Application-based value billing in a wireless subscriber network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10043170-B2
Application number	US-4087205-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 20, 2005
Priority date	Jan 21, 2004
Publication date	Aug 7, 2018
Grant date	Aug 7, 2018

Abstract

Systems and methods for application-based billing in a wireless subscriber billing system are disclosed. A wireless client device can generate and transmit a billing request to the billing system. The billing system generates a validation response to the billing request and transmits the validation response to the client device. The validation response can be processed by the client device to enable a service linked to the billing request.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for application-based billing, the method comprising:
generating an application-based billing request for purchase approval within a client device making the purchase, the client device being a wireless subscriber unit configured to communicate with a wireless subscriber billing system;
transmitting the billing request including a subscriber identification (SID) to the billing system;
generating a validation response to the billing request at the billing system; and
transmitting the validation response to the client device,
wherein the billing request is an in-app billing request that requests activation of one or more additional features for an existing application configured for execution on the client device, and/or wherein the validation response is based on a roaming status of the client device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the client device is at least one of a wireless computing device, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a paging device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the validation response is at least one of an approval of the billing request and a denial of the billing request.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving the validation response at the client device; and
processing the validation response.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein processing the validation response further comprises:
enabling a service linked to the billing request, if the validation response is an approval of the billing request.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein processing the validation response further comprises:
connecting to a remote content server; and
retrieving content linked to the billing request, if the validation response is an approval of the billing request.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein processing the validation response further comprises:
indicating a denial of the billing request, if the validation response is a denial of the billing request.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
presenting an option to purchase a service including a list price on the client device; and
receiving an acceptance of the purchase option, prior to generating the billing request.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
associating vendor data with the billing request.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
propagating the vendor data through the billing system; and
generating a report including the vendor data.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the billing request includes additional billing information and wherein the additional billing information is at least one of a list price, application ID, transaction ID, submit time, create time, currency, short description, long description, payee ID, vendor data, and SID hash.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating a validation response comprises:
determining if the SID is associated with a prepay account;
verifying sufficient funds are available in the prepay account; and
denying the billing request, if insufficient funds are available.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating a validation response comprises:
determining the roaming status of the client device; and
denying the billing request, if the roaming status of the client device is roaming.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating a validation response comprises:
determining if the SID is authorized for value billing services; and
denying the billing request, if the SID is not authorized for value billing services.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating a validation response comprises:
determining if the billing request contains valid billing information; and
denying the billing request, if the billing information is not valid.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
enabling a service related to the billing request prior to receipt of the validation response;
and disabling the service, if the validation response is a denial of the billing request.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein an application associated with the billing request is configured to be executed at the client device.

18. A wireless subscriber billing system, comprising:
a wireless client device, including an application operable to generate and transmit an application-based billing request for making a purchase and receive a validation response;
a wireless subscriber billing server configured to receive the billing request and transmit the validation response; and
validation logic configured to generate the validation response in response to the billing request,
wherein the billing request is an in-app billing request that requests activation of one or more additional features for an existing application configured for execution on the client device, and/or wherein the validation response is based on a roaming status of the client device.

19. The billing system of claim 18 , wherein the client device is at least one of a wireless computing device, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a paging device.

20. The billing system of claim 18 , further comprising:
a transaction manager configured to receive transaction data related to the billing request and to generate a billing event;
a client billing module configured to receive the billing event from the transaction manager and generate a bill; and
a settlement module configured to at least one of receive the billing event from the transaction manager, invoice a carrier, and pay a service provider.

21. The billing system of claim 18 , wherein the billing server is configured to associate additional billing information with the billing request.

22. The billing system of claim 18 , wherein the validation response is at least one of an approval of the billing request or a denial of the billing request.

23. The billing system of claim 18 , wherein the application is further configured to enable a service linked to the billing request, if the validation response is an approval of the billing request.

24. The billing system of claim 18 , wherein the application is further configured to connect to a remote content server; and to retrieve content linked to the billing request, if the validation response is an approval of the billing request.

25. A wireless client device comprising:
a transceiver capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data;
a user interface; and
an application operable to generate an application-based billing request upon purchase of one or more value-added services by the client device, transmit the billing request to a wireless subscriber billing system using the transceiver, and approve or deny the one or more value-added services on receiving a validation response associated with the billing request from the billing system, wherein the billing request is an in-app billing request that requests activation of one or more additional features for an existing application configured for execution on the client device, and/or wherein the validation response is based on a roaming status of the client device.

26. The client device of claim 25 , wherein the application is further configured to retransmit the billing request, if the validation response is not received.

27. The client device of claim 25 , wherein the application is operable to present a denial of request indication on the user interface, if the validation response indica

Assignees

• Minear Brian
• Yu Julie
• Oliver Mitchell B
• Lundblade Laurence
• Horel Gerald C
• Patwari Jaiteerth
• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Minear Brian
• Yu Julie
• Oliver Mitchell B
• Lundblade Laurence
• Horel Gerald C
• Patwari Jaiteerth

Classifications

• G06Q20/3223 Primary

  Realising banking transactions through M-devices · CPC title

• G06Q30/04

  Billing or invoicing · CPC title

• G06Q20/32 Primary

  using wireless devices · CPC title

• G06Q20/3267 Primary

  In-app payments · CPC title

• H04M15/28

  with meter at substation {or with calculation of charges at terminal} · CPC title