CN1421023A - Computer-assisted ticketing system with multiple operators - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention concerns computer-assisted ticketing systems with multiple operators, which consists in providing the stations (103) enabling access to services (telephone or banking or public transport), with means (106), called consulate for separately processing data read on a ticket (105) issued by another operator. The links between the consulate and the validator are reduced to a minimum so that the data concerning the ticket validation processing cannot be known by one or the other of the operators. It enables to provide interoperability through safe, discreet and decentralised means.

Description

Computer-aided ticketing system with multiple operators

The invention relates to a ticketing system that can be used simultaneously by several operators in a manner transparent to the user.

A ticketing system refers to a system in which there is a dual one transaction, i.e. one contractual association (as is the case for a transportation system), or a multiple one contract, i.e. n transactional associations (that is, Every time there is a transaction, there is a reference to the general contract with the operator (such as a mobile phone operator or a bank card group in terms of payment).

The invention therefore applies to any transaction system that can be used by several operators. The invention finds particular application in radiotelephony, banking networks and transportation systems.

It enables clients of one operator to use services and/or infrastructure of another operator indiscriminately in a manner transparent to users.

In the case of mobile telephony systems, a user who has entered into a contract with one telephony operator can make telephony transactions with another or more operators' equipment or subscribers to the telephone network.

In the case of a banking system, customers of several banks can use the equipment of these banks or users of the banking network to influence transactions without connecting to an authorization center.

In the case of a public transport system, customers of several transport operators can use the transport means of these operators indiscriminately with the transport rights granted by these operators without distinction and in the use of each transport means.

As we all know, in the service supply system provided by the main operator to the public, there are different operating modes so that the operator has a more or less basis for attracting customers.

For example, in a cellular mobile telephone system, the networks are completely separated and the user can only use the network of the operator to which he subscribes, unless there is a specific agreement between said operators. This solution is currently feasible because with a large number of users, operators can provide an overlay or substantially continuous network. But it is very clear that for areas with low population density, because of this poor service, it is of course possible for customers to demand access to different networks in a transparent way, in order to guarantee economically acceptable conditions Really complete coverage. This of course creates problems with the charging and invoicing of calls over networks to which the user does not belong. This issue is particularly critical because there is currently a trade war going on between carriers and as a result they have a large number of different invoicing methods for carriers, which change frequently.

Examples of multiple access are currently encountered in wired telephone networks, where only physical networks belonging to one historical operator exist in recently liberalized countries. Customers who want to use another carrier's service must go through this existing physical network and identify the carrier they want to use through the prefix. In fact even the switching system belongs to the operator who owns the physical network and other operators simply lease the traffic routing capacity and then resell it to customers. They earn revenue on the difference between wholesale hire and retail. It can be seen that the invoicing system is basically based on the processing of data about the actual communication, collected by the historical operator and then transferred to the new operator. It can be seen that the new operator is thus completely limited by the historical operator and must trust him with regard to the correctness of the data received, which is not without disadvantages among direct competitors.

A major problem at the moment is that users want to use the public transport system in such a way that with a ticket bought for example from one rail company, they can then use the subway, then the bus - and whether it is run by different operators or even of these different means of transport random combination.

Currently, the trend for different transporters is for each transporter to sell their tickets for their part of the itinerary, for individual tickets. This solution is clearly unsatisfactory. This is especially true for the bookings that led to the establishment of a travel card type system.

The issuance of receipts originating from this booking system is carried out on a statistical basis and is always guaranteed.

There is thus a serious problem of interoperability, a term defined as the possibility for a user to buy a ticket or book from the carrier that suits him best, being able to use all other carriers in his area within the time and distance defined by the original ticket.

It should be noted that this problem has been solved in the case of bank cards (debit card type), but the adopted pyramidal solution consists of a single operator uniting all banking parties and remaining anonymous to the user. The latter uses a card issued by its bank, which is practically common to everyone and differentiated only by cosmetic aspects.

The disadvantage of this system is that it requires a good agreement of all federated parties in the common organization. This good agreement is only obtained at the cost of a certain degree of obliteration of the least square. However, it results in a lack of flexibility and responsiveness in the face of desired specific changes.

