Abstract:
A telecommunications system and method for providing access to the Internet on a pre-paid or pay-per-use basis that utilizes an Advanced Intelligent Network (“AIN”) to set up a dial up connection between a subscriber and an Internet Service Provider (“ISP”). The telecommunications system communicates with the ISP&#39;s computer systems to coordinate verification of callers attempting access to the ISP. The system uses features of the AIN to identify a call as a pre-authorized call so that the ISP grants access without requiring a username and a password from a caller. If the ISP receives a call that is not so identified, the caller is treated as regular ISP subscriber, and requires a username and a password to authenticate the caller prior to granting access to the ISP&#39;s resources. The present invention further utilizes the telephone service provider&#39;s billing systems to aggregate bills and collect revenue from subscribers. A portion of the revenue is retained by the telephone service provider as a fee for providing the service, and a portion is paid to the ISP as payment for its services.

Description:
[0001]    This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/409,686 filed Sep. 30, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. ______, issued ______ which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates generally to telecommunications systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to an advanced intelligent network system for Internet service provision on a per-use basis. The present invention also provides pre-paid Internet service connections.  
           [0004]    2. Background of the Invention  
           [0005]    Over the last ten years, use of the Internet has grown rapidly. A large segment of this growth stems from an increase in individual dial-up subscribers. These dial-up subscribers use the public switched telephone network (“PSTN”) to establish connections to their Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”). In many cases, individual subscribers are required to enter into long-term contractual agreements when they sign up for Internet service. Such long-term agreements are generally required to reduce the ISP&#39;s overhead in creating accounts and billing subscribers. However, many subscribers find such long term agreements undesirable.  
           [0006]    Strong competition exists among the many ISPs in the marketplace for acquiring new customers and for retaining existing customers. Subscribers entering the market for ISP services may prefer trying out different ISPs before making a long term commitment to the service. Thus, rather than entering into a long-term agreement with a single ISP, such new customers may desire a system providing access to multiple ISPs on a pre-paid or pay-per-use basis. Similarly, for privacy or security reasons, subscribers may prefer the option of using several different ISPs on a recurring basis. Under the conventional systems and methods for accessing an ISP, a user would have to subscribe to many services, thereby incurring multiple monthly fees to achieve this result. Again, these subscribers may prefer a system providing access to multiple ISPs on a pre-paid or pay-per-use basis.  
           [0007]    One reason such pre-paid or pay-per-use services are not readily available in conventional ISP systems and methods is that the overhead for tracking and billing customers outweighs the benefits of catering to the needs of these customers. Additionally, some ISPs may view such short term arrangements as cutting into their customer base without providing the financial returns to justify the cost. It is commonly known in the art that tracking and billing systems are complex and expensive to operate. To accurately bill customers for units used requires a complex infrastructure of hardware, software and personnel resources. If the monthly bill per subscriber is a low dollar amount, then bill collection procedures may not be cost-effective without additional leverage to encourage payment. For these and similar reasons, ISPs have been reluctant to provide pre-paid or pay-per-use Internet access services. Thus, there remains a need for a system that provides access to multiple ISPs on a pre-paid or pay-per-use basis and does not increase the ISPs&#39; overhead.  
           [0008]    In conventional ISP systems, the PSTN is used merely to connect the caller to the ISP. The PSTN does not verify the caller and does not track the caller&#39;s usage of the ISP&#39;s resources. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating how dial-up subscriber  30  connects to ISP  20  using PSTN  10 . Dial-up subscriber (also referred to as “caller” herein)  30 , places a call over PSTN  10  using computer  31 , modem  32  and subscriber line  33 . Within PSTN  10 , the call is processed by the caller&#39;s Service Switching Point (“SSP” or “switch,” herein)  11  and the ISP&#39;s SSP  12 . To support multiple connections, ISPs must maintain numerous telephone lines connected to modems. Rather than advertising a different telephone number for each telephone line, ISPs generally advertise a limited number of telephone access numbers. Each telephone access number corresponds to one or more telephone lines. These telephone lines may be made up of, e.g., individual POTS lines, one or more T 1  lines, or Primary Rate ISDN (“PRI”) lines. For simplicity, the figures and discussion herein show the connection to be made up of PRI lines  21 , as shown in FIG. 1.  
