WO2003049371A1

WO2003049371A1 - Arrangement for content billing in a multimedia messaging system

Info

Publication number: WO2003049371A1
Application number: PCT/NO2002/000464
Authority: WO
Inventors: Øyvind BREIVIK
Original assignee: Beep Science As
Priority date: 2001-12-06
Filing date: 2002-12-06
Publication date: 2003-06-12
Also published as: AU2002348543A1; NO319841B1; NO20015981D0; NO20015981L

Abstract

The present invention discloses an arrangement in messaging environments, in particular MMS environments, where value added content is to be charged end-users based upon content message transaction events. It introduces two new main components to the MMS infrastructure; a Content Home Locator (CHL) adapted to determine the home environment of the service provider that originally provided an MMS or an object thereof in transfer by investigating a home environment identity included in a policy reference of a policy associated with the data object, a Content Billing Protocol (CBP) having a billing interface being able to exchange policy and billing information concerning the data object with a counterpart CBP of the home environment of the data object determined by the CHL. Billing information provided by the CBP from the home environment of the data object is stored in an Accounting Module (AM) for charging the receiver in case of download or the sender in case of forwarding of the data object and for crediting the service provider. By means of the present invention, service providers are able to charge for value added data objects, e.g. MMSs, downloaded or transferred in environments outside the home environment of the data objects.

Description

ARRANGEMENT FOR CONTENT BILLING IN A MULTIMEDIA MESSAGING SYSTEM

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to an arrangement in messaging environments where value added content is to be charged end-users based upon content message transaction events. In particular, this invention relates to an arrangement for inter-operator billing of value added content message transactions including, but not exclusive to, the messaging environment of mobile Multimedia Messaging Service.

Background of the invention

The mobile Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) [1] will support transfer and delivery of value added content (e.g. sounds, video and images) to mobile terminals. For owners of such content, this represents a new channel where their content can be sold.

The recent exponential growth of value added Short- Messaging-Services (SMS) was triggered by the introduction of distribution and billing opportunities, provided by the mobile operators, to 3rd party value added service (VAS) and content providers. Some examples of VAS SMS are jokes (text format) , stock quotes (text format) , simple ringing tones (binary format) , black-and-white logos (binary format) . The mobile operator enables end-user billing for such services, which are value added SMS transactions, on behalf of the service providers. The mobile operator charges for value added SMS transactions on the end-user's mobile phone-bill (or by subtracting from prepaid account) and typically splits the revenue with the service provider. This is content billing for VAS SMS. The future of VAS MMS services has an even greater growth potential due to the advanced content capabilities of the MMS technology. Sophisticated multimedia content can be provided with VAS MMS services . Some examples of envisaged value added MMS and content are "mobile greeting card portal" (such as sending pictures/ animations, with or without sound from a portal to a mobile terminal) , "famous cartoon messages" (such as animations, with or without colors/ audio) , "visual/ audio quiz messages" (such as picture/ audio messaging games) , "talking head message" (such as rendering a personal text with a predefined animation) . VAS MMS will be offered to the end-users by operators and by independent 3rd party service and content providers (e.g. media houses, portals, broadcasting corporations) who utilize the wireless MMS infrastructure of the operators.

Multimedia content has an inherently greater value to the content owners than plain text content (cf . SMS) . Securing all distribution revenue stream opportunities is paramount. With VAS MMS it is important to the service provider not only to get paid for initial downloads of VAS MMS (as has been the only option for VAS SMS) , but also to get paid for forwarding of the VAS MMS when it is sent to other users, after initial downloads. Charging for download and for forwarding constitute important chargeable transaction events to the service provider, to secure their business opportunities. The operator must provide a content billing solution to these requirements for the service providers, for VAS MMS to be an attractive distribution channel for the service provider.

It can be assumed that such a content billing solution is present by different means and that the operator can handle, on behalf of service providers, such chargeable transaction events (i.e. for VAS MMS downloading and forwarding) for its own mobile subscribers (post-paid or pre-paid) . The challenge is to find a solution that also inter-works among different operators when the VAS MMS content is in roaming and outside its home environment.