In order to alleviate these disadvantages of these so-called "ticketing" systems, the present invention proposes a multi-operator ticketing system comprising content used exclusively by a first operator to obtain tickets issued by that operator, and A first device for obtaining information authorizing a service, characterized in that it also includes a second device, called a "consular" device, for receiving information from a ticket issued by another operator and sending a message to the first device A simple authorization is sent to provide the service based on information known and processed by it in a consular-specific manner.

According to another feature, the service authorization depends on the prior performance of the transaction.

According to another feature, the first means and the consular method of processing the information are concealed from each other.

According to another feature, the consul is physically included in the first means.

According to another feature, the consul is physically located outside the first device.

According to another feature, the system comprises a central unit and a set of remote stations wanting to know the contents of the tickets, execute the transaction and are connected to the central unit through a first transmission circuit.

According to another feature, each remote station includes a consul.

According to another feature, the central unit comprises a second transmission circuit for transmitting to the central unit of the other operator data corresponding to transactions performed on behalf of this other operator.

According to another feature, the central unit comprises a third transmission circuit for transmitting from the central units of other operators to the consul information about the mode of the information carried on the consular processing ticket.

According to another feature, the application of the system to public transport systems and the remote stations are ticket gates for access to means of transport. In this case, the ticket is the information carrier, such as a ticket with a magnetic strip, plastic or cardboard, or a contact or non-contact smart card.

According to another feature, the system is applied to a mobile telephone system and the remote station is a base station of a wireless telephone network, the information carried by the ticket is read by the mobile phone and sent to the base station.

In this case, the ticket takes the form of a cellular phone-associated mobile phone smart card (GSM or UMTS standard).

According to another feature, the system is applied to the banking system and the remote stations are distributed terminals, the information carried by the ticket is read by the dispensing terminal.

In this case, the ticket takes the form of a credit card with a chip or magnetic strip.

According to another feature, the system is applied to systems with different purposes.

In fact, the system can be applied to a transportation and parking system or a transportation and business compliance system.

Another characteristic and advantage of the invention will emerge clearly from the following description, presented by way of non-limiting example with respect to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 depicts a simplified block diagram of a system according to the invention;

Figure 2 depicts a block diagram of a system according to the invention applied to a mobile telephone network belonging to an operator different from the telephone operator;

Figure 3 depicts a block diagram of a system according to the invention applied to a banking network belonging to an operator other than the bank operator (bank).

The invention applies to the aforementioned transaction systems that can be operated by several operators, as long as the ticketing system refers to the case where there are double transactions, i.e. one contract is associated (transportation system case), or where there are multiple contracts, i.e. n transactions (That is to say for every transaction there is a reference to the general contract with the operator (eg mobile phone operator (GSM or UMTS) or bank card group in terms of payment)).

Otherwise, for simplicity, the term "ticket" will be used for any device, physical or otherwise, that grants access to the "ticket" system defined above. The various possibilities are illustrated with an example application of the invention given below.

Figure 1 depicts a block diagram of a ticketing system according to the invention, subject to another variant of the case where operator Y accepts customers of operator X.

Figure 1 will be described using the transport system as an example. Naturally, this diagram also applies to mobile radio telephone systems or banking network systems.

In this simple version, operator Y has a central unit 101 providing control of the entire system. This central unit is connected by links 102 to a set of remote stations 103 in which services are run. To give an idea, the central unit 101 is located in the centralized service building of a city bus company, and the station 103 is a ticket gate 110 located on the bus, which authorizes passengers to enter the bus. According to the size of the business, the simple links shown in the figure will be branched, with concentrators and intermediate processing equipment.

In the usual function of operator Y, a customer of operator Y entering a bus is authenticated by presenting to the ticket gate 110 the ticket 104 issued to him by Y, for example a smart card with a contactless connection. The ticket gate recognizes the ticket, checks its validity for date, route, etc. and authorizes the passage of the traveler, for example by flashing a green light. In other circumstances, such as entering a subway station, the ticket inspector will activate a turnstile, for example.

