Abstract:
An Operator Charging Gateway (OCG) facility within a Mobile Commerce environment that, among other things, provides a bearer-independent and delivery-agnostic charging platform that, inter alia, (a) uncouples all of the particulars of the delivery of content, services, etc. from the myriad of activities, challenges, etc. of charging and (b) adds substantial value to each of the involved parties (including, for example, Mobile Subscribers, Operators, Merchants, etc.). Within a wireless messaging ecosystem an OCG may leverage the capabilities of a centrally-located, full-featured Value-Added Service Provider.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/793,304, filed on Apr. 20, 2006, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to telecommunications services. More particularly, the present invention relates to capabilities that enhance substantially the value and usefulness of, for example, various wireless messaging paradigms (including, inter alia, Short Message Service [SMS], Multimedia Message Service [MMS], IP Multimedia Subsystem [IMS], etc.) through a gateway facility that offers, possibly among other things, flexible and extensible charging capabilities. 
     2. Background of the Invention 
     As the ‘wireless revolution’ continues to march forward the ability of a Mobile Subscriber (MS), for example a user of a Wireless Device (WD) such as a mobile telephone, BlackBerry, etc. that is serviced by an Operator, to fully and completely utilize their WD to partake of services within a truly ubiquitous cross-Operator environment grows in importance while, simultaneously, the challenges that are associated with same similarly increase. 
     As one specific example consider Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce) which, broadly speaking, encompasses the buying and selling of Merchant-supplied products, goods, and services through WDs. A stylized, high-level depiction of a hypothetical M-Commerce environment  100  involving multiple Operators  102  and multiple Merchants  104  is presented in  FIG. 1 . Within an M-Commerce environment a number of factors—including, inter alia, the ever-expanding and rapidly changing universe of products/goods/services, the frequently low-value nature of those items, the practical aspects of a youth demographic (that include, for example, a lack of conventional credit cards), etc.—all contribute to the need for the separation of charging (rating, billing, etc.) activities from product/good/service delivery activities and, once separated, for the flexible, comprehensive, dynamic, sometimes non-intuitive, etc. processing and management of charging events. 
     Such a separation yields, among other things, a bearer-independent and delivery-agnostic charging platform that, inter alia, (a) uncouples all of the particulars of delivery from the myriad of activities, challenges, etc. of charging and (b) adds substantive value to each of the involved parties (including, for example, MS, Operator, Merchant, etc.). 
     The present invention facilitates aspects of such a separation and addresses various of the (not insubstantial) challenges that are associated with same. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Embodiments of the present invention provide an Operator Charging Gateway (OCG) facility within a M-Commerce environment that, among other things, provides a bearer-independent and delivery-agnostic charging platform that, inter alia, (a) uncouples all of the particulars of the delivery of content, services, etc. from the myriad of activities, challenges, etc. of charging and (b) adds substantial value to each of the involved parties (including, for example, MSs, Operators, Merchants, etc.). 
     In an embodiment of the invention an OCG facility may receive a purchase authorization from an external entity, perform one or more processing steps on the received purchase authorization (including at least submitting a purchase reservation to an Operator), and return an acknowledgement to the external entity. An illustrative external entity is a Content Provider (CP). 
     Another embodiment of the invention includes receiving a delivery confirmation notice from an external entity, performing one or more processing steps on the received delivery confirmation notice (including at least submitting delivery confirmation to an Operator), and conditionally returning an acknowledgement to the external entity. 
     Yet another embodiment of the invention includes receiving a rollback request from an external entity, performing one or more processing steps on the received rollback request (including at least initiating rollback with an Operator), and conditionally returning an acknowledgement to the external entity. 
     In another embodiment of the invention an OCG facility may employ a Pricing Scheme (PS) and/or a Contract Scheme (CS). 
     In yet another embodiment of the invention an OCG facility may employ a Universal Rating Engine (URE). 
     In another embodiment of the invention an OCG facility may employ one or more of fraud detection capabilities, multiple billing models, and multiple currencies. 
