Patent ID: 6954739
Filing Date: 2005-10-11
Classification: G06Q,H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for computing billing for at least one class of service provided by carrying offered bandwidth between source nodes and destination nodes of a communication network, each source-destination node pair σ in association with a service class s to be referred to as a stream (s, σ), the method comprising: (a) with respect to at least one stream (s, σ), determining for each of two or more consecutive time windows whether the network is compliant or non-compliant; (b) for each of said time windows, accruing a positive revenue increment for each unit of offered bandwidth that is carried; and (c) for each of said time windows, accruing a negative revenue increment for each unit of offered bandwidth that is lost while the network is noncompliant, wherein: (A) for measured values of the offered stream bandwidth that do not violate a contracted maximum limit, the network is compliant if a measured ratio of carried-to-offered stream bandwidth is at least a contracted value thereof, but otherwise the network is non-compliant; and (B) for measured values of the offered stream bandwidth that violate the contracted maximum limit, the network is compliant if a measured value of carried stream bandwidth is at least a contracted value thereof, but otherwise the network is non-compliant.