Patent Publication Number: US-2004058669-A1

Title: Tracking credit associated with at least one circuit outage in a wireless telecommunication system

Description:
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] 1. Field of the Invention  
       [0002] The invention relates generally to systems and methods for tracking credit in a wireless telecommunication system, and more particularly, to systems and methods for tracking credit associated with at least one circuit outage in a wireless telecommunication system.  
       [0003] 2. Background of the Invention  
       [0004] The use of telephone products and systems in the day-to-day lives of most people is continually growing. With the advent and steady growth of wireless telecommunications, wireless telecommunication systems will increasingly be utilized for not only voice data, but also for sending and receiving packetized data for use on the Internet, for example. Within a wireless telecommunication system, many wire line circuits may be utilized and leased from wire line circuit vendors by a wireless telecommunication system providers. If such wire line circuits become non-operational, the wireless telecommunication system provider my receive a monetary credit from the wire line circuit vendor as a result of the outage. In an effort to lower operating costs and create value for its subscribers, wireless telecommunications providers wish to track credit associated with at least one circuit outage in a wireless telecommunication system. Wireless telecommunication providers realize a time and a cost savings by tracking credit associated with at least one circuit outage in a wireless telecommunication system.  
       [0005] Therefore, the need to efficiently provide improved credit tracking in a wireless telecommunication system has become a common need for many wireless telecommunication providers. More specifically, tracking credit associated with at least one circuit outage in a wireless telecommunication system has become a critical need for many wireless telecommunication providers. This is because in an increasingly competitive environment, creating value for subscribers or others who receive services is essential for a wireless telecommunication provider.  
       [0006] One solution to the credit tracking problem is for an operator, for example, in a network operation center, to manually maintain a log of circuit outages. For example, circuits in a wireless telecommunication system from time to time go into an off-air or outage state, thus becoming non-operational. It may be a function of the operator to manage the outage restoration activities, notify the proper personnel, and escalate the outage repair activities as necessary. From the outage log, credits may be manually calculated and manually tracked.  
       [0007] Great inefficiencies are created in this procedure because, for example, manually tracking credits may be very difficult given the large number of contracts, tariffs, and circuits for a given wireless telecommunication system. In addition, manually tracking credit is very time consuming. Accordingly, efficiently providing credit tracking in a wireless telecommunication system remains an elusive goal.  
       [0008] Thus, there remains a need for efficiently tracking credit in a wireless telecommunication system. In addition, there remains a need for systems and methods for tracking credit associated with at least one circuit outage in a wireless telecommunication system.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009] Consistent with the present invention, an improved credit tracking method and system are provided that avoid problems associated with prior art credit tracking systems and methods as discussed herein above.  
       [0010] In one aspect, an improved method for tracking credit associated with at least one circuit outage in a wireless telecommunication system comprises receiving outage data associated with the at least one circuit outage, receiving an expected credit amount associated with the at least one circuit outage, updating a database with the expected credit amount associated with the at least one circuit outage, the database configured to maintain an accumulated expected credit amount reflecting the sum of multiple expected credit amounts associated with multiple outages if multiple circuit outages occur, and producing an invoice reflecting at least one of the expected credit amount associated with the at least one circuit outage and the accumulated expected credit.  
       [0011] In another aspect, an improved method for tracking credit associated with at least one circuit outage in a wireless telecommunication system comprises receiving outage data associated with the at least one circuit outage, receiving an expected credit amount associated with the at least one circuit outage, and producing an invoice reflecting at least the expected credit amount associated with the at least one circuit outage.  
       [0012] In yet another aspect, an improved system for tracking credit associated with at least one circuit outage in a wireless telecommunication system comprises a component for receiving outage data associated with the at least one circuit outage, a component for receiving an expected credit amount associated with the at least one circuit outage, and a component for producing an invoice reflecting at least the expected credit amount associated with the at least one circuit outage.  
       [0013] In yet another aspect, a computer-readable medium on which is stored a set of instructions for providing improved tracking of credit associated with at least one circuit outage in a wireless telecommunication system, which when executed perform stages comprising receiving outage data associated with the at least one circuit outage, receiving an expected credit amount associated with the at least one circuit outage, and producing an invoice reflecting at least the expected credit amount associated with the at least one circuit outage.  