While it is possible to imagine utilizing a ticket validator provided by a minimum amount of intelligence and valid verification at unit 101 after transmitting the data via link 102 and then retransmitting the verification using this link, the most common solution is provided by A valid ticket checker, that is to say a computer with sufficient functionality and provided with sufficient memory to handle verification issues locally at the station 103 itself.

The problem of interoperability consists of a traveler provided with a ticket 105 issued by another operator X who, after presenting the ticket 105, receives authorization from the ticket gate 110 to enter the bus, not in a manner that causes the authorization to be given to the holder of the ticket 104 In the same form as the processing of the Y problem, cause the processing of the permission granted by the system Y to be affected by the system itself.

This is because this mode of processing will make operator Y aware of operator X's overall business strategy, as well as characteristics, possibly including the names of a substantial portion of X's customers. He can, for example, determine that certain customers of operator X benefit from a particularly favorable rate and are major customers, and he can then advantageously approach them directly.

Therefore, the present invention intends to delineate a subcomponent 106 in the station 103, which will be referred to as "consul" in the remainder of this text for the convenience of description.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, this consul 106 may be formed by hardware means and/or software means distributed indefinitely according to implementation needs and/or needs of different operators. The basic point is that consul 106 constitutes a structure sufficiently isolated from the rest of the station so that exchanges between these two parts are strictly limited to the wishes of the two operators, so that neither can access the part reserved for the other Contains confidential data.

According to other examples, the consul may be in unit 101 or located between the unit and the station.

The consul 106 therefore includes the ability to decode the information contained in the ticket 105 issued by operator X and authorize the passenger provided with this ticket 105 to board the bus.

The part of the station 103 additionally reserved for the operator Y only includes, as far as there is no consul in the station, elements very necessary, such as a few lines of computer code, to enable an exchange with a very simplified consul 106 .

In more detail, when the ticket inspector 110 notices that the ticket 105 presented to it is for carrier X, it immediately sends the information read from the ticket to the consul 106, and since basic data, such as the type of contract of carriage, can Well represented only by a few bytes whose meaning is known only to operator X, the information can be accompanied by logistical data such as date and place, so that the information is essentially meaningless to the aforementioned consul.

Operator X then implements its validation process, which is in principle similar to the validation of the ticket 104 implemented by the ticket gate 110, and will accept boarding, or deny boarding if appropriate, resent to the gatekeeper. The ticket inspector then approves or denies the passenger boarding.

For complex transport systems, this acceptance can be supplemented, if necessary, by data making it possible to further restrict the type of service given by operator Y to passengers of operator X, such as an indication of the travel distance actually covered.

These data are then sent to the central unit 101 via the link 102 directly or in non-real time, eg after being stored for a whole day. It is then sent from operator Y's central unit 101 to operator X's central unit 201 so that the latter can manage its own customers and reward operator Y for services provided to these same customers. This remuneration will be done in accordance with the consistent method that exists in that essentially operator Y dictates a specific rate for each service offered to operator X's customers. This corresponds to a specific tariff between operator X and operator Y, no commercial agreement between operator X and its own customers plays any role, nor does operator Y know.

In the figure, this transmission is represented by the link 107 from the central unit 101 to the central unit 201, but in practice it can be realized by another means, for example by exchanging magnetic tapes, which are used in compensation operations between banks.

The consul 106 therefore includes a certain amount of data, eg relating to tariffs, more or less often subject to change. In the example describing the bus transportation system, these variations are relatively rare, but they may be very common in other applications, such as in cellular telephone communication systems.

To enable the updating of these data, the invention also proposes to send data from the central unit 201 of operator X to the consul 106 contained in the station 103 via the central unit 101 of operator Y and its link 102 to the station 103 .

For this purpose, these data, and more generally the entire program of the consul 106, are sent from the central unit 201 to the central unit 101 via a link 108 which, like link 107, takes the form of a cable, which may also use other means Such as tape swapping. These data will then be sent from the central unit 101 to the consul 106 via the link 102 and the other components of the station 103 .

