Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/04—Payment circuits
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/04—Payment circuits
  • G06Q20/045—Payment circuits using payment protocols involving tickets
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/30—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks
  • G06Q20/32—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks using wireless devices
  • G06Q20/322—Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/30—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks
  • G06Q20/32—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks using wireless devices
  • G06Q20/326—Payment applications installed on the mobile devices
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07C—TIME OR ATTENDANCE REGISTERS; REGISTERING OR INDICATING THE WORKING OF MACHINES; GENERATING RANDOM NUMBERS; VOTING OR LOTTERY APPARATUS; ARRANGEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS FOR CHECKING NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE
  • G07C9/00—Individual registration on entry or exit
  • G07C9/20—Individual registration on entry or exit involving the use of a pass
  • G07C9/27—Individual registration on entry or exit involving the use of a pass with central registration
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
  • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
  • G07F17/0014—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for vending, access and use of specific services not covered anywhere else in G07F17/00

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a system and method for purchasing, via telematics, an authorization to use a service, where by the term * service" is meant the contents of an obligation, i.e., that whic the person obliged must provide or the behaviour that he must assume.
• services such as entrance to shows, exhibitions and events in general for which an admission fee must be paid (e.g., theatres, museums, sports grounds, concerts, etc.), or to structures of various types (e.g., car-parks, motorways, etc.), admission to places or to events where entrance is limited and where bookings or appointments are envisaged (e.g., medical examinations, visits to public offices, remote purchasing, for instance, of railway or aeroplane tickets), and, in general, to all those services, payment of which can be made by credit card (e.g., payment of taxes, bills, etc.).
• Web sites dedicated to electronic commerce, as well as to events specifically designed for attracting spectators and visitors to museums, theatres, concerts, etc.
• the virtual ticket is ⁇ Basically represented by an authorization for admission of a computer type or electronic type (duly encrypted for evident reasons of security) , which can be received through the same means whereby the request for purchase of the entrance ticket was made, for instance, a personal computer, or else a portable terminal of the user, in particular a cellphone, or else some equivalent terminal, such as a palm-top computer, or else via any one of the other means referred to above used for this purpose .
• Authorization for admission to the event is generated and sent, provided that payment is ensured, by the provider of the service of sale of entrance tickets to said event.
• This may be the body organizing the event or else a special agency capable of ensuring a generalized booking service.
• Such an organization handles the booking, the checking of the economic coverage, the payment of the ticket, the generation of the virtual ticket, and the sending thereof to the customer, using a special protocol.
• the authorization for admission to the event is then stored on an appropriate portable storage medium so as to enable exhibition thereof or presentation thereof upon admission to the event itself in order to obtain authorization to enter the premises where the event is taking place.
• the storage medium for authorizing admission may be represented either by a so-called “smart card” of the type with contacts or of the contactless type, or else by a portable terminal of the user, in particular a cellphone or some equivalent terminal, such as a palm-top computer.
• Presentation of the authorization for admission to the event stored on the storage medium is made in the way commonly used for fast access to places that attract a big public, such as metropolitan undergrounds, ski-lifts, ⁇ motorways (tele-passes), etc., i.e., getting the storage medium to interact with a reader or an electronic access gate envisaged for admission to the event, through which the entrance pass is checked and cancelled, and entrance to the event is allowed through an appropriate visual or acoustic communication.
• the storage medium for authorizing admission to the event is represented by a contactless smart card
• this may be either of the so-called "stand-alone" type and hence, in effect, constitute a single multi-service document similar to an electronic credit card for controlled admission to places, events, or, more in general, to services of any nature for which payment is envisaged, or else be incorporated in the cellphone, which should therefore be modified to make possible activation of the smart card itself (such modifications may also require only interventions of a software type on the cellphone and/or on the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card) .
• SIM Subscriber Identity Module
• the transfer of the authorization for entrance by the means with which it was received, whether this be a computer or a telephone, to the smart card itself can be effected by means of an appropriate programming peripheral that can be connected to the computer or to the telephone itself.
