Patent ID: 7130901

Claim:
A computer implemented method for combining usage data from a plurality of network elements to generate usage based and usage sensitive records for network service providers, said method comprising: collecting usage event data records from said plurality of said network elements; associating with each event data record a key module identifying usage event data as pertaining to a particular usage session, converting said usage event data records into a normalized format; aggregating said normalized usage event data records by associating said normalized records for related events with one another according to said key modules to form usage detail records, each said usage detail record including said key module and including usage data of a known length for one or more usage event data records pertaining to a same usage session; said aggregating step employing an in-memory database comprising a hashing table and page files retained in local memory, said page files and hashing table being related according to said key modules, said normalized and aggregated usage event data records being located in said page files; and exchanging said usage detail records with downstream elements by converting said usage detail records into an appropriate data output format and distributing said output-formatted data to said downstream elements.