       [0014] Both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0015] The accompanying drawings provide a further understanding of the invention and, together with the detailed description, explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:  
     [0016]FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an exemplary wireless telecommunication system consistent with an embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0017]FIG. 2 is a flow chart of an exemplary method for facilitating payments for circuits in a wireless telecommunication system consistent with an embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0018]FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an exemplary subroutine used in the exemplary method of FIG. 2 for validating an invoice in a wireless telecommunication system consistent with an embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0019]FIG. 4 is an illustration of an exemplary main screen consistent with an embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0020]FIG. 5 is an illustration of an exemplary accounts payable lookup screen consistent with an embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0021]FIG. 6 is an illustration of an exemplary accounts payable main screen consistent with an embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0022]FIG. 7 is an illustration of an exemplary contract screen consistent with an embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0023]FIG. 8 is an illustration of an exemplary expected credit screen consistent with an embodiment of the present invention; and  
     [0024]FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an exemplary subroutine used in the exemplary method of FIG. 2 for tracking credit associated with at least one circuit outage in a wireless telecommunication system consistent with an embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS  
     [0025] Reference will now be made to various embodiments according to this invention, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings and will be obvious from the description of the invention. In the drawings, the same reference numbers represent the same or similar elements in the different drawings whenever possible.  
     [0026] Consistent with an embodiment of the present invention, an improved system for tracking credit associated with at least one circuit outage in a wireless telecommunication system comprises a component for receiving outage data associated with the at least one circuit outage, a component for receiving an expected credit amount associated with the at least one circuit outage, and a component for producing an invoice reflecting at least the expected credit amount associated with the at least one circuit outage.  
     [0027] As herein embodied and illustrated in FIG. 1, an exemplary wireless telecommunication system  100  consistent with an embodiment of the present invention may comprise a base station subsystem (BSS)  105 , a network and switching subsystem (NSS)  110 , a network operation center (NOC)  115 , a mobile station (MS)  130 , and a publicly switched telephone network (PSTN)  120 . The elements of system  100  will be described in greater detail below.  
     [0028] Consistent with an embodiment of the invention, the component for receiving outage data, the component for receiving an expected credit amount, and the component for producing an invoice may comprise an element management system (EMS)  195 , a workstation  197 , a server  190 , or a workstation  194 . Those of ordinary skill in the art, however, will appreciate that other elements of system  100  may comprise the component for receiving outage data, the component for receiving an expected credit amount, and the component for producing an invoice.  
     [0029] System  100  may utilize GSM technology enhanced with GPRS in embodiments of the present invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, however, that other wireless telecommunication technologies standards may be employed, for example, FDMA, TDMA, CDMA, CDMA 2000, UTMS, and EDGE, without departing from the spirit of the invention.  
     [0030] Wireless telecommunications may include radio transmission via the airwaves, however, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that various other telecommunication techniques can be used to provide wireless transmission including infrared line of sight, cellular, microwave, satellite, blue-tooth packet radio, and spread spectrum radio. Wireless data may include, but is not limited to, paging, text messaging, e-mail, Internet access, instant messaging, and other specialized data applications specifically excluding or including voice transmission.  
     [0031] As shown in FIG. 1, BSS  105  may comprise, for example, a base station controller (BSC)  140 , and a base transceiver station (BTS)  135 . BSS  105  connects to MS  130  through a radio interface and connects to NSS  115  through an interface  170 . BSC  140  controls BTS  135  and may control a plurality of other base transceiver stations in addition to BTS  135 . BTS  135  may comprise radio transmission and reception equipment located at an antenna site. Associated with BSS  105 , a transcoder/rate adaption unit (TRAU) (not shown) may perform speech encoding and speech decoding and rate adaptation for transmitting data. As a subpart of BTS  135 , the TRAU may be located away from BTS  135 , for example, at a mobile switching center located in NSS  110 . When the TRAU is located in this way, the low transmission rate of speech code channels allows more compressed transmission between BTS  135  and the TRAU.  
     [0032] Interface  170  between NSS  110  and BSS  105 , and a wide area network  172  between BSC  140  and NOC  115 , may comprise T-1 lines using X.25 or TCP/IP protocol, for example.  
     [0033] MS  130  may comprise a mobile phone, a personal computer, a hand-held computing device, a multiprocessor system, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronic device, a minicomputer, a mainframe computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a facsimile machine, a telephone, a pager, a portable computer, or any other device for receiving and/or transmitting information. MS  130  may utilize cellular telephone protocols such as wireless application protocol (WAP), or blue-tooth protocol. Such mobile systems may also be configured to permit the user to purchase products through a browser on a display of the mobile device. The invention, as disclosed in this embodiment, in its broadest sense is not limited to a particular form of mobile system or communications protocol. And those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other systems and components may be utilized within the scope and spirit of the invention.  