• a smart card of the stand-alone type could then also be performed using the cellphone itself, setting the smart card at a very short distance from the circuit provided for the purpose (for example, by simply resting the smart card against the cellphone or else inserting it into a special opening present in the cellphone itself) .
• a smart card of the contactless type envisages that, when the owner of the smart card passes through the electronic access gate, the said smart card is brought up to the electronic access gate itself, which then emits a ' high-frequency activation signal to the smart card.
• the smart card Up.on reception of the activation signal, the smart card is activated and establishes a communication with the electronic access gate, during which the electronic access gate verifies and obliterates the entrance pass stored in the smart card and authorizes the owner of the smart card, by means of an appropriate acoustic or visual signal, to gain admission to the event.
• incorporation of a smart card in a cellphone may be effected either by intervention on the SIM card of the cellphone or by intervention on the cellphone itself.
• the SIM card currently used in cellphones is replaced by a card which incorporates the smart- card function of the contactless type
• the cellphone in addition to the SIM card, there is inserted a contactless smart card, with the corresponding activation antenna, and the cellphone is modified in such a way that the authorization received telephonically and possibly stored in the memory of the cellphone itself will be transferred into the contactless smart card.
• Exhibiting the pass for admission to the event stored in a smart card incorporated in a cellphone may be done in a way similar to the one described previously for a contactless smart card, i.e., simply by bringing the cellphone, whether this be turned off, turned on, or receiving a call, up to the electronic access gate, which checks and cancels the entrance pass stored in the smart card of the cellphone in the way described previously.
• the medium for storage of authorization for admission to the event is represented by a smart card with contacts
• exhibiting the entrance pass may be performed by simply inserting the smart card into a special reader with which the electronic access gate is equipped.
• the medium for storage of authorization for admission to the event is represented by a portable terminal of the user, such as a cellphone or a palmtop computer
• the entrance pass can be received directly by the portable terminal itself or else be received by a computer and then, through an appropriate programming peripheral, be transferred onto the portable terminal itself.
• Exhibiting the aforesaid entrance pass may therefore be performed by sending a communication (with appropriate protocol) between the portable terminal and the electronic access gate, which receives from the portable terminal authorization for admission and, once the authenticity thereof has been ascertained, authorizes admission to the event.
• a communication with appropriate protocol
• next-generation cellphones will be equipped with the so-called Blue Tooth, i.e., with a short- distance communication system, to make a short-distance communication between a cellphone and an electronic access gate
• Blue Tooth i.e., with a short- distance communication system
• the user when he arrives in the vicinity of the electronic access gate, types the entrance request on the keypad of the cellphone, and then, by sending a simple OK signal, activates a local communication with the electronic access gate itself, which receives the entrance request from the cellphone, and, once authenticity thereof has been ascertained, authorizes admi ssion .
• the short-distance communication system with which next- generation cellphones will be equipped may then also be used for transferring an entrance pass, received by means of a computer, into the cellphone, the said computer also being in future equipped with a short-distance communication system capable of communicating with that of the cellphone.
• Exhibiting the entrance pass stored in a cellphone may then also be performed in the form of a normal telephone call, for example a telephone call that cancels credit that has previously been stored in the memory of the cellphone.
• a normal telephone call for example a telephone call that cancels credit that has previously been stored in the memory of the cellphone.
• this solution by occupying the normal communication channels and the base stations of the cellphone system might not enable sufficiently fast admission and hence be undesirable in the case of events where there is a big attendance of public.
• short-distance communication systems In order to make the short-distance communication between the portable terminal and the electronic entrance or electronic access gate, other short-distance communication systems can be used, in particular short-distance communication systems that do not use radio transmissions, such as infrared communication systems .
• Figure 1 illustrates the working diagram of a system for purchasing an entrance ticket to an event described in the aforementioned Italian patent application.
• Figure 2 instead, illustrates a working diagram whereby an authorization is exhibited at entrance to an event, in the example shown an authorization stored in the cellphone, in which 22 designates the electronic access gate; 24 designates the short-distance communication system of the cellphone; 26 designates the short-distance communication system with which