     These and other features of the embodiments of the present invention along with their attendant advantages will be more fully appreciated upon a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the associated drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  presents a stylized, high-level depiction of a hypothetical M-Commerce environment. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates the relative locations of Operators, Merchants, and an exemplary Value-Added Service Provider (VASP) in accordance with embodiments of the instant invention. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates various of the elements or components of an exemplary VASP. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates at a high-level aspects of an exemplary transaction that is possible in accordance with embodiments of the instant invention. 
         FIG. 5  provides a somewhat more detailed depiction of an exemplary transaction that is possible in accordance with embodiments of the instant invention. 
         FIG. 6  provides a further (more detailed) depiction of an exemplary transaction that is possible in accordance with embodiments of the instant invention. 
         FIGS. 7   a - c  depicts an exemplary settlement file that is possible in accordance with embodiments of the instant invention. 
         FIG. 8  depicts an exemplary data model that provides hierarchical aggregation capabilities for a hypothetical ‘Customer.’ 
         FIG. 9  depicts an exemplary data model that provides partial profile capabilities for a hypothetical ‘Customer.’ 
         FIG. 10  illustrates an exemplary PS. 
         FIG. 11  illustrates an exemplary CS. 
         FIG. 12  depicts an exemplary data model that provides partial support for a hypothetical ‘Rate Plan.’ 
         FIG. 13  depicts aspects of the hypothetical rating of an event. 
         FIG. 14  illustrates aspects of an exemplary URE. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention preferably leverages the capabilities of a centrally-located, full-featured VASP facility. As illustrated in  FIG. 2  and reference number  200  a VASP  214  is disposed between, possibly inter alia, multiple Operators (Operator 1    210 →Operator m    212 ) on one side and multiple Merchants (Merchant 1    216 →Merchant n    218 ) on the other side. A VASP  214  thus ‘bridges’ all of the connected entities and may provide key interoperability services (including, inter alia, connectivity, routing, reporting, etc.) to same. For example, a VASP  214  may provide, inter alia: 
     1) An Operator  210 → 212  (and, by extension, all of the MSs  202 → 204  and  206 → 208  that are serviced by an Operator  210 → 212 ) with ubiquitous access to a broad universe of Merchants  216 → 218 , and 
     2) A Merchant  216 → 218  with ubiquitous access to a broad universe of Operators  210 → 212  (and, by extension, to all of the MSs  202 → 204  and  206 → 208  that are serviced by an Operator  210 → 212 ). 
     Reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 7,154,901 entitled “INTERMEDIARY NETWORK SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FACILITATING MESSAGE EXCHANGE BETWEEN WIRELESS NETWORKS,” and its associated continuations, for a description of a VASP, a summary of various of the services/functions/etc. that are performed by a VASP, and a discussion of the numerous advantages that arise from same. 
     While the discussion below will include a centrally-located VASP it will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art that other arrangements are equally applicable and indeed are fully within the scope of the present invention. 
     In the discussion below aspects of the present invention are described and illustrated as being separate and apart from, for example, a CP and an Operator. However, aspects of the present invention may be realized as, for example, a third-party service bureau, an element of an Operator, an element of a VASP, multiple third-party entities working together, etc. 
     In the discussion below reference is made to messages that are sent, for example, between a MS and an Operator. As set forth below, a given ‘message’ sent between a MS and an Operator may actually comprise a series of steps in which the message is received, forwarded and routed between different entities, including possibly inter alia a MS, a VASP, etc. Thus, unless otherwise indicated, it will be understood that reference to a particular message generally includes that particular message as conveyed at any stage between an origination source, such as for example a MS, and an end receiver, such as for example an Operator. As such, reference to a particular message generally includes a series of related communications between, for example, a MS and a VASP; a VASP and an Operator; etc. The series of related communications may, in general, contain substantially the same information, or information may be added or subtracted in different communications that nevertheless may be generally referred to as a same message. To aid in clarity, a particular message, whether undergoing changes or not, is referred to by different reference numbers at different stages between a source and an endpoint of the message. 