           [0009]    PRI lines  21  lead to ISP  20  where they are connected to multi-line hunt group (“MLHG”)  22  as shown in FIG. 1. MLHG  22  is modem pool allowing multiple simultaneous connections and is controlled by access server  23 . MLHG  22  takes incoming subscriber calls and routes them to the first open modem in the modem pool. When a caller dials the telephone access number for ISP  20 , from the PSTN&#39;s point of view, the call is processed like any other call in PSTN  10 . That is, the call is routed between the caller and called party (in this case, ISP  20 ) through one or more switches. If ISP  20 &#39;s lines are all busy, or “off-hook”, i.e., there are no voice communications paths available, the caller gets a busy-signal, which is provided by the PSTN. On the other hand, if lines are available, switch  12  will terminate the call to ISP  20  and it is ISP  20 &#39;s responsibility to answer the call, verify the caller&#39;s authorization for access to ISP  20 , and setup the caller&#39;s connection to the Internet.  
           [0010]    From ISP  20 &#39;s point of view, several intervening steps must be accomplished before granting the caller access to the Internet. When a call reaches ISP  20  via PRI lines  21  and MLHG  22 , access server  23  answers the call. After answering the call, access server  23  must determine whether or not the caller should be granted access and if so, to which services. Access server  23  queries the caller for information such as a username and password for use in identifying the caller and the caller&#39;s authorized services. The dialog between the caller and access server  23  is usually performed automatically between access server  23  and communications software operating on the caller&#39;s computer  31 .  
           [0011]    Generally, ISPs use centralized servers to store and manage its subscriber databases. Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (“RADIUS”) server  24 , having database  24   a,  shown in FIG. 1, is functionally connected to access server  23  and provides this centralized management. Thus, access server  23  collects username and password information from the subscriber and passes it on to RADIUS server  24 . After RADIUS server  24  verifies a subscriber&#39;s username and password, it provides access server  23  with configuration information specific to the caller. Access server  23  uses the configuration information to provide the authorized services to the caller. Access servers and RADIUS servers are described in more detail in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/133,299, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Additional information on access servers and RADIUS servers may be found in Rigney et al.,  Remote Authentication Dial - In User Service  ( RADIUS ), Network Working Group, January, 1997, or in Rigney et al.,  RADIUS Accounting,  Network Working Group, April, 1997.  
           [0012]    The conventional system and methods described above pose a further obstacle to providing pre-paid Internet services. As noted above, typically every ISP subscriber is assigned a unique username and password. Typically, the subscriber may change the password, but the username remains fixed to ensure it is unique. The combination of username and password allows for verification to ensure the user has permission (i.e., is an authorized customer) to use ISP  20 &#39;s services. Pre-paid telecommunications services are desirable in one respect because of the inherent anonymity that may be gained. However, under the current systems and methods, ISPs generally demand some means to track the usage of their resources to a specific account for billing purposes.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0013]    The present invention is a system and method for providing subscribers with pre-paid and pay-per-use access to multiple Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”). The present invention utilizes an Advanced Intelligent Network (“AIN”) to set up and manage the services as described below. AIN systems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,301 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,533, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. FIG. 2 shows the key components of the AIN used in the present invention. FIGS. 3 a  and  3   b  are flowcharts detailing the steps comprising a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The steps described herein can be performed by computer-readable program code operating on the various AIN components and other computer systems, as described below.  
           [0014]    The present invention is implemented as an AIN service application. At least one telephone access number assigned to each ISP is provisioned with a suitable AIN trigger on the terminating switch. When a user, presumably using a computer and modem, calls a telephone access number having the trigger, the call is temporarily suspended while a database query is processed. The database query is sent from a Service Switching Point (“SSP” or “switch”) to a Service Control Point (“SCP”), which checks to see whether the caller has blocked access to the pay-per-use service, or has an unknown number.  