• the electronic access gate 22 must be provided to enable a short-distance communication with the short-distance communication system of the cellphone; 27 designates the activation and reading device of a contactless smart card; 28 designates the reading device of a smart card with contacts; and 29 designates the processing device, provided with an internal memory of its own,, which checks authorization for admission, for example by connecting up to the provider of the authorization, and enables admission to the event.
• the purpose of the present invention is to provide a method and a system for purchasing via telematics, in which the authenticity of the credit instruments purchased will be guaranteed against any type of manipulation.
• a purchasing system via telematics for acquiring authorization to use a service is provided, as defined in Claim 1.
• Also provided according to the present invention is a method for purchasing, via telematics, an authorization to use a service, as defined in Claim 7.
• FIG. 1 illustrates a working diagram of a first part of a system for purchasing authorization to use a service, devised according to the invention
• FIG. 2 illustrates a working diagram of a second part of a system for purchasing authorization to use a service, devised according to the invention.
• the present invention is based upon the principle of using an identification code for identifying he user's terminal that will be unique and will be automatically transferred at the moment of transmission between the user' s terminal and the reader on which the credit instrument is used, without there being any possibility of intervention on the part of the user
• a preferred embodiment consists in the use of the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) code for cellphones, in so far as the said code meets the requirements referred to previously, in particular as regards transmissions via infrared port .
• IMEI International Mobile Equipment Identity
• the IMEI code for identifying a cellphone is a 15-figure code which enables the cellphone network to identify the cellphone in a unique way, in that the said code is automatically transmitted by the cellphone at each phone call, without there being any possibility of intervention on the part of the user, and is traceable in the network, this constituting an element of convenience and advantage, even though not altogether indispensable.
• the IMEI code for cellphones can then be advantageously used in combination with an infrared transmission and/or a Blue- tooth transmission, in so far as these types of transmission meet the requisites previously referred to, in terms of speed of communication between the portable terminal and the electronic access gate in such a way as to enable use of this system of presentation of the authorization for admission to events where there is a high public attendance.
• the Service Centre which carries out the ticket- office and tele atic-register function receives from the purchaser the IMEI code identifying the cellphone on which it must send the credit instrument (block 100) .
• the IMEI code of the cellphone can be "captured" automatically by the Service Centre in the case where, in order to purchase and receive the credit instrument, the cellphone is used, or else if not, the customer will have to communicate explicitly to the Service Centre the IMEI code identifying the cellphone on which the credit instrument is to be sent.
• the IMEI code may have come into the possession of the Service Centre, the Service Centre enters the IMEI code of the cellphone on which it is to send the credit instrument inside the text of the credit instrument purchased, together with the other information necessary,_ such as the date of the event in question, the number of seats or places booked, the type of payment, etc. (block 110).
• the Service Centre then transmits the credit instrument purchased, typically in encrypted form, to the cellphone that is the destinee, for instance in the form of an SMS message
• the reader receives not only the credit instrument stored in the cellphone, which is possibly to be decrypted, but also the IMEI code identifying the cellphone on which the credit instrument was sent (block 140) .
• the IMEI code identifying the cellphone on which the credit instrument was sent is transmitted from the cellphone to the reader in an altogether automatic way and without there being any possibility of intervention on the part of the user.
• the reader compares the two IMEI codes, the one transmitted independently and the one contained in the credit instrument (block 150) , and only in the case of perfect correspondence of the two codes does the reader authenticate the credit instrument, in so far as it is arriving from the only terminal to which it had been destined (this terminal being moreover known to the Service Centre and easily identifiable in the event of complaints or disputes) , and hence authorizes admission to the event (block 150) . In this way, whatever attempt may be made to reproduce, re-send, duplicate, etc., the credit instrument purchased has no possibility of success.
• vending machines for drinks, food, etc.
• tickets for parking, etc.
• the user purchases the goods or the ticket with a transaction by telephone or computer and receives the corresponding credit instrument (with the indication of the vending machine) on the cellphone.
• the vending machine which is equipped with a special reader (for example an infrared or Blue-tooth reader) verifies the authenticity of the credit instrument, in the sense described previously, and dispenses the goods (or the parking ticket together with the time corresponding to the amount paid) .
• a special reader for example an infrared or Blue-tooth reader