Roaming in general is an essential service characteristic of mobile technology. Roaming is about being able to use services (e.g., traditional voice or SMS) when the end-user is on the move, outside the physical reach of the home operator environment (e.g., outside the country coverage area of the operator with whom the subscriber has a billing and subscription relation) .

MMS content or VAS MMS can be seen as being in roaming if it is transferred to a different operator environment than the operator environment with which the service provider has a billing agreement. This may, for instance, happen if an end-user forwards VAS MMS to an end-user of another operator, or if an end-user of another operator downloads VAS MMS from the environment of the operator with whom the service provider has a content billing agreement .

An operator that has a content billing agreement with a service provider and handles charging on behalf of the service provider clearly cannot charge users of other operators . And an operator that does not have content billing agreement with a service provider will clearly not handle billing of chargeable events from the service provider. If content is transferred to a user of an operator with no agreement, the content will effectively be free of charge to the user. This is clearly not in the interest of the service provider.

Fig. 1 - 4 represent four examples that will be discussed in the following.

Figure 1 illustrates content billing in a home environment . A service provider (SP) has a content billing agreement with an operator (x) . If an end-user A(x) of the operator downloads VAS MMS from the service provider this constitutes a chargeable event. A means (illustrated with shaded rectangle) within the operator (x) ' s environment registers the chargeable event (illustrated with bullet) . If the end-user A(x) forwards the VAS MMS to another user B (x) of the operator this constitutes a chargeable event . The means within the operator (x) ' s environment registers the chargeable event . The operator (x) charges the end-user (e.g. A(x)) for the transactions on the end-user's phone bill.

Figure 2 illustrates content in roaming, outside its home environment, forwarded from its home environment. A service provider (SP) has a content billing agreement with an operator (x) . An end-user A(x) of the operator (x) downloads VAS MMS from the service provider. The operator (x) registers this as a chargeable event, as in Figure 1. The end-user A(x) forwards the VAS MMS to another user B(y) of another operator (y) . The operator (x) registers this as a chargeable event, as in Figure 1. Operator (y) does not have a content billing agreement with the service provider of this VAS MMS . The end-user B (y) may chose to forward the VAS MMS to another end-user of operator (y), e.g. C(y), or forward the VAS MMS to an end-user of another operator again, e.g. A(x) . The B(y) forwarding of VAS MMS constitutes chargeable events to the service provider. But, as the operator (y) does not have a billing agreement with the service provider, the chargeable events will not be registered, and no content billing of such roaming content can take place.

Figure 3 illustrates content in roaming, outside its home environment, downloaded from home environment. A service provider (SP) has a content billing agreement with an operator (x). An end-user A(y) of another operator (y) downloads VAS MMS from the service provider. This constitutes a chargeable event for the service provider. But, as the operator (y) does not have a billing agreement with the service provider, the chargeable events will not be registered, and no content billing of such roaming content can take place.

Figure 4 illustrates content in roaming, outside its home environment, downloaded by a user in network roaming. This is similar to the case of Figure 3, but illustrates the case where an end-user A(y) of an operator (y) is on the move and in roaming within the environment of another operator (x) .

State of the art

The problem of billing for content in roaming is present also for the MMS predecessor, SMS, but no known solution has been implemented. For SMS, content billing solutions only address VAS SMS downloads, not content billing for forwarding of VAS SMS or content billing for content in roaming as described above . The problem is not essential to SMS as the content has limited value due to the content characteristics of SMS .

The problem is much more important to MMS as the content is of greater value to its content owners due to the multimedia characteristics and sophistication of the content .

A simple approach would be to deny forwarding of VAS MMS outside the mobile operator environment with which the service provider has an agreement . In such an approach content will never be in roaming and outside its home environment. The approach assumes that the mobile operator has means present to deny forwarding of VAS MMS .

Figure 5 illustrates such an approach, in which a service provider (SP) has a content billing agreement with an operator (x) . VAS MMS can be downloaded to end-users of operator (x) and forwarded by end-to-end-users of operator (x) . End-users of other operators cannot download or receive VAS MMS from the service provider.