           [0015]    In a preferred embodiment, if the call is not from a blocked or unknown number, the SCP checks to see if the caller has a pre-paid subscription. If so, the SCP then checks to see whether the caller has some pre-paid units available. In one embodiment, the call is processed as a regular non-pre-paid and non-pay-per-use call if the caller is pre-paid but has no remaining pre-paid units. In an alternative embodiment the call is still processed as a pay-per-use call even when a pre-paid caller has no pre-paid units left.  
           [0016]    In a preferred embodiment, blocked or unknown numbers are not processed by the pre-paid or pay-per-use Internet service. Instead, calls from blocked or unknown numbers are terminated by the ISP&#39;s switch without any changes to the call parameters. In this case, the caller must have a valid account with the ISP in order to access the Internet through that ISP. Furthermore, billing for caller&#39;s use of the ISP&#39;s services are handled by the ISP, not by the telephone network.  
           [0017]    If the caller is a pre-paid or a pay-per-use customer, the SCP changes certain call parameters in the call setup message, as described below, and instructs the SSP to continue processing the call with the new parameters. The SCP further instructs the SSP to inform the SCP if the line was busy, answered or the caller hung up before the call was answered. Additionally, if the call was answered, the SSP notifies the SCP when the call is disconnected. The SCP uses this information to track the subscriber&#39;s usage of the system for billing purposes. If the caller was pre-paid, the SCP subtracts the number of units used from the pre-paid units available for the subscriber. If the caller was processed under the pay-per-use system, the charge is calculated by the telephone service provider and included in the caller&#39;s telephone bill for the period. Billing techniques for such pay-per-use telephone connections are well known in the art of telephone service providers.  
           [0018]    Authentication of pre-paid and pay-per-user callers is still performed by the ISP&#39;s RADIUS server, as described above. However, in the present invention, the SCP generates a transaction identification (“ID”) that serves as a pseudo username and password. The transaction ID is a ten digit number chosen specifically to be an invalid telephone number. The SCP inserts the transaction ID into the calling party number (“CgPN”) field when the SCP instructs the SSP to proceed with call setup. Because such an invalid telephone number can only be placed in the CgPN field by the telephone service provider, the ISP will identify the caller as being billed through the telephone system and not the ISP. When a pre-paid or pay-per-use call is terminated to the ISP&#39;s multi-line hunt group, the RADIUS server authorizes connection to the ISP&#39;s services because the CgPN is recognized as a transaction ID generated by the SCP.  
           [0019]    It is an object of the present invention to provide Internet access to subscribers on a pre-paid basis as well as on a pay-per-use basis.  
           [0020]    It is a further object of the present invention to use an Advanced Intelligent Network to provide and manage Internet access to subscribers on a pre-paid basis as well as on a pay-per-use basis.  
           [0021]    It is another object of the present invention to provide Internet access to subscribers on a pre-paid basis as well as on a pay-per-use basis without prohibitively increasing overhead for Internet Service Providers.  
           [0022]    It is an object of the present invention to provide an integrated bill to subscribers obtaining access to multiple Internet Service Providers on a pre-paid basis and a pay-per-use basis.  
