Communications network
US7319673B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 4, 1999 |
| Grant date | Jan 15, 2008 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 4, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04M2215/92
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
In a communications network, which may be a federated network such as the Internet, a tariff is distributed via the network to customer terminals. At each terminal a charge for use of the network is calculated by using the tariff. Different tariffs may be communicated for different services and a respective tariff may be varied depending upon the operational condition of the service. Different tariffs may be calculated for different customers and the tariffs may be varied in dependence upon the loading of network resources and different tariffs may have different volatilities. Part of the traffic from a user to the network may be sampled and the status of the user may be amended when a discrepancy is detected between the sampled parameters and the contracted parameters in the users contract.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.