     [0034] MS  130  may be a stand-alone piece of equipment for certain services or support the connection of external terminals, such as the interface for a personal computer or facsimile machine. MS  130  may include mobile equipment (ME) (not shown) or a subscriber identity module (SIM). The ME does not need to be personally assigned to one subscriber. GSM phones, for example, may use a SIM card that contains subscriber account information, as GSM phones may be automatically programmed by plugging in the SIM card. This allows GSM phones to be used interchangeably in situations such as renting or borrowing. When a subscriber&#39;s SIM is inserted into the ME of MS  130 , all calls for the subscriber are delivered to MS  130 . Thus, the ME is not associated with a particular number, but rather, is linked to the subscriber&#39;s SIM. In addition, GSM may include Short Messaging Service (SMS) that may enable text messages up to 160 characters in length to be exchanged from GSM phones.  
     [0035] Still referring to FIG. 1, NSS  110  may comprise a mobile switching center (MSC)  150 , a first network  160 , a home location register/authentication center (HLR/AUC)  135 , and a gateway mobile switching center (GMSC)  155 . NSS  110  manages the communication between subscribers, for example, a subscriber using MS  130 , and other telecommunications users, for example, those using publicly switched telephone network (PSTN)  120 , PSTN  120  may comprise, for example, the worldwide voice telephone network.  
     [0036] MSC  150  coordinates call set-up to and from subscribers such as system operator,  125  using MS  130 . MSC  150  may control several base station controllers such as, and similar to BSC  140 . GMSC  110  is used to interface with external networks for communication with users outside of the wireless system, such users on PSTN  120 .  
     [0037] HLR/AUC  135  may comprise a stand-alone computer without switching capabilities, a database which contains subscriber information, and information related to the subscriber&#39;s current location, but not the actual location of the subscriber. The AUC portion of HLR/AUC  135  manages the security data for subscriber authentication. Another sub-division of HLR/AUC  135  may include an equipment identity register (EIR) (not shown) which may store data relating to mobile equipment (ME).  
     [0038] NSS  110  may also include a visitor location register (VLR) (not shown). The VLR links to one or more mobile switching center located on other systems, temporarily storing subscription data of subscribers currently served by MSC  150 . The VLR holds more detailed data than HLR/AUC  135 . For example, the VLR may hold more current subscriber location information than the location information at HLR/AUC  230 .  
     [0039] GMSC  155  is utilized to interface with PSTN  120 . In order to set up a requested call, the call is initially routed to GMSC  155 , that finds the correct home location register by knowing the director number of the subscriber. GMSC  155  has an interface with an external network, such as PSTN  120 , for gatewayinq communications.  
     [0040] The elements of NSS  110  are connected using first network  160 . First network  160  may comprise an intelligent network utilizing signal system 7 (SS7) in an ISDN user part (ISUP) protocol. ISUP is used for both ISDN and non-ISDN calls. Calls that originate and terminate at the same switch do not use ISUP signaling.  
     [0041] Still referring to FIG. 1, network operation center (NOC)  115  may comprise a LAN/WAN interface  175 , a local area network (LAN)  180 , server  190 , a database  191 , workstation  194 , element management system (EMS)  195 , and workstation  197 .  
     [0042] LAN/WAN interface  175  interfaces WAN  172  and LAN  180 , thus connecting the elements connected to LAN  180  with BSC  140 . A WAN may comprise a communications network that covers a wide geographic area, such as state or country, whereas a LAN may be contained within a building or complex connecting servers, workstations, a network operating system, and a communications link.  
     [0043] Server  190  or workstation  194  may comprise a personal computer, a hand-held computing device, a multiprocessor system, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronic device, a minicomputer, a mainframe computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a facsimile machine, a telephone, a pager, a portable computer, or any other device for receiving and/or transmitting information. Workstation  194  may be used to interface with server  190  and while FIG. 1 shows workstation  194  located in NOC  115 , those skilled in the art will appreciate that workstation  194  may be connected remotely to NOC  115  or server  190 .  
     [0044] EMS  195  is a device used to detect, diagnose, and correct problems on system  100  effecting the security or reliability of system  100 . Like server  190 , EMS  195  may comprise a personal computer, a hand-held computing device, a multiprocessor system, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronic device, a minicomputer, a mainframe computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a facsimile machine, a telephone, a pager, a portable computer, or any other device for receiving and/or transmitting information. Workstation  197  allows a NOC operator to interface with EMS  195 . Workstations  194  and  197  may comprise, for example, a scalable performance architecture (SPARC) station marketed by Sun Mircosystem, Inc. of 901 San Antonio Road Palo Alto, Calif. 94303-4900.  