           [0023]    These and other objects of the present invention are described in greater detail in the detailed description of the invention, the appended drawings and the attached claims. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0024]    [0024]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the main components of a telephone service provider&#39;s network and an Internet Service Provider&#39;s network used in establishing a dial-up connection to the Internet in conventional ISP systems.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the main components of a telephone service provider&#39;s telephone network utilizing a Advanced Intelligent Network and an Internet Service Provider&#39;s network used in establishing a dial-up connection according to the present invention.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 3 a  is a flow diagram showing the steps executed in an example illustrating one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 3 b  is a flow diagram showing the steps executed in an example illustrating another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0028]    The present invention utilizes an Advanced Intelligent Network (“AIN”) to provide a system and method for allowing individual users to access multiple Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) on a pre-paid or pay-per-use basis. Users of the present invention gain access to the ISPs using dial-up telephone connections. FIG. 2 shows the key components of the AIN used in the present invention. Such AIN components include Service Switching Points (“SSPs”)  11  and  12 , a Service Control Point (SCP)  13 , and a Common Channel Signaling System  7  (“SS7”) data network  15 . FIG. 2 shows two distinct SSPs, the caller&#39;s SSP  11  and ISP  20 &#39;s SSP  12 . The subscriber and ISP could be served by the same SSP, or they could be served by distinct SSPs as shown in FIG. 2. SCP  13  responds to queries from the SSPs using database  13   a  and service package applications (“SPAs”), i.e., software systems running on SCP  13 .  
         [0029]    Billing services in a preferred embodiment are accomplished using the standard records commonly used in telephone billing systems. Telephone billing systems and records used in AIN systems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,533, referenced above. Billing records are created by the pay-per-use system of the present invention and are periodically transferred, in aggregate form, to billing system  28 . Records are transferred from SCP  13  through Service Management System (“SMS”)  29  to billing system  28  via interconnects  27   a  and  27   b.  Interconnects  27   a  and  27   b  may use any suitable data transmission protocol, such as TCP/IP. In a preferred embodiment, interconnects  27   a  and  27   b  employ the X.25 protocol. SMS  29  and billing system  28  have databases  29   a  and  28   a,  respectively. SMS  29  is used to manage and synchronize service applications and databases within telephone network  10 . Billing system  28  is used to generate customer bills on a periodic (usually monthly) basis.  
         [0030]    In addition to the AIN components, FIG. 2 shows gateway server  16 , which acts as a buffer between the telephone network  10  of the present invention and the Internet  25 . (For simplicity, the Internet is labeled as item “ 25 ” in FIG. 1, but will only be referred to hereafter as “the Internet” without numeric identification). Gateway server  16  is connected to ISP  20  via the Internet through TCP/IP interconnections  26   a  and  26   b.  Alternatively, gateway server  16  could be directly connected to ISP  20  via a private high speed link. ISP  20  has access server  23  connected to PRI lines  21  and RADIUS server  24  providing user verification and authorization as described above.  
         [0031]    At least one telephone access number assigned to each ISP is provisioned with a suitable AIN trigger. In a preferred embodiment, a Public Office Dialing Plan (“PODP”) trigger is utilized. As is well known in the art, a PODP trigger can be provisioned on either end of the call. That is, the trigger may be on the originating switch or on the terminating switch. When a user, presumably using a computer and modem, calls a telephone access number having the PODP trigger, the call is temporarily suspended while a database query is processed. The database query is issued by the switch where the PODP trigger is actually provisioned, e.g., the terminating switch.  
         [0032]    Examples 1 and 2 below each describe a specific implementation of the present invention. However, the present invention may be implemented using many variations of the sequences described in Examples 1 and 2.  
       EXAMPLE I  
       [0033]    As shown in FIG. 3 a,  a subscriber (or caller) accesses the Internet using the pre-paid or pay-per-use system of the present invention by dialing the telephone access number for a given ISP (step  100 ). Each ISP is assigned a different telephone access number, e.g., 222-333-1000 may be assigned to one ISP and 444-444-4000 may be assigned to another. In this example, caller  40  dials 444-444-4000 using computer  41  and modem  42  (shown in FIG. 2). Modem  42  is connected to subscriber line  43 , having a telephone number of 222-333-3000 on SSP  11 . Thus, the Calling Party Number (“CgPN”) is 222-333-3000 and the Called Party Number (“CdPN”) is 444-444-4000. In step  110 , caller  40 &#39;s switch, SSP  11 , sends initial address message (“IAM”) message  1  over SS7 network  15  to ISP  20 &#39;s switch, SSP  12 . IAM message  1  is an Integrated Services Digital Network User Part (“ISUP”) message informing SSP  12  that a caller is trying to place a call to 444-444-4000. As discussed above, a PODP trigger may be provisioned on either the originating or the terminating switch. In the present example, the PODP trigger is provisioned on SSP  12 . Thus in step  120 , SSP  12  initiates database query  2  to SCP  13 . Query  2  is a Transaction Capabilities Application Part (“TCAP”) message transmitted from SSP  12  to SCP  13  over SS7 network  15 . In an alternate embodiment, the PODP trigger is provisioned on SSP  11 . In this alternate embodiment, SSP  11  issues the database queries, described herein, prior to sending IAM message  1  to SSP  12 .  