The approach eliminates the problem, but does not provide a solution. It fails to address the business opportunities of mass-distribution of VAS MMS to all mobile users irrespective of their operator affiliation.

A first envisaged solution for the service providers could be to enter into MMS content billing agreements (for handling both downloads and forwarding) with all mobile operators. In this way, content will never be in roaming, but in a global home environment and the different operators handle content billing on behalf of the service provider for their respective end-users. It assumes that MMS content billing means are present for each operator and that the means can recognise the VAS MMS from the service provider and handle end-user charging for both downloads and forwarding.

Figure 6 illustrates this solution, in which a service provider (SP) has a content billing agreement with multiple operators (x, y, z) . VAS MMS can be downloaded to end-users of these operators and forwarded by and to end-users of these operators .

This solution is expensive and impractical for the service providers to set-up and maintain as it requires the service providers to negotiate content billing agreements with all wireless operators, implement a multitude of proprietary technical interfaces towards the wireless operators, and manage billing and invoicing of all wireless operators. It is not cost effective to the service providers and it is not cost effective to the wireless operators. A business environment ^xmesh' regime is created with such a solution in which all service providers must interconnect with all operators and all operators must handle all service providers. Small operators and small service providers will business wise suffer from such a solution.

A second envisaged solution deploys a billing agency/aggregator scheme, in which an intermediate function acts on behalf of the service providers to handle content billing for multiple operators. As in the first solution, content will never be in roaming, but in a global home environment. The different operators handle content billing on behalf of the billing aggregator that handles billing on behalf of service providers. It assumes that MMS content billing means are present for each operator and that the means can recognise the VAS MMS from the service provider and handle end-user charging for both downloads and forwarding.

Figure 7 illustrates this solution, in which service providers (SP1, SP2, SP3) have content billing agreements with a billing aggregator (BA) that has content billing agreements with multiple operators (x, y, z) . VAS MMS can be downloaded to end-users of these operators and forwarded by end-to-end-users of these operators.

This solution alleviates the problems of the first solution. In particular, it becomes less expensive and more practical for the service providers to set-up and maintain, as the service providers only have to connect to one billing party, the billing aggregator, and similarly for the operators. A business environment "star' regime is created with such a solution in which all service providers can connect to one billing handler and the one billing handler can connect to all operators. The downside is that large operators and large service providers will shun such a solution as the intermediate aggregator forms an extra player in the value chain, between the service providers and the operators, and will be seen to take an unacceptable stake of their business for performing the aggregation service. A third envisaged solution deploys a Clearinghouse model [2] for content billing. A clearinghouse model is a model where the content is packaged in a container. When reading the content with a terminal client that can interpret the specially packaged container, the container or client will authorize access to the content with a remote clearinghouse. The clearinghouse handles content billing using an assumed direct billing relationship with the end- user. This is similar to the second solution, but with a big difference: the mobile operator does not charge the end-user for VAS MMS downloads and forwarding, but the clearinghouse does. The operators' role is merely to transport the MMSs across the wireless network.

Figure 8 illustrates this solution, in which service providers (SP1, SP2, SP3) have content billing agreements with a clearinghouse (CH) . VAS MMS can be downloaded to end-users of any operator and forwarded by end-to-end-users of any operators. It assumes that there is special client software available on the terminals that allow for access to downloads and permits forwarding MMS transactions based on authorizations from the remote clearinghouse . The clearinghouse registers chargeable events and bills the end-user.

The solution suffers from the same disadvantages as the second solution, but also brings in new problems: it relies on a new paradigm within the mobile business requiring a third party (the clearinghouse) to bill the end-users of the mobile operators for usage of VAS MMS. Furthermore, it relies on special and non-standard client software to be present in the mobile terminals, which greatly reduces its business potential due to the lack of such software in the global terminal market .

A solution is required enabling service providers to charge end-users for content in roaming according to the chargeable events set by the service providers, independently and transparently of which operator bills the end-users. Such a solution will enable content owners and service providers to securely make their content available for VAS MMS with a global revenue opportunity perspective.