     [0045]FIG. 2 is a flow chart setting forth the general stages involved in exemplary method  200  for facilitating payments for circuits in a wireless telecommunication system consistent with an embodiment of the present invention. The implementation of the stages of exemplary method  200  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in greater detail in FIG. 3 through FIG. 9. Exemplary method  200  begins at starting block  205  and proceeds to exemplary subroutine  210  where an invoice is validated. The stages of exemplary subroutine  210  are shown in FIG. 3 and will be described in greater detail below. From exemplary subroutine  210 , where an invoice is validated, exemplary method  200  continues to exemplary subroutine  220  where credit associated with at least one circuit outage is tracked. The stages of exemplary subroutine  220  are shown in FIG. 9 and will be described in greater detail below. Once credit associated with at least one circuit outage is tracked in exemplary subroutine  220 , exemplary method  200  ends at stage  230 .  
     [0046]FIG. 3 describes exemplary subroutine  210  from FIG. 2 for validating an invoice. Exemplary subroutine  210  begins at starting block  305  and continues to stage  310  where billing input data for a circuit is received. For example, through workstation  194  a user may initiate a programming module located on server  190 , which when initiated produces the exemplary main screen  405  as illustrated in FIG. 4. Once main screen  405  is displayed on workstation  194 , the user may choose a particular market corresponding to geographic area containing a particular circuit in system  100 . Once a market, for example, market  410 , is chosen, a task such as accounts payable is chosen by clicking on accounts payable button  415 .  
     [0047] Once accounts payable button  415  is clicked, exemplary search screen  505  may be displayed as illustrated in FIG. 5. From this screen, a user may select a particular vendor account, for example, master account line  510 . After master account line  510  is chosen, exemplary accounts payable main screen  605  may be displayed as illustrated in FIG. 6. On screen  605 , billing input data such as a circuit number, date  610  an invoice for the circuit was received from the circuit vendor, or a billed amount  615  billed by the vendor for the use of the circuit my be entered.  
     [0048] From stage  310  where billing input data for a circuit is received, exemplary subroutine  210  advances to decision block  315  where it is determined if the billed amount and a calculated amount differ by greater than a predetermined threshold amount. The threshold amount may be any amount greater than or equal to 0%. For example, a calculated amount for the circuit may be calculated from billing parameters stored on server  190 . An operator of system  100  may have a contract with a vendor for a particular circuit. The contract may indicate, for example, the billing parameters including a monthly charge for use of a particular circuit. Alternatively, the billing parameters may be specified by a tariff established by government regulation also stored on server  190 .  
     [0049] From the billed amount entered in stage  310  and from the calculated amount, a discrepancy between the two may be calculated. If it is determined at decision block  315  that the billed amount and the calculated amount differ by greater than the threshold amount, exemplary subroutine  210  advances to stage  320  where the discrepancy is indicated. For example, discrepancy  620  may be displayed on screen  605  as illustrated in FIG. 6.  
     [0050] Once the discrepancy is indicated in stage  320 , exemplary subroutine  210  advances to stage  325  where researching the cause of the discrepancy is prompted. For example, at this point, the user may review records or consult other associates with the vendor in an attempt to determine why the calculated amount and the billed amount differ by greater than the threshold amount.  
     [0051] After researching the cause of the discrepancy is prompted in stage  325 , exemplary subroutine  210  advances to stage  330  where an explanation for the discrepancy is received. For example, the reason may simply be that the vendor over billed the amount. The reason determined my be entered into area  630  as shown on screen  605  of FIG. 6.  
     [0052] If it is determined at decision block  315  that the billed amount and the calculated amount do not differ by greater than the threshold amount, or from stage  330  where an explanation for the discrepancy is received, exemplary subroutine  210  advances to stage  335  where the billing parameters used to create the calculated amount are indicated. For example, even though the billed amount may be greater than the calculated amount, the difference may be so small that the cost to recoup the amount may be greater than the difference. As illustrated in FIG. 7, a programming module in server  190  may cause exemplary contract screen  705  to be displayed indicating the billing parameters used to create the calculated amount are indicated. For example, effective date  710 , termination date  715 , and transit rate  720  may be displayed.  
     [0053] Once the billing parameters used to create the calculated amount are indicated in stage  335 , exemplary subroutine  210  advances to stage  340  where the billing parameters are maintained. For example, as new circuits are added and as contract or tariff information changes, corresponding changes may be made to the billing parameters located in server  190 . Specifically, for example, a contract for a particular circuit may be renewed at a higher monthly charge, thus the billing parameters located in server  190  may be maintained to reflect this new higher monthly charge.  