         [0034]    In the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 3 a,  access to the pre-paid or pay-per-use Internet service of the present invention is available by default, on all subscriber lines. In this preferred embodiment, a subscriber may block access on a temporary or permanent basis by contacting the telephone service provider. In an alternate embodiment, access to the services is denied by default. In this embodiment, subscribers must affirmatively request access from the telephone service provider.  
         [0035]    In step  130 , SCP  13  determines the type of call, i.e., whether or not the call is from an unknown or blocked telephone number, or if the call will be billed on prepaid or pay-per-use basis. SCP  13  looks up the CgPN in database  13   a  to make this determination. In a preferred embodiment, database  13   a  comprises the line information database (“LIDB”), which is well known in the art. If the number is blocked or unknown, SCP  13  moves on to step  140 , described below. If call is from a line having pre-paid access to the Internet service SCP  13  moves on to step  150 . Otherwise, if SCP  13  determines the call should be billed as a pay-per-use Internet call, SCP  13  moves on to step  160 .  
         [0036]    Step  140  is performed if the call is from an unknown number, or a blocked telephone line or if SCP  13  determines in step  150  that a pre-paid subscriber has no remaining pre-paid units. In step  140 , SCP  13  issues a Continue message to SSP  12  (response  3  in FIG. 2). The Continue message contains no changes in the call setup parameters, i.e., the CgPN is still set to 222-444-3000. SSP  12  then terminates the call to MLHG  22  and ISP  20  takes over responsibility for authenticating the user, i.e., ISP  20 &#39;s RADIUS server  24  treats the call as a call from an ordinary customer. This is possible because RADIUS server  24  is programmed to check the CgPN to determine if the call is to be treated as a pre-authorized call, i.e., authorized through the telephone service provider. If RADIUS server  24  determines that the call is not pre-authorized, it waits for a valid username and password from caller  40  before allowing access to ISP  20 &#39;s resources. In a preferred embodiment, when step  140  is executed, it is the last step performed by the present invention.  
         [0037]    In step  140 , SCP  13  optionally issues a Send_to_Resource message and SSP  12  plays an announcement to caller  40  before terminating the call. The announcement informs caller  40  that pre-paid and pay-per-use Internet service is not currently available from caller  40 &#39;s telephone line. In an alternate embodiment, rather than terminating the call to ISP  20 , SSP  12  plays an announcement then disconnects the call.  
         [0038]    For pre-paid Internet calls, SCP  13  checks the number of pre-paid units available for caller  40 &#39;s account (step  150 ). The pre-paid units may correspond to the number of minutes allowed, or the number of times the system has been accessed, or some other method for quantifying usage of the pre-paid Internet service. If pre-paid units are available, SCP  13  moves on to step  160 , described below. If pre-paid units are not available, SCP  13  proceeds to step  140  where the call is processed as a regular call (i.e., not pre-paid and not pay-per-use call) as described above. SCP  13  may optionally play an announcement informing caller  40  that no pre-paid units are available, before proceeding to step  140 .  