Summary of the invention

The main objective of the present invention is to provide an arrangement providing the above-mentioned solution. The features defined in the claims enclosed characterize this arrangement .

The present invention provides a solution to content billing of VAS MMS that inter-works between operators. Mobile operators can cooperate to handle content billing of VAS MMS for all users, independently of the operator affiliation, and service providers need only have content billing agreements and interfaces with one single operator.

The solution provides an arrangement of four main components :

- Policy Enforcement Module (PEM) that is used to determine whether or not a message transaction is permitted and that coordinates the other components .

- Content Home Locator (CHL) method that is used to find the home environment of the VAS MMS .

- Content Billing Protocol (CBP) that is used to exchange information between operator environments .

- Accounting Module (AM) that is used for content billing accounting.

The present invention extends the standard MMS architecture to handle inter-operator content billing of VAS MMS. Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 illustrates content billing within home billing environment .

Figure 2 illustrates content in roaming, outside home billing environment, forwarded from home environment.

Figure 3 illustrates content in roaming, outside home billing environment, downloaded from home environment.

Figure 4 illustrates content in roaming, outside home billing environment, downloaded from home environment by a user in traditional roaming.

Figure 5 illustrates an operator denying access to VAS MMS for end-users of other operators.

Figure 6 illustrates a service provider with multiple MMS content billing agreements for handling of VAS MMS downloads and forwarding.

Figure 7 illustrates multiple service providers utilizing a centralized billing agency for content billing towards multiple operators.

Figure 8 illustrates multiple service providers utilizing a clearinghouse model for content billing towards any operator.

Figure 9 illustrates the objectives of the present invention providing content billing for content in roaming among different operators. Figure 10 shows the components of the present invention and the arrangement of the components within the MMS architecture.

Figure 11 shows the components of the present invention and their interactions .

Detailed description of preferred embodiments

The present invention provides a solution for a content interconnect scheme among operators . The scheme will now be explained with reference to Figure 9.

A service provider (SPl) wants to make value added content available for VAS MMS. The service provider obtains a content billing agreement with an operator (X) , after which it implements the interfaces required by the operator (X) to distribute VAS MMS onto operator (X) ' s mobile infrastructure. The agreement between SPl and operator (X) defines operator (X) as the home environment of VAS MMSs from SPl . An end-user of operator (X) , A(x) , can then download VAS MMS from SPl and forward the VAS MMS to other end-users of operator (x) . The operator (X) handles content billing for these message transactions according to the content billing policies of SPl, and charges the applicable end-users .

Operator (X) has content billing interconnect schemes with other operators (Y) and operator (Z) .

If the VAS MMS from SPl is forwarded by A(x) to an end-user B (y) of another operator (Y) , then an instance of the VAS MMS becomes available outside the home environment. If B (y) forwards this VAS MMS to another end-user, then operator (Y) first detects the VAS MMS, then that the VAS MMS does not originate from the operator (Y) environment . Operator (Y) then requests billing information (such as the price) from the VAS MMS home environment and thereafter charges the applicable end-user (e.g. B(y)) for the transaction. Operator (Y) and Operator (X) thereafter exchange billing information and revenue so that all the actors (SPl, operator (X) , operator (Y) ) get their agreed upon share of 5 the revenue generated from the end-user (e.g. B(y)).

Similarly, if the VAS MMS from SPl is downloaded by B (y) , then an instance of the VAS MMS becomes available outside the home environment. The operator (Y) first detects the VAS MMS transaction, then that the VAS MMS does not originate ιo from the operator (Y) environment. Operato (Y) then requests billing information (such as the price) from the VAS MMS home environment and thereafter charges the applicable end- user (e.g. B(y)) for the transaction. Operator(Y) and Operator (X) thereafter exchange billing information and i5 revenue so that all the actors (SPl, operator (X), operator (Y) ) get their agreed upon share of the revenue generated from the end-user (e.g. B (y) ) .