       FIG. 3  and reference number  300  provide a graphical depiction of various of the components or elements that might be found within an exemplary VASP. Of interest and note are: 
     A) Communication Engine (CE)  306 . A CE  306  provides flexible and extensible support for a range of communication protocols (including, inter alia, Short Message Peer-to-Peer [SMPP], Simple Mail Transfer Protocol [SMTP], HyperText Transfer Protocol [HTTP], MM4, MM7, Wireless Communication Transport Protocol [WCTP] Simple Object Access Protocol [SOAP], Telelocator Alphanumeric Protocol [TAP], Signaling System No. 7 [SS7], etc.) over which outside entities may communicate  302 → 304  with a VASP. Support for a new protocol may be quickly realized by ‘plugging’ a new protocol-specific module into an internal CE  306  framework. 
     B) Queues  308 → 310 . A dynamically updateable set of queues (e.g., Queue 1    308 →Queue n    310 ) operate as intermediate or temporary buffers for incoming and outgoing traffic. 
     C) Database  312 . A logical representation of the possibly multiple physical repositories that may be implemented to support, inter alia, administrative, configuration, routing, profile, rating, transaction, inventory, etc. information. The physical repositories may be implemented through any combination of conventional Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMSs) such as Oracle, Object Database Management Systems (ODBMSs), in-memory Database Management Systems (DBMSs), etc. or through any combination of other equivalent facilities. 
     D) Transaction Engine (TE)  314 . Within a TE  314  a dynamically updateable set of one or more WorkFlows (WorkFlow 1    316 →WorkFlow n    318  in the diagram) remove incoming traffic from an intermediate or temporary incoming queue (such as, for example, Queue 1    308 ), perform all of the required processing operations, and deposit processed artifacts on an intermediate or temporary outgoing queue (such as, for example, Queue n    310 ). Through flexible, extensible, and dynamically updatable configuration information a WorkFlow component may be quickly and easily realized to support any number of activities. 
     E) Inventory Engine (IE)  320 . An IE  320  provides, inter alia, means (possibly World Wide Web [WWW]-based  332 , possibly data exchange-based  330 , possibly Application Programming Interface [API]-based, etc.) through which entities (e.g., Merchants such as, inter alia, CPs, etc.) may identify, upload, manage, etc. inventory (which may include anything from static text and images to dynamic multimedia presentations to games to news alerts to etc.). Through an IE  320  identified inventory may be stored locally (e.g., within a VASP), stored remotely (e.g., within a Merchant such as a CP), or stored through some combination of local and/or remote means. 
     F) Billing Engine (BE)  322 . A BE  322  provides, inter alia, comprehensive rating, charging, authorization, etc. services and includes, among other things, a façade behind which lie or reside a range of external entities including, inter alia, Operator billing environments (aspects of which are described in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/837,695 entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR BILLING AUGMENTATION”), credit and debit card clearinghouses, banks, third-party payment services, electronic fund transfer services (such as PayPal), etc. Such a façade effectively isolates, and abstracts away, the numerous non-trivial challenges that are associated with interacting with same—access and security, communication protocols and API sets, development time and cost, potentially limited pricing logic, time-consuming and costly certification/qualification regimes, administrative and regulatory concerns, etc. 
     G) Delivery Engine (DE)  324 . A DE  324  provides, possibly among other things, key routing, conveyance, etc. services. The routing services of a DE  324  are of considerable importance given the presence of, and the not-insignificant challenges that arise from, initiatives such as Mobile Number Portability (MNP), wireless/wireline convergence, etc. The routing services of a DE  324  may leverage ENUM and other similar facilities to, for example possibly among other things, provide authoritative lookup or resolution capabilities across any range of addressing paradigms including, inter alia, Telephone Numbers (TNs), Short Codes (SCs) (reference is made to pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/742,764, entitled “UNIVERSAL SHORT CODE ADMINISTRATION FACILITY,” for a description of various of the advantages [e.g., abbreviated length, such as five digits for a SC administered by Neustar under the Common Short Code {CSC} program] and challenges [e.g., management, etc.] that are associated with SCs), Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) addresses, etc. 