• the latter type of application is not specifically reserved to the solution with infrared or Blue-tooth reader, but regards all the technological solutions referred to in the present invention.
• yet another of these consists in using, instead of the IMEI code identifying the cellphone, the cellphone number itself, in the way described previously for the IMEI code, and with different types of organization at a system level.
• a first type of organization at a system level consists in using the mobile-telephone network in the way described hereinafter with reference to the flowchart illustrated in Figure .
• the reader present at the entrance to the event is provided with a cellphone and when the entrance doors are opened already possesses all the electronic entrance tickets booked for the event, each containing the telephone number of the corresponding user and generated in the way previously described with reference to blocks 100 and 110 of the flowchart of Figure 3.
• the user simply telephones the reader (the number of which has been communicated to him at the moment of booking) , which "captures" the telephone number of the caller (block 200) and compares it with the numbers of the electronic entrance tickets booked (block 210) . Only in the event of the numbers coinciding will the reader grant admission to the user to the extent and for the number of seats / or places booked (block 220) .
• the above system could be integrated with some element designed to check the , ⁇ locality" of the call in order to prevent (if this were necessary) authorization for admission or purchase from being made at a long distance, without any real check on the use (even though the credit instrument purchased would in any case be unique and could be spent only once) .
• Other solutions in this regard are likewise possible .
• a second type of organization at a system level consists in using optical readers for _ reading the credit instrument purchased directly by the display of the cellphones in a way described hereinafter with reference to the flowchart of Figure 5.
• the electronic ticket purchased via telematics and stored in the cellphone of the purchaser in the way described previously with reference to blocks 100 to 120 of the flowchart of Figure 3 is represented by a bar code or by a two-dimensional code which is practically impossible to forge and which contains the telephone number of the user.
• the optical reader reads the encoded ticket from the display of the cellphone (block 320) , compares the telephone number contained therein with any of the ones that it is temporarily withholding (block 330), and in the event of the numbers coinciding, enables admission (block 340) .
• the storage medium is represented by a smart card provided with an identification code of its own at the moment of purchase of the credit instrument
• the identification code of the smart card it is sufficient to communicate the identification code of the smart card to the Service Centre and, once the credit instrument has been received, it will suffice to transfer it onto the smart card by means of a programming peripheral and then use it in the way mentioned above.
• the purchasing system enables elimination of the need to withdraw the entrance ticket to the event by replacing it with an equivalent virtual ticket that can be obtained via telematics, thus enabling the entire / Operation for purchasing the ticket to be performed at a distance, at times and in places chosen by the user.
• the purchasing system provided according to the present invention does not require particular technological effort in that it uses technologies already available on the market .
• the purchasing system according to the present invention fully guarantees the authenticity of the credit instrument purchased via telematics.
• the receiving means and the portable storage medium for storing the credit instrument may be of any type currently available or available in the future.
• a storage medium different from the ones described previously in particular a storage medium having the shape and the dimensions of an ordinary credit card, but capable of operating as a cellphone for making brief communications, in which transfer of small amounts of data over a short distance is made (for example from a cellphone or from a peripheral connected to a computer during storage of the authorization for admission, and from the storage medium to the electronic access gate when the entrance pass is being exhibited) , with obvious advantages from the point of view of convenience of use (it could, for instance, be put in a wallet, be easily lent to another person, or transferred, etc. ) .

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• Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Accounting & Taxation (AREA)
• Strategic Management (AREA)
• General Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Financial Or Insurance-Related Operations Such As Payment And Settlement (AREA)
• Management, Administration, Business Operations System, And Electronic Commerce (AREA)
• Cash Registers Or Receiving Machines (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

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ID=11458840

Family Applications (1)

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Cited By (13)

Families Citing this family (1)

Citations (3)

• 2001
  • 2001-05-08 IT IT2001TO000431A patent/ITTO20010431A1/it unknown
• 2002
  • 2002-05-07 WO PCT/IT2002/000303 patent/WO2002091312A2/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2002-05-07 AU AU2002309258A patent/AU2002309258A1/en not_active Abandoned

Patent Citations (3)

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