The arrangement with the components is depicted in Figure 10. Two instances of the arrangement are shown, one for 20 each mobile operator. It is assumed that each mobile operator has means to handle MMS traffic according to the MMS standard (i.e. having MMSC) and means to detect VAS MMS in transfer (illustrated with the Message Control Engine) .

A VAS MMS message having an operator (X) home environment 25 can be brought into the environment of operator (Y) . This can occur if

a) A user B (y) of operator (Y) downloads VAS MMS from a service provider that has a billing agreement with operato (X) . This downloading transaction

30 (i.e. user terminating transaction) is considered a chargeable transaction by the service provider.

b) A user A(x) of operator (X) has downloaded VAS MMS from a service provider that has a billing agreement with operator (X) and forwards the VAS MMS to a user B (y) of operator (Y) . After which B(y) forwards the VAS MMS to another user. This forwarding transaction (i.e. user originating transaction) is considered a chargeable transaction by the service provider.

When such a VAS MMS is brought into the environment of operator(Y), the message control engine of the operator (Y) detects the VAS MMS transaction and invokes the PEM of operator (Y) to handle content billing of the transaction.

With the arrangement, the PEM then uses the CHL to find the home environment of the VAS MMS. The CHL will respond that the VAS MMS is from a different operator environment, after which the PEM uses the CBP to exchange information with the VAS MMS home environment. By doing so, the PEM will obtain information required for content billing of the VAS MMS transaction in its environment. The PEM then uses the AM to do billing accounting for the transaction effectuating end- user content billing for the transaction. The AM furthermore stores information about the handling of the VAS MMS so that the operators can settle their content billing interconnect accounts at a later stage. Details are given in the next section.

With reference to Figure 11, the components involved in the present invention and their interactions will be discussed in the following.

a. The PEM is invoked by the message control engine. In doing so, the message control engine would typically put the VAS MMS transaction on hold until the PEM has reported back its results. The PEM must receive the following information from the message control engine:

° the policy reference of the VAS MMS, ° the phone number of the sender or of the intended receiver or both,

° information about the VAS MMS transaction event (e.g. "user terminating message" for a download transaction or "user originating message" for a forwarding transaction) .

b. The CHL is invoked by the PEM. In doing so, the PEM provides the policy reference of the VAS MMS . The CHL inspects the policy reference and determines if the policy can be executed within this operator environment or if the policy must be executed in another operator environment. This can be done explicitly by the CHL by maintaining a database of policy references applicable to this operator and comparing the reference with the entries of the database. Or it can be implicitly by the CHL if the policy reference itself contains explicit information about the operator affiliation of this VAS MMS.

c. The CHL informs the PEM of the result, e.g., by a yes/no flag.

d. The CBP is invoked by the PEM. In doing so, the PEM provides

° the policy reference,

° the phone number of the sender or of the intended receiver or both,

° information about the VAS MMS transaction event (e.g. "user terminating message" for a download transaction or "user originating message" for a forwarding transaction) . e. The CBP then initiates a dialog with its CBP counterpart of the other operator (e.g. by a calling a Java servlet that the policy reference can represent) . In doing so, it passes information about :

° the policy reference,

° the phone number of the intended receiver,

° information about the VAS MMS transaction event (e.g. "user terminating message" or "user originating message" ) ,

° information of the operator identity (e.g. a unique number representing its operator) .

f . The CBP counterpart will then invoke its associated PEM to execute the billing policy on this message transaction request. The CBP will pass the information received (as in e) to the PEM as input to the policy execution.

g. The PEM must then return the following information to the CBP:

° the result of the policy execution (e.g. an ok/nok flag indicating that the message transaction is allowed or not) ,

° an identity for the service provider that has provided the content for the VAS MMS (e.g. a number) ,

° the end-user price to be charged for the transaction (e.g., in Euro currency representation).

h. The CBP then passes this information (from g) back to the initiating CBP (e.g. as a Java servlet response) . i. The CBP relays the information back to the initiating PEM.

j. If the result passed back to the PEM is positive (e.g. ok flag) , then the PEM will request its AM to do accounting for the transaction so that the end-user is charged for the transaction. This can be done by subtracting the price amount from a pre-paid account maintained in the operator's infrastructure or by storing usage data information for post-processing billing.

k. The AM will pass back information to the PEM on the success or failure of the accounting.

