CA2529634A1 - Cost minimization of services provided by multiple service providers - Google Patents

Cost minimization of services provided by multiple service providers Download PDF

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Publication number
CA2529634A1
CA2529634A1 CA002529634A CA2529634A CA2529634A1 CA 2529634 A1 CA2529634 A1 CA 2529634A1 CA 002529634 A CA002529634 A CA 002529634A CA 2529634 A CA2529634 A CA 2529634A CA 2529634 A1 CA2529634 A1 CA 2529634A1
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CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
tier
sps
utilization
pricing structure
tiered pricing
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
CA002529634A
Other languages
French (fr)
Other versions
CA2529634C (en
Inventor
Rahul G. Patel
Phillip C. Jacobs
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Cisco Technology Inc
Original Assignee
Cisco Technology, Inc.
Rahul G. Patel
Phillip C. Jacobs
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Cisco Technology, Inc., Rahul G. Patel, Phillip C. Jacobs filed Critical Cisco Technology, Inc.
Publication of CA2529634A1 publication Critical patent/CA2529634A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA2529634C publication Critical patent/CA2529634C/en
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L12/00—Data switching networks
    • H04L12/02—Details
    • H04L12/14—Charging, metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
    • H04L12/1485—Tariff-related aspects
    • 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
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
    • G06Q30/0283—Price estimation or determination
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L12/00—Data switching networks
    • H04L12/02—Details
    • H04L12/14—Charging, metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L12/00—Data switching networks
    • H04L12/02—Details
    • H04L12/14—Charging, metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
    • H04L12/1442—Charging, metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications at network operator level
    • H04L12/145—Charging, metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications at network operator level trading network capacity or selecting route based on tariff
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M15/00—Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M15/00—Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
    • H04M15/41—Billing record details, i.e. parameters, identifiers, structure of call data record [CDR]
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M15/00—Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
    • H04M15/49—Connection to several service providers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M15/00—Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
    • H04M15/80—Rating or billing plans; Tariff determination aspects

Abstract

A technique for efficiently and accurately minimizing costs associated with services provided by a plurality of service providers (SPs) that bill for their services based on a tiered cost structure. Target tiers are generated based on the utilization of the SPs' services and the SPs' cost structures.
Utilization of the SPs' services is monitored. A momentary target utilization rate (MTUR) is generated for each SP based on the cumulated utilization of the SP's service and the SP's target tier. Utilization of the SPs' services is distributed based on the generated MTURs in a manner that minimizes cost. If the utilization of the SPs' services indicates the MTURs have been exceeded, new target tiers and MTURs are generated and utilization of the SPs' services is redistributed among the SPs in a manner that minimizes cost.

Claims (20)

1.~A method for minimizing costs associated with services provided by a plurality of service providers (SPs) wherein each SP charges for utilization of its service based on a tiered pricing structure comprising one or more tiers and wherein each tier corre-lates to an amount of service provided by the SP and a cost, the method comprising the steps of:
generating a target tier for each SP based on a utilization of the SP's service wherein the target tier represents a tier contained in the SP's tiered pricing structure;
generating a momentary target utilization rate (MTUR) for each SP based on the generated target tier for the SP and utilization of the SP's service wherein the MTUR
represents a cumulative utilization of a SP's service at a particular instance of time; and distributing utilization of the SPs' services among the SPs based on the MTUR
and tiered pricing structure of each SP in a manner that minimizes the cost of the serv-ices provided by the SPs.
2. ~A method as defined in claim 1 comprising the step of:
collecting measurement data that represents the utilization of the SPs' services.
3.~A method as defined in claim 2 wherein the data is collected over a billing pe-riod and wherein the billing period comprises one or more rollup periods.
4. ~A method as defined in claim 3 comprising the step of:
generating one or more rollup values from measurement data collected during a rollup period.
5. ~A method as defined in claim 4 wherein each of the SPs' services is associated with a discard calculation method that determines a number of rollup values that are discarded from the billing period.
6. ~A method as defined in claim 4 comprising the step of:

-25-~

for the first N/P + 1 rollup periods in the billing period, distributing demand among the SPs in a manner that minimizes the cost of the services provided by the SPs as indicated by the SPs' tiered pricing structures and the measurement data, wherein N
is a number of discarded rollup values in the billing period and P is a number of rollup values generated per rollup period.
7. ~A method as defined in claim 4 comprising the step of:
placing the one or more rollup values in an ordered set (M).
8. ~A method as defined in claim 7 comprising the step of generating a target tier that is a tier in an SP's cost structure associated with a M(N + 1) value in the ordered set, wherein N is a number of discarded rollup values in the billing period.
9. ~A method as defined in claim 8 comprising the steps of:
determining if a tier in the SP's tiered pricing structure associated with a M(N +
1) - J) value in the ordered set matches a tier in the SP's tiered pricing structure associ-ated with the M(N + 1) value in the ordered set, wherein J is a number of rollup values to be generated in the billing period; and if so, generating a target tier that is a maximum tier.
10. ~A method as defined in claim 3 comprising the steps of:
collecting first measurement data that represent a first utilization of an SP's service;
generating a first rollup value from the first measurement data;
placing the first rollup value in a first ordered set (M');
collecting second measurement data that represent a second utilization of the SP's service;
generating a second rollup value from the second measurement data; and placing the second rollup value in a second ordered set (M").
11. ~A method as defined in claim 10 wherein the first measurement data is a count of egress octets transferred over a data link coupled to the SP and the second measure-ment data is a count of ingress octets transferred over the data link.
12. ~A method as defined in claim 10 comprising the steps of:
determining if a tier in the SP's tiered pricing structure associated with a M'(N
+ 1) value in the first ordered set is greater than a tier in the SP's tiered pricing structure associated with a M"(N + 1) value in the second ordered set, wherein N is a number of discarded rollup values;
if so, generating a target tier that is the tier in the SP's tiered pricing structure associated with the M'(N + 1) value in the first ordered set; and otherwise, generating a target tier that is the tier in the SP's tiered pricing structure associated with the M"(N + 1) value in the second ordered set.
13. ~A method as defined in claim 10 comprising the steps of:~~
determining if a tier in the SP's tiered pricing structure associated with a M'((N
+ 1) - J) value in the first ordered set matches a tier in the SP's tiered pricing structure associated with a M'(N + 1) value in the first order set, wherein N is a number of dis-~
carded rollup values and J is a number of rollup values yet to be collected in the billing period;
if so, generating a target tier that is a maximum tier;~
determining if the tier in the SP's tiered pricing structure associated with the M'((N + 1) - J) value in the first ordered set is greater than a tier in the SP's tiered pricing structure associated with a M"(N + 1) value in the second ordered set;
and if so, generating a target tier that is the tier in the SP's pricing structure associ-ated with the larger of the tiers in the SP's tiered pricing structure associated with the M'(N + 1) and M"(N + 1) values, otherwise, generating a target tier that is a maximum tier.
14. ~A method as defined in claim 10 comprising the steps of:
determining if a tier in the SP's tiered pricing structure associated with a M"((N
+ 1) - J) value in the second ordered set matches a tier in the SP's tiered pricing struc-ture associated with a M"(N + 1) value in the second order set, wherein N is a number of discarded rollup values and J is a number of rollup values yet to be collected in the billing period;
if so, generating a target tier that is a maximum tier;
determining if the tier in the SP's tiered pricing structure associated with the M"((N + 1) - J) value in the second ordered set is greater than a tier in the SP's tiered pricing structure associated with a M'(N + 1) value in the first ordered set;
and if so, generating a target tier that is the tier in the SP's pricing structure associ-ated with the larger of the tiers in the SP's tiered pricing structure associated with of the M'(N + 1) and M"(N + 1) values, otherwise, generating a value that is a maximum tier.
15. ~A system comprising:
connections coupled to a plurality of service providers (SPs) and configured to enable access to services provided by the SPs wherein each SP charges for utilization of its service based on a tiered pricing structure comprising one or more tiers and wherein each tier correlates to an amount of service provided by the SP and a cost;
means for generating a target tier for each SP based on a utilization of the SP's service wherein the target tier represents a tier contained in the SP's tiered pricing structure;
means for generating a momentary target utilization rate (MTUR) for each SP
based on the generated target tier for the SP and utilization of the SP's service wherein the MTUR represents a cumulative utilization of the SP's services at a particular in-stance of time; and means for distributing utilization of the SPs' services among the SPs based on the MTUR and tiered pricing structure of each SP in a manner that minimizes the cost of the services provided by the SPs.
16. ~An intermediate node comprising:
one or more connections coupled to a plurality of service providers (SPs) and configured to enable access to services provided by the SPs wherein each SP
charges for utilization of its service based on a tiered pricing structure comprising one or more tiers and wherein each tier correlates to an amount of service provided by the SP and a cost; and a processor configured to:
monitor utilization of the SPs' services, generate a target tier for each SP based on a utilization of the SP's serv-ice wherein the target tier represents a tier contained in the SP's tiered pricing structure, generate a momentary target utilization rate (MTUR) for each SP based on the generated target tier for the SP and the utilization of the SP's service wherein the MTUR represents a cumulative utilization of the SP's service at a particular instance of time and distribute utilization of the SPs' services among the SPs based on the MTUR and tiered pricing structure of each SP in a manner that minimizes the cost of the services provided by the SPs.
17. ~An intermediate node as defined in claim 16 wherein the processor is config-ured to collect measurement data that represents the utilization of the SPs' services.
18. ~An intermediate node as defined in claim 17 wherein the data is collected over a billing period and wherein the billing period comprises one or more rollup periods.
19. ~An intermediate node as defined in claim 18 wherein the processor is config-ured to generate one or more rollup values from the measurement data collected during a rollup period.
20. ~A computer readable medium containing computer executable instructions for execution in a processor for performing the steps of generating a target tier for each SP in a plurality of SPs based on a utilization of an SP's service wherein the target tier represents a tier contained in the SP's tiered pricing structure;
generating a momentary target utilization rate (MTUR) for each SP in the plu-rality of SPs based on the generated target tier for the SP and the utilization of the SP's service wherein the MTUR represents a cumulative utilization of the SP's services at a particular instance of time; and~
distributing utilization of the SPs' services among the SPs in the plurality of SPs based on the MTUR and tiered pricing structure of each SP in a manner that minimizes the cost of the services provided by the SPs.
CA2529634A 2003-07-31 2004-07-20 Cost minimization of services provided by multiple service providers Expired - Fee Related CA2529634C (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US10/631,682 2003-07-31
US10/631,682 US7257560B2 (en) 2003-07-31 2003-07-31 Cost minimization of services provided by multiple service providers
PCT/US2004/023328 WO2005013049A2 (en) 2003-07-31 2004-07-20 Cost minimization of services by multiple providers

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2529634A1 true CA2529634A1 (en) 2005-02-10
CA2529634C CA2529634C (en) 2010-09-07

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CA2529634A Expired - Fee Related CA2529634C (en) 2003-07-31 2004-07-20 Cost minimization of services provided by multiple service providers

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US (2) US7257560B2 (en)
EP (1) EP1654615A4 (en)
CN (1) CN101019150A (en)
AU (1) AU2004262270A1 (en)
CA (1) CA2529634C (en)
WO (1) WO2005013049A2 (en)

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Publication number Publication date
US20050027548A1 (en) 2005-02-03
CN101019150A (en) 2007-08-15
US7920479B2 (en) 2011-04-05
US20080015914A1 (en) 2008-01-17
CA2529634C (en) 2010-09-07
US7257560B2 (en) 2007-08-14
WO2005013049A3 (en) 2007-04-12
EP1654615A2 (en) 2006-05-10
AU2004262270A1 (en) 2005-02-10
EP1654615A4 (en) 2012-12-26
WO2005013049A2 (en) 2005-02-10

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