Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Usage measurement
Reexamination Certificate
1998-03-05
2002-02-12
To, Doris H. (Department: 2682)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Usage measurement
C455S422100, C455S453000, C379S114030, C379S133000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06347224
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to charging systems for use in communications.
2. Related Art
A fundamental problem in providing a communications network infrastructure is the ratio of peak to mean demand. The network infrastructure has to be dimensioned to deal with peak demand. This means that resources are not profitably utilised when demand lies below its peak.
In cellular communications systems, or mobile communications systems, demand can pose a significant problem. The number of customers has increased extremely fast. In the UK, there were about one million customers in 1990. By 1996, there were over six million connections to mobile networks.
Cellular, or mobile, communications networks have become established over the decade between the mid-80s and the mid-90s. There are various types, including analogue and digital signalling versions. Technical information about such networks has been published for instance in “Mobile Radio Telephones in the UK” by Dr R. C. V. Macario, published in the UK by Glentop Press Ltd in 1988, in the British Telecom Technology Journal, Volume 8, No.1, January 1990, and in the British Telecom Technology Journal, Volume 14, No.3, July 1996. Two articles in the last quoted reference which may be particularly of interest are “Mobile Network Design and Optimisation” by Button, J et al, at pages 29 to 46, and “Global System for Mobile Communications—What's in Store?” by Holley, K A, at pages 47 to 54.
Referring to
FIG. 1
, a mobile network operator provides a set of signal transmitters
2
for communicating, usually by radio, with a mobile unit carried by the customer
10
. The signal transmitters
2
are connected to switching units
3
of a land-based network, for instance the Public Switched Telecommunications Network (PSTN), on which the mobile network operator leases capacity. All long distance traffic is generally carried by the fixed network. It is primarily the customer access links, provided by the signal transmitters
2
, which give the mobility.
The “cells” of a cellular network are generally created as follows. The mobile customer receives signals from the network from any of a plurality of signal transmitters. In known networks of this type, the customer receives signals from the transmitter providing the strongest signal. This is usually but not necessarily the nearest transmitter. The plurality of transmitters thereby effectively creates cells, the boundary of each cell being the point at which the cell's transmitter “hands over” to an adjoining transmitter because the signal of the adjoining transmitter becomes stronger at that point.
It is not essential that the signal transmitters are all at permanently fixed locations. For instance, it is possible to use a mobile transmitter, even another mobile phone, as a signal transmitter to a mobile phone. That is, as long as it is not in use as a telephone, one mobile phone can act as a mobile “repeater” for another mobile phone. In this way, one can install something to operate as a signal base station, even within a vehicle such as a bus.
In each cell, there will be several factors affecting availability of communications bandwidth to the user. These will include facilities provided, such as the capacity of available bearers, together with the traffic load already carried in a cell. Hence, in Britain the available capacity to users driving on the M25 motorway might be quite low, particularly at certain times of day, in spite of high capacity transmitters being available. Then in cells to either side of the M25 motorway, although the transmitters may have much lower bandwidth specifications, the available capacity might be relatively high because of the lower population of users in those adjacent cells.
It is possible to provide real-time pricing information to a user and a system for doing so in relation to a fixed network is set out in the specification of co-pending International patent application number WO94/28683. However as the user moves from cell to cell of a mobile network, the real-time pricing information can quickly become out of date and/or inappropriate.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a charge control system for use in a cellular communications network infrastructure, wherein local charges are modifiable in response to current local traffic loading, the system comprising:
i) monitoring means for monitoring current local traffic loading in the network;
ii) a data store for storing historic traffic data related to cells of the network;
iii) data processing means for generating a local traffic-related parameter, dependent on the current traffic loading and the historic traffic data; and
iv) charge setting means for setting the rate at which traffic is charged by the network in a local area thereof, the rate set by the charge setting means being controlled at least in part by said local traffic-related parameter.
Embodiments of the invention may find application in fixed networks having an area-based management infrastructure, which therefore could be described as cellular. However, they are probably of more immediate relevance to networks which are designed at least in part for use by mobile users, such as the cellular mobile network provided in the UK by Cellnet. In this case, the historic traffic data usefully includes or comprises handover data, relating to historic handover patterns between cells.
Because the charge-setting depends at least in part on historic traffic data, it is possible to introduce a learning behaviour in the way charges are set.
Charge setting may be actually carried out in more than one way. For instance, it might be done by setting a field in a call record, during call set-up, to show an applicable charge rate for the duration of the call. In the known Cellnet mobile network, information specific to a user is usually stored at the Visiting or Home Location Registers. Information about usage, which will be billed to a particular user, is collected there in the form of toll tickets. A particularly convenient way of collecting billing information in embodiments of the present information, so that the charge rate for a call is maintained throughout the duration of a call, including across cell boundaries, might be to set a field in the toll ticket, at call set-up, which indicates a charge band. That field need only be modifiable thereafter under extraordinary circumstances, or perhaps with the agreement of the user. A charge band may be one of, for instance, 100 contiguous charge bands to give sufficient flexibility in the pricing structure.
Traffic will be carried, and charged, in different ways. A purpose of being able to set the charge rate is to influence the use of finite resources in a network. Depending on the access technology used, the “finite resource” might be channel frequencies, available time slots or, in Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), simply the number of users communicating in a common geographical area.
(It should be noted that although reference may be made herein to “calls”, this should be taken to mean any connection using the network which can be expected to be billed. It therefore covers data transfer, telemetry and multimedia applications for instance, not necessarily involving voice.)
Embodiments of the invention will find particular relevance in cellular mobile networks.
Preferably, the charge control system further comprises reporting means to report current charge rate information to user equipment. For instance, it may broadcast current local charge rates to all user equipment which is switched on. However, that approach uses a relatively high level of capacity. A charge rate report might be triggered by a user input, such as a specific request or simply putting their equipment in the “off hook” condition, to transmit the report just to that user. A third and perhaps best alternative is that the reporting means sends charge rate reports to each user whose equipment is switched on, in tu
Doyle Katherine E
McKee Paul F
Smyth Peter P
British Telecommunications public limited company
Nixon & Vanderhye P.C.
To Doris H.
LandOfFree
Charging systems for services in communications does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Charging systems for services in communications, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Charging systems for services in communications will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2938292