data transmission via the Internet is faster than mailing services and is almost as fast as fax service. Furthermore, it does not provide any degradation of content quality. However, on its own, it does not protect the confidentiality of the material being delivered. Advances in the technology of information encryption and user authentication have substantially lowered the risks associated with stealing information content, making it an attractive alternative to traditional mailing services.
The current billing model used by the Internet service providers is less than satisfactory. It is based on monthly charges or the connect time. These models are neither flexible, nor can they be considered fair to the ordinary user, who may face delays in transporting his information due to problems originating from the service providers.
A secure information delivery service on the Internet could potentially outperform what is currently provided by any courier document delivery service in terms of cost, speed and security. A need is felt for providing the user with a billing mechanism using a paradigm that is already well known and accepted. Preferably, such a system should be fair in allowing for cost computation based on the package size, the level of security provided, and specific billing rules that the service provider can customize. It should also allow the user to review computed costs, for user acceptance or rejection, prior to data transmission.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a system and method for dynamically computing and/or assessing costs associated with Internet based content delivery. The content to be delivered can be any kind of electronic document or compound document that may contain various kinds of data, including multimedia data. The costs can be based upon the type of security services provided by the institution or the Internet Service Provider (ISP). The present invention provides the service provider the flexibility to customize their billing rules, and to provide billing rules that are fair to their end users in specific market segments. Computed billing information is dynamically updated visually as the user adds or removes items (content) to and from the payload to be transmitted. This visual update can be presented in several ways to the user.
A preferred embodiment utilizes a cost metering system that has some similarities to the one used by the U.S. postal service, where a weighting apparatus updates a display that shows the postal charges. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a digital payload envelope is shown on screen with a stamp (i.e., as an image, such as a bitmapped image). The value of the stamp increases as the user drags and drops more data files onto the payload envelope.
A second embodiment applies to credit customers or customers with other kinds of prepaid or charge accounts. In this case, the stamp is accompanied by a second display equivalent to a stamp dispenser that indicates the amount of remaining credit. The customer is able to add data files as long the dispenser can dispense the stamps. A modified version of this embodiment provides an allowance for an overdraft on the customer's prepaid or charge account.
A third embodiment of the invention provides a C.O.D. (charge on delivery) feature, in which the applicable charges for delivery of a digital payload envelope are deducted from the receiver's account if the receiver accepts delivery of the payload envelope. In this scenario, the receiver will be shown the charges (and optionally a list of the envelope's contents) before he or she is required to accept or decline the envelope.
A fourth embodiment of the invention assembles a separate transmittal envelope to assist in the transmission of the digital payload envelope and processing of the delivery charges. In this scenario, the transmittal envelope contains a representation of the information required for the delivery of the digital payload envelope to its intended recipient(s) and the information necessary for processing the delivery charges. The information contained in the transmittal form can also be represented in a bar coded form for automatic display and processing by the sender, any intermediate agent nodes that are authorized to process it, and the recipient(s). The information contained in the transmittal form envelope is made more secure using cryptography techniques.
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Hussain Basit
Khan Shabbir A.
Rajput Saeed A.
Dixon Thomas A.
Flehr Hohbach Test Albritton & Herbert LLP
Skylight Software, Inc.
Todd Voeltz Emanuel
LandOfFree
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