     H) Logging Engine (LE)  326 . A LE  326 , possibly among other things, collects logging artifacts that are generated by all of the other components/elements (e.g., CE  306 , TE  314 , IE  320 , etc.) as those components/elements perform their individual activities and, after applying an appropriate set of configurable and dynamically-updateable processing steps, records the resulting artifacts to a repository (such as, for example, Database  312 ). 
     I) Reporting Engine (RE)  328 . A RE  328  provides, possibly among other things, real-time, along with scheduled and ad hoc off-line, reporting services that may be delivered through various channels (including inter alia WWW  336 , e-mail, SMS/MMS/IMS/etc. messaging, Instant Messenger [IM], API  334 , etc.). To supply such reporting services a RE  324  may leverage, possibly inter alia, the contents of a repository (such as, for example, Database  312 ). 
     J) Administrator  338 . An Administrator  338  provides management or administrative control over all of the different components of a VASP through, as one example, a WWW-based interface  340 . It will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art that numerous other interfaces (e.g., a data feed, etc.) are easily possible. 
     The catalog of VASP components or elements that was presented above is illustrative only and it is to be understood that it would be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art that other components/elements are easily possible and indeed are fully within the scope of the present invention. 
     Consistent with the particulars of aspects of the instant invention the balance of the present discussion will focus on the BE component or element and, more specifically, on those features, capabilities, functions, etc. of a BE that may be offered under the umbrella of an OCG. 
     For purposes of illustration consider for a moment the hypothetical transaction that is depicted briefly in  FIG. 4  (and reference number  400 ) and more fully in  FIG. 5  (and reference number  500 ). As illustrated through  FIG. 5  and reference number  500  a series of exchanges or interactions (under ultimate direction of one or more TE WorkFlows) may be supported by an OCG, including: 
     A) Product/service/good request. For example, a MS  502  issues a request  510  to a CP  504  for a product, service, or good. 
     B) Authorization/Reservation. For example, a CP  504  submits a purchase authorization  512  to an OCG  506  and, in turn, the OCG  506  initiates a purchase reservation  514  (to, for example, an Operator  508 ). The OCG  506  may return an acknowledgement  518  to the CP  504 . 
     C) Fulfillment. For example, the CP  504  delivers the requested product/service/good  520  to the MS  502 . 
     D) Fulfillment acknowledgement. For example, a CP  504  may dispatch a delivery confirmation notice  522  (e.g., successful fulfillment, unsuccessful fulfillment, etc.) to an OCG  506  and, in turn, the OCG  506  may submit such a notice  524  to, for example, an Operator  508 . 
     E) Charge/cancel confirmation and acknowledgement. For example, confirmation and acknowledgement may be passed back to an OCG  506  (via  526 ) and, optionally, to a CP  504  (via  528 ). 
     F) Rollback. For example, if required a CP  504  may submit a rollback request  530  to an OCG  506 . Confirmation and acknowledgement of the rollback (from, e.g., an Operator  508 ) may be passed back to an OCG  506  (via  534 ) and, optionally, to a CP  504  (via  536 ). 
     The exchanges or interactions that were presented above are illustrative only and it is to be understood that it would be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art that other exchanges/interactions are easily possible and indeed are fully within the scope of the present invention. 
     The individual exchanges or interactions that were described above are illustrated in somewhat more detail (within the context of a download transaction involving a CP) in  FIG. 6  and reference number  600 : 
     A) Status Verification  610 . For example, a MS  602  issues a request  620  to a CP  604  for a product, service, or good and the CP  604  subsequently verifies same  622 → 624  through an OCG  606 . 
     B) Authentication  612 . For example, based on a MS&#39;  602  request  626  a CP  604  dispatches an authentication request  628  to an OCG  606  and, in turn, the OCG  606  submits such a request  630  to, for example, an Operator  608 . Confirmation and acknowledgement (from, e.g., an Operator  608 ) may be passed back to an OCG  606  (via  632 ) and, optionally, to a CP  604  (via  634 ). 
     C) Authorization  614 . For example, a CP  604  submits an authorization request  636  to an OCG  606 . The OCG  606 , following the completion of various internal processing steps involving possibly among other things an OCG&#39;s URE (discussed in detail below), initiates a reservation request (to, for example, an Operator  608 ) via  640 . The OCG  606  may return an acknowledgement  644  to the CP  604 . 