         [0039]    If caller  40  has remaining pre-paid units, SCP  13  sends a Continue and Termination_Notification messages in response  3  to SSP  12  (step  160 ). The Continue message instructs SSP  12  to proceed with the call setup between caller  40  and ISP  20 &#39;s telephone access number. However, SCP  13  inserts a transaction ID in the CgPN field before issuing the Continue message. As discussed earlier, the transaction ID is a number that cannot represent a true telephone number. The presence of this “erroneous” telephone number in the CgPN field informs RADIUS server  24  that the call is pre-authorized for access to ISP  20 &#39;s resources.  
         [0040]    In a preferred embodiment, the transaction ID is formed by replacing the area code of the calling party number with “111.” The area code may be encoded so that the last 2 digits represent the time remaining on the pre-paid account. Other encodings are also possible. Thus in the present example, the new CgPN is set to 111-333-3000, while the CdPN remains unchanged. Under the current telephone networking protocols, “111” is not a valid area code. Of course, the transaction ID could be any other string that notifies RADIUS server  24  that caller  40  will be billed through the telephone network and should be granted access to the Internet without further authentication. The Termination_Notification message instructs SSP  12  to alert SCP  13  if the line is busy, answered or not answered, and if the call was answered, when that call is eventually disconnected. This allows SCP  13  to track the usage of the Internet service by caller  40 .  
         [0041]    In step  180 , SSP  12  terminates the call to ISP  20  over PRI lines  21  and informs SCP  13  when the call is answered by access server  23 . In the present example, access server  23  is programmed transmit the calling party number to RADIUS server  24 . In step  185 , RADIUS server  24  checks the CgPN received from access server  23  and authorizes access to ISP  20 &#39;s services if the special code has been appended to a portion of the CgPN. If the CgPN does not contain the special code, RADIUS server  24  treats the call as a normal call to ISP  20 . In that case, RADIUS server  24  waits for caller  40  to transmit a username and password as previously described.  
         [0042]    In step  190 , SSP  12  notifies SCP  13  when the call is disconnected. In step  200 , SCP  13  again determines the type of caller so that caller  40  can be correctly billed for the call. If caller  40  is a pre-paid user of the service, then SCP  13  subtracts the number of units used in from the subscriber&#39;s pre-paid units stored in database  13   a  (step  210 ). If caller  40  is a pay-per-use user of the service, then SCP  13  generates a billing record for caller  40 &#39;s telephone number (step  220 ). Billing records are transferred at regular intervals, preferably once per day, between SCP  13  and SMS  29  and billing system  28 . Billing system  28  generates a monthly bill for caller  40 , including all charges for the units used in the pay-per-use Internet service.  
       EXAMPLE II  
       [0043]    This example uses many of the same steps as Example I. However, in this example, SCP  13  sends a message to RADIUS server  24  informing RADIUS server  24  of caller  40 &#39;s transaction ID. This allows enhanced security of the system because RADIUS server  24  can verify the transaction ID prior to granting access to ISP  20 &#39;s resources. As shown in FIG. 3 b,  steps  100  through  150  are identical to the like-numbered steps from Example I (shown in FIG. 3 a ). A new step  160 A replaces step  160  as follows: instead of changing the actual CgPN by including a special code to identify the call as a pre-authorized user, SCP  13  generates a unique transaction ID, and inserts the transaction ID in place of the actual CgPN.  
         [0044]    In new step  175 , SCP  13  transmits the transaction ID to RADIUS server  24 . This message is transmitted via gateway server  16  through the Internet to RADIUS server  24 . After the call is connected in step  180 , RADIUS server  24  checks all incoming calls to see if the CgPN of the incoming call matches the transaction ID in new step  182 . In new step  184 , if the CgPN matches the transaction ID, RADIUS server  24  moves on to steps  185  through  220 , as described in Example I above. Otherwise, if the CgPN does not match the transaction ID, RADIUS server  24  moves on to step  140 , and treats the call as a normal call to ISP  20 , as described above.  
         [0045]    The foregoing disclosure of 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 obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art in light of the above disclosure. The scope of the invention is to be defined only by the claims appended hereto, and by their equivalents.