     [0054] After the billing parameters are maintained in stage  340 , exemplary subroutine  210  advances to decision block  345  where it is determined if the circuit is terminating. For example, a programming module located on server  190  may analyze termination date  715  comprising the billing parameters of a circuit and determine that termination of the circuit is eminent.  
     [0055] If it is determined at decision block  345  that the circuit is terminating, exemplary subroutine  210  advances to decision block  350  where it is determined if the circuit should be renewed. For example an engineer responsible for the circuit in question may be consulted to determine if the circuit in question should be renewed. If it is determined at decision block  350  that the circuit should be renewed, exemplary subroutine  210  advances to stage  355  where the circuit is renewed. For example, the engineer may indicate that the circuit is necessary for the secure and reliable operation of system  100  and therefore should be renewed. If it is determined at decision block  350  that the circuit should not be renewed, exemplary subroutine  210  advances to stage  360  where the circuit is terminated. For example, the engineer may indicate that the circuit is no longer necessary for the secure and reliable operation of system  100  and therefore should be terminated in order to reduce costs.  
     [0056] From stage  355  if the circuit is renewed, from stage  360  if the circuit is terminated, or from decision block  345  if the circuit is not terminating, exemplary subroutine  210  advances to stage  365  and returns to exemplary subroutine  220  of FIG. 2.  
     [0057]FIG. 9 describes exemplary subroutine  220  from FIG. 2 for tracking credit associated with at least one circuit outage. Exemplary subroutine  220  begins at starting block  905  and advances to stage  910  where outage data associated with the at least one circuit outage is received. For example, a programming module located on server  190  may cause workstation  194  to display exemplary expected credits screen  805  as illustrated in FIG. 8. The outage data may comprises a circuit ID  810 , a date  815  the at least one circuit outage occurred, a duration  820  of the at least one circuit outage, and the reason  825  the at least one circuit outage occurred. The outage data my be obtained from data collected by EMS  195  and may be received periodically.  
     [0058] From stage  910  where the outage data associated with the at least one circuit outage is received, exemplary subroutine  220  advances to stage  915  where an expected credit amount associated with the at least one circuit outage is received. For example, by a contractual arrangement or as defined by a tariff, if a circuit within system  100  is out for greater than a predetermined duration, the provider or vendor of the circuit may be required to pay an expected credit amount to those purchasing service from the circuit. This expected credit amount may be entered in expected credit area  830  as shown on screen  805  of FIG. 8.  
     [0059] Once the expected credit amount associated with the at least one circuit outage is received in stage  915 , exemplary subroutine  220  advances to stage  920  where database  191  is updated with the expected credit amount associated with the at least one circuit outage. For example, once data is entered on screen  805 , the data on screen  805  may be stored in database  191  located on server  190 . Moreover, database  191  may be configured to maintain an accumulated expected credit amount reflecting the sum of multiple expected credit amounts associated with multiple outages if multiple circuit outages occur. For example, if a circuit is out on multiple occasions, database  191  may maintain a sum of each expected credit associated with each outage.  
     [0060] After database  191  is updated with the expected credit amount associated with the at least one circuit outage in stage  920 , exemplary subroutine  220  advances to stage  925  where an invoice reflecting at least one of the expected credit amount associated with the at least one circuit outage and the accumulated expected credit is produced. For example, the provider or vendor of a particular circuit may receive an invoice reflected the credit accumulated due to circuit outages. This amount my be reflected in payment for other service received from the service provider minus the expected credits.  
     [0061] After the invoice reflecting at least one of the expected credit amount associated with the at least one circuit outage and the accumulated expected credit is produced in stage  925 , exemplary subroutine  220  continues to stage  930  and returns to stage  230  of FIG. 2.  
     [0062] It will be appreciated that a system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention can be constructed in whole or in part from special purpose hardware or a general purpose computer system, or any combination thereof. Any portion of such a system may be controlled by a suitable program. Any program may in whole or in part comprise part of or be stored on the system in a conventional manner, or it may in whole or in part be provided in to the system over a network or other mechanism for transferring information in a conventional manner. In addition, it will be appreciated that the system may be operated and/or otherwise controlled by means of information provided by an operator using operator input elements (not shown) which may be connected directly to the system or which may transfer the information to the system over a network or other mechanism for transferring information in a conventional manner.  
     [0063] The foregoing description has been limited to a specific embodiment of this invention. It will be apparent, however, that various variations and modifications may be made to the invention, with the attainment of some or all of the advantages of the invention. It is the object of the appended claims to cover these and such other variations and modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of the invention.  
     [0064] Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.