     D) Delivery Confirmation  616 . For example, a CP  604  may dispatch a delivery confirmation notice (e.g., successful fulfillment, unsuccessful fulfillment, etc.) to an OCG  606  (via  650 ) and, in turn, the OCG  606  may submit such a notice to, for example, an Operator  608  (via  654 ). Confirmation and acknowledgement (from, e.g., an Operator  608 ) may be passed back to an OCG  606  (via  656 ) and, optionally, to a CP  604  (via  658 ). 
     E) Rollback  618 . For example, if required a CP  604  may submit a rollback request  662  to an OCG  606 . Confirmation and acknowledgement of the rollback (from, e.g., an Operator  608 ) may be passed back to an OCG  606  (via  668 ) and, optionally, to a CP  604  (via  670 ). 
     Thus an OCG provides a range of key services or functions. 
     An OCG may aid in bridging the ‘impedance imbalance’ that may exist between, for example, Operators (who may be large, monolithic, slow to change, subject to numerous regulatory and other constraints, etc.) and Merchants (and other similarly-situated entities who may desire to respond quickly to market pressures, who may need to package/price/distribute time-sensitive content [new music, an upcoming movie, news alerts, etc.] quickly and creatively, etc.). 
     An OCG may support a number of different delivery business models including, inter alia: 
     1) Push. For example, a VASP may purchase capacity/bandwidth/etc. in bulk from various operators and then re-sell same to one or more Merchants under any number of pricing plans. 
     2) Revenue Share. For example, an Operator may collect funds from an MS for products/services/goods consumed and then dispatch some portion (or share or percentage) of those funds to a VASP who may, in turn, dispatch some portion (or share or percentage) of the amounts received to one or more Merchants based on any number of distribution schemes or models. 
     The reporting services that may be offered by a VASP may support or otherwise facilitate aspects of the process of funds settlement across all of the different entities that may exist upstream of the VASP (e.g., one or more Operators) and/or downstream of the VASP (e.g., one or more Merchants). For purposes of illustration consider for a moment the following hypothetical example: 
     A) Operator X collects 100% of the charges that are assessed for transactions involving their MSs for applicable products/services/goods during a specified time interval. The collected funds are dispatched, or reported, or etc. to a VASP. 
     B) For the first 10% of transaction volume the collected funds are to be distributed by the VASP as follows: 
     1) 40% to Merchant Y 
     2) 40% to Operator X 
     3) 20% to VASP 
     C) Following the first 10% of transaction volume, and up to 50% of transaction volume, the collected funds are to be distributed by the VASP as follows: 
     1) 35% to Merchant Y 
     2) 35% to Operator X 
     3) 30% to VASP 
     D) For the remaining transaction volume the collected funds are to be distributed by the VASP as follows: 
     1) 33% to Merchant Y 
     2) 33% to Operator X 
     3) 34% to VASP 
     The example that was presented above is illustrative only and it is to be understood that it would be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art that numerous other allocations, distributions, etc., and arrangement of same, are easily possible and indeed are fully within the scope of the present invention. 
     An OCG may optionally generate one or more data files including, inter alia, a (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.) settlement file (see  FIGS. 7   a - c  for an illustrative example), a daily reconciliation file, etc. 
     An OCG may provide a flexible, extensible, and dynamically configurable set of checks and balances that work together to ensure, among other things, that delivery (of a product, good, service, etc.) does not take place unless the requisite financial transaction(s) are successfully completed; that a MS is not billed unless delivery (of a product, good, service, etc.) is successfully completed; etc. 
     An OCG may optionally leverage a body of flexible, extensible, and dynamically updatable rules/logic/etc. to perform real-time analysis of all of the activity that transits its borders in support of, inter alia, the comprehensive detection of fraudulent activity. 
     The real-time reporting that an OCG may provide may be used by a Merchant to, for example, support immediate adjustments to the pricing of their products/goods/services as the volumes of transactions, sales, etc. are monitored so as to entice or otherwise stimulate further purchases, etc. 
     An OCG may provide support for, possibly inter alia: 
     A) Multiple currencies with the optional application of real-time conversation rates. 
     B) An internal neutral or pseudo currency (with mappings or conversions, as appropriate and as required, to/from supported real-world currencies). 
     C) Numerous subscription (or recurring purchase) plans. 