1. If the AM reports that the accounting was a success, the PEM will report back to the message control engine that the VAS MMS may be passed through to the end-user. If the AM was unsuccessful, then the PEM will report back to the message control engine that the VAS MMS must not be passed through to the end-user.

After a successful content billing event, the two environments will store information about the transaction (e.g. towards an integrated database or towards a billing gateway function of the respective operator) . By doing so, the interconnect arrangement can be settled so that all parties receive their agreed upon share of the revenue from the content billing event .

This data storage is handled by the AM of each instance of the arrangements. The AM will typically store information about :

time of the event,

- type of event (originating/terminating) , service provider identity,

price,

operators involved (home environment and content roaming environment) ,

a unique record identity.

With the present invention implemented, mobile operators can assist VAS service providers to reach a global end-user market for their content with billing for VAS MMS. It provides a solution that is to the benefit of both small and large service providers and mobile operators in a cost efficient manner.

The present invention does not require the mobile operator to change their technical interface towards the service providers and vice versa.

To the operators, the present invention provides mechanisms for extending their business for content billing of MMS. Furthermore, with the solution, the operators increase the entry barriers for new competing entrants into this core business area of billing for VAS MMS.

By means of the present invention, MMS becomes an attractive distribution channel for value added content and service providers as billing of VAS MMS can easily be handled independently of the end-user operator affiliation. By attracting service providers with high value content, the MMS traffic is increased within their MMS network, resulting in increased traffic revenues. Abbreviations and references

[1] MMS 3GPP TS 23.140 v4.2.0 (2001-03), 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Terminals; Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) ; Functional description; Stage 2 (Release 4)

[2] Clearinghouse "Digital Rights for all media types", Internetcontent.net, 2/20/2001

Claims

P a t e n t c l a i m s

1. An arrangement of charging a receiver or a sender located in a first communication network for a Multimedia Message Service (MMS) or an element thereof, from now on referred to as only MMS, originally made available in a second communication network and provided from a service provider having a billing interface to that network, the first communication network including a Message Control Engine (MCE) , integrated in an MMS architecture connected to said communication networks, adapted to detect MMSs in transfer and to enforce policies on the MMSs bound to corresponding policy references, the second communication network is said to be the home environment of the service provider, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n

a Content Home Locator (CHL) adapted to determine the home environment of the service provider detected by the MCE by investigating a home environment identity included in a policy reference of a policy associated with the MMS,

a Content Billing Protocol (CBP) having a billing interface being able to exchange policy and billing information concerning the MMS with a counterpart CBP of the home environment of the service provider determined by the CHL, the CBP provides at least the policy reference and an identity of the receiver or an identity of the sender or both to the counterpart CBP, the counterpart CBP responds by providing at least an identity of the service provider, an end-user price for the MMS, and a result of a policy enforcement being information whether the receiver/sender is allowed to receive/send the MMS or not,

an Accounting Module (AM) adapted to carry out an accounting so that the receiver/sender is charged for the end-user price if the receiver/sender is allowed to receive/send the MMS by, e.g., extracting the end- user price from a prepaid account belonging to the receiver.

2. Arrangement according to claim 1 , c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n

a Policy Enforcement Module (PEM) being in communication with the MCE, CHL, CBP and AM, adapted to coordinate interactions between these modules by:

requesting the CHL for the home environment of the service provider as a response to a detection of the MMS in the MCE,

requesting the CBP for billing and policy information regarding the MMS,

initiating accounting in the AM so that the receiver/sender is charged for the MMS, and

responding to the MCE if the MMS is allowed to pass on basis of the policy information and/or whether the accounting was successful or not .

3. Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the AM is adapted to store, during the accounting, the following transaction data:

detection time of the MMS,

whether the MMS terminates or originates in/from the first communication network,

an identity of the service provider, the end-user price,

an identity of the second communication network,

a unique record identity.

4. Arrangement according to any of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the first and the second communication network correspond to a first and a second mobile operator, respectively.