     D) Variable billing cycles (e.g., by the minute, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual, by bandwidth consumed, by volume transferred, etc.). 
     E) Numerous pre-paid models (including, for example, line of credit, debit card or mechanism, etc.). Under a pre-paid model a MS may secure (e.g., through the purchase of a phone card or through any other functionally equivalent means) a specified number of units (e.g., credits, messages, etc.) that may subsequently be consumed at defined rates during the processing of events. Under such a model an OCG may optionally interact with a MS&#39; Operator to, for example, pre-approve different aspects of a transaction. 
     F) The flexible, extensible, and dynamic hierarchical aggregation of entities (e.g., Merchants, Operators, etc.) with, optionally, the distribution of (charge, payment, etc.) amounts up and down the hierarchy through, inter alia, dynamically-updateable rules. As one example, consider the data model that is depicted in  FIG. 8  (and reference number  800 ) and which provides such support for a generic Customer  804 . 
     G) The use of Profiles for various entities (e.g., Merchants, Operators, etc.). As one example, consider the data model that is depicted in  FIG. 9  (and reference number  900 ) and which provides such support for various aspects ( 902 ,  906 ,  908 ) of a generic Customer ( 904 ,  910 ). 
     An OCG may employ a number of internal artifacts, structures, etc. in support of its activities. One such entity is a PS. A PS is a self-contained framework for capturing all of the particulars associated with cost and may include, possibly among other things, elements such as: 
     1) Descriptive Information. A range of descriptive or identifying information that may include, possibly inter alia, a unique identifier, a description (that may be displayed, that may be conveyed to an Operator for inclusion in a line-item on a MS monthly statement, etc.), effective dates/times, etc. 
     2) Interval. The starting point (e.g., the first of each month) and the duration (e.g., one calendar month) of the interval or cycle during which cost is accumulated. 
     3) Pre Amounts. Zero, one, or more fixed (e.g., $5.00) or variable (e.g., $0.05 times the number of items processed) amounts that contribute to an interval&#39;s overall or aggregate cost amount. A Pre Amount may be either a charge (a positive amount) or a discount (a negative amount) and may include, possibly inter alia, set-up fees, monthly service charges, etc. 
     4) Base Amount. The particulars that are applied to each event to rate, or determine the cost of, an event. Numerous plans or models are available to select from, including inter alia Static-Flat Rate-Basic (e.g., a single, fixed price), Static-Flat Rate-Tiered (e.g., price is derived from, inter alia, volume through defined thresholds or plateaus), etc. It is important to note that the preceding catalog of plans is illustrative only; it will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art that other plans may be easily added. 
     5) Post Amounts. Zero, one, or more fixed (e.g., $1.00) or variable (e.g., 2% of the aggregate interval cost) amounts that contribute to an interval&#39;s overall or aggregate cost. A Post Amount may be either a charge (a positive amount) or a discount (a negative amount). 
     For purposes of illustration, consider the hypothetical PS  1002  that is illustrated in  FIG. 10  (and reference number  1000 ) which includes three (3) Pre Amounts ( 1006 → 1010 ), one (1) Base Amount  1012 , and two (2) Post Amounts ( 1014 → 1016 ). 
     It should be noted that the specific PS that was just presented is illustrative only. It will be readily apparent to one or ordinary skill in the relevant art that the inclusion of different elements and/or alternative arrangements of the elements are easily possible. 
     One or more PSs may be associated with a Contract. A Contract may contain, possibly inter alia, descriptive information (e.g., a unique identifier, a description, etc.), all applicable terms and conditions (e.g., including support for one or more levels of optional taxation by, possibly inter alia, geography, national entity, etc.), etc. 
     One or more Contracts may be associated with an Operator, Merchant, etc. through a CS. For purposes of illustration consider the hypothetical CS  1100  that is presented in  FIG. 11 . The depicted CS  1100  employs a flexible and extensible ontology that easily supports multiple contracts ( 1106 ,  1114 ,  1116 ) per Operator/Merchant/etc  1102 . A contract may include a Pricing Scheme 1 →Pricing Scheme n  ( 1108 ,  1110 ,  1112 ). Descriptive material may also be associated with a given Operator/Merchant  102 . 
     A specific item of inventory may optionally be associated with a PS through a Stock Keeping Unit (SKU). A SKU may contain, possibly inter alia, descriptive information (e.g., a unique identifier, a description, etc.), temporal (i.e., date/time) constraints, etc. 
     It is important to note that the discussion of internal artifacts, structures, etc. that was just presented was illustrative only. It will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art that numerous other artifacts/structures/etc., and alternative arrangements of same, are easily possible. 
     Various of an OCG&#39;s internal artifacts, structures, etc. (e.g., possibly expressed through data models similar to the hypothetical ‘Rate Plan’ data model that is presented in  FIG. 12  [and reference number  1200 ]) may be used by an OCG&#39;s URE facility (see, for example,  FIG. 13  [and reference number  1300 ]) to flexibly and dynamically rate events—e.g., the downloading of a ringtone, the downloading of and the subsequent participation in a multi-party interactive game, the dispatch/receipt of a (stock, news, travel, weather, etc.) alert, etc. As illustrated in  FIG. 14  (and reference number  1400 ) a hypothetical URE  1404  may accept as input a raw (or unrated) event  1402 ; leverage a pool of flexible, extensible, and dynamically configurable definitional  1408 → 1410  and configuration  1412  information; and produce as output a processed (or rated) event  1406 . 
     Under certain circumstances a URE may, during its rating of an event, identify the need to ‘go back’ and re-rate one or more previously-rated events (to, for example, apply some updated/corrected/different/etc. amount, apply some volume-sensitive increase or decrease, etc.). Additionally, a URE may optionally draw upon estimated message volume projections (e.g., extrapolated from historical message volumes, etc.) to artificially align a volume-sensitive Base Amount plan to what is anticipated to be the final message volume at the end of the instant cycle so as to continuously maintain a real-time exact amount charged (and thus obviate any number of intermediate ‘go back and re-rate’ operations). 
     These and other properties optionally enable an OCG to continuously maintain accurate, up-to-date event rating amounts so that the OCG can, at any moment in time, authoritatively respond to any inquiry quickly, in real-time, with an exact amount charged. 
     Various of the messages that were identified during the preceding exchanges/interactions descriptions may optionally contain an informational element—e.g., ‘Thank you for using our service!’, etc.—that is provided through an OCG. The informational element may be selected statically (e.g., all generated messages are injected with the same informational text), randomly (e.g., a generated message is injected with informational text that is randomly selected from a pool of available informational text), or location-based (i.e., a generated message is injected with informational text that is selected from a pool of available informational text based on the current physical location of the recipient of the message as derived from, as one example, a Location-Based Service [LBS] facility). 
     The messages may also optionally contain advertising—e.g., textual material if an SMS model is being utilized, or multimedia (images of brand logos, sound, video snippets, etc.) material if another (suitably capable) model is being utilized. The advertising material may be selected statically (e.g., all generated messages are injected with the same advertising material), randomly (e.g., a generated message is injected with advertising material that is randomly selected from a pool of available material), or location-based (i.e., a generated message is injected with advertising material that is selected from a pool of available material based on the current physical location of the recipient of the message as derived from, as one example, a LBS facility). 
     The messages may also optionally contain promotional materials (e.g., static text, still images, video clips, etc.). 
     It is important to note that while aspects of the discussion that was presented above focused on the use of SCs, it will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art that TNs and other message address identifiers are equally applicable and, indeed, are fully within the scope of the present invention. 
     The discussion that was just presented referenced the specific wireless messaging paradigms SMS and MMS. These paradigms potentially offer an incremental advantage over other paradigms in that native support for SMS and/or MMS is commonly found on a WD that a potential MS would be carrying. However, it is to be understood that it would be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art that other paradigms (IMS, etc.) are fully within the scope of the present invention. 
     It is important to note that the hypothetical example that was presented above, which was described in the narrative and which was illustrated in the accompanying figures, is exemplary only. It will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art that numerous alternatives to the presented example are easily possible and, indeed, are fully within the scope of the present invention. 
     The following list defines acronyms as used in this disclosure. 
     
       
         
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Acronym 
                 Meaning 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
                 API 
                 Application Programming Interface 
               
               
                   
                 BE 
                 Billing Engine 
               
               
                   
                 CE 
                 Communication Engine 
               
               
                   
                 CP 
                 Content Provider 
               
               
                   
                 CS 
                 Contract Scheme 
               
               
                   
                 CSC 
                 Common Short Code 
               
               
                   
                 DBMS 
                 Database Management System 
               
               
                   
                 DE 
                 Delivery Engine 
               
               
                   
                 HTTP 
                 HyperText Transfer Protocol 
               
               
                   
                 IE 
                 Inventory Engine 
               
               
                   
                 IM 
                 Instant Messenger 
               
               
                   
                 IMS 
                 IP Multimedia Subsystem 
               
               
                   
                 LBS 
                 Location-Based Service 
               
               
                   
                 LE 
                 Logging Engine 
               
               
                   
                 MMS 
                 Multimedia Message Service 
               
               
                   
                 MNP 
                 Mobile Number Portability 
               
               
                   
                 MS 
                 Mobile Subscriber 
               
               
                   
                 OCG 
                 Operator Charging Gateway 
               
               
                   
                 ODBMS 
                 Object Database Management System 
               
               
                   
                 PS 
                 Pricing Scheme 
               
               
                   
                 RDBMS 
                 Relational Database Management System 
               
               
                   
                 RE 
                 Reporting Engine 
               
               
                   
                 SC 
                 Short Code 
               
               
                   
                 SIP 
                 Session Initiation Protocol 
               
               
                   
                 SKU 
                 Stock Keeping Unit 
               
               
                   
                 SMPP 
                 Short Message Peer-to-Peer 
               
               
                   
                 SMS 
                 Short Message Service 
               
               
                   
                 SMTP 
                 Simple Message Transfer Protocol 
               
               
                   
                 SOAP 
                 Simple Object Access Protocol 
               
               
                   
                 SS7 
                 Signaling System No. 7 
               
               
                   
                 TAP 
                 Telelocator Alphanumeric Protocol 
               
               
                   
                 TE 
                 Transaction Engine 
               
               
                   
                 TN 
                 Telephone Number 
               
               
                   
                 URE 
                 Universal Rating Engine 
               
               
                   
                 VASP 
                 Value-Added Service Provider 
               
               
                   
                 WCTP 
                 Wireless Communication Transport Protocol 
               
               
                   
                 WD 
                 Wireless Device 
               
               
                   
                 WWW 
                 World Wide Web 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     The foregoing disclosure of the preferred embodiments of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many variations and modifications of the embodiments described herein will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art in light of the above disclosure.