Naturally, in order to maintain the confidentiality of these data, for which the whole system is designed, this communication will be effected by means of an encryption system of a known type. For example, it will be implemented using a security application module abbreviated as SAM.

The invention also proposes to use a system like SAM to send from the consul 106 to the central unit 201 a certain amount of data related to the customer who was offered the ticket 105 and where operator X does not want operator Y to know this data.

It is very clear that the system, as described, requires minimal hardware and software compatibility between the ticketing systems of Operator X and Operator Y.

Therefore, in this example, tickets 104 and 105 must be of the same type in order for the reader to be universal. Likewise, Consul must run under the same operating system as the rest of station 103.

But the invention is not limited to this close compatibility. It extends to systems where the hardware and software can differ significantly, but this difference is more emphasized while accepting a design complexity and an arguably greater overhead.

It is thus possible that ticket 104 has contactless reading and ticket 105 has magnetic reading, thus requiring two different readers. In this case, the output of the reader may be connected to physically distinct ticket gate 110 and consul 106, the two being connected by a link only to allow the minimal exchange described above.

This solution may increase security compared to one operator breaking into another, but it should be immediately noted that it leads to a rather unfavorable proliferation of hardware.

If instead of two operators X and Y being involved as described above, but a set of operators X, Y, Z.., a situation in which the invention is fully suitable, since it is sufficient for each external operator to have A consul, the proliferation of this hardware will be more detrimental. This is rarely the case in public transportation systems, but is quite common in other applications of the invention, such as cellular telephone systems.

In fact, this proliferation is easily and without disadvantage avoided by noting the standardization that currently exists among the suppliers of the components used to build the system.

Figure 2 illustrates a multi-operator ticketing system according to the invention applied to GSM or UMTS mobile telephone networks, where these networks belong to operator Z.

In fact, as mentioned above, the concept of adjacent interoperability also applies to mobile telephony environments where the physical network is used by different operators (the network either belongs to one of these operators or does not belong to them and the basis facilities leased to one of these operators).

In this case, the consul 106 takes the form of a component installed on the device 103, which is a specific device of the network, called basic cell equipment. Consul 106 follows the same principles of identifying operator X (or Y), issuing smart cards, identifying users, identifying their consumption rights and recording transaction-related data, so that initially consists of smart card 105 and portable phone TX (or smart card-telephone TY) A dialogue between the pair and the network becomes possible.

According to the same method these possibly encrypted data (with the exception of those data necessary for the operator Z of the infrastructure to request payment from the relevant operator X (or Y)) are either recorded in the basic equipment or in the central system Z of the network operator , for subsequent reimbursement by operator X (or Y).

Clearly this operating principle is different from what is currently recommended in industrialized countries, where each operator is the owner of its infrastructure, but it has a real advantage for countries where infrastructure installation costs become a serious problem.

Figure 3 illustrates a multi-operator ticketing system according to the invention, applied to a banking network where the network belongs to operator Z.

In fact, this concept of near interoperability is also applied in a banking environment, where the station 103 is a distributed terminal belonging to one bank and can be used by different bankers without having to compare with the system existing in France, requiring Connect to an authorization center.

In this case, the consul 106 takes the form of a component of the device 103 installed in a specific device (distribution terminal) of the banking network. The consul 106 starts a dialogue between this station 103 of bank Y and a bank card 105 belonging to another bank X according to the same principle of identifying the bank that issued the card, identifying the user, identifying his consumption rights and then recording the relevant transaction data.

According to the same method these possibly encrypted data (except those necessary for the infrastructure operator to recover the payment from the relevant bank owner) are recorded on the bank terminal and sent back to the central point of the operator X of the network system for subsequent reimbursement.

Claims (16)

1. a multi-operator ticket-booking system comprises first device (103) that is specifically designed to the content of obtaining the ticket of being issued by this operator (104) and is used for ratifying according to the information that obtains a business by first operator, it is characterized in that this system also comprises second device (106) that is called " consul " device, receive the information of the ticket of issuing from another operator (105) and simple a mandate is sent to first device so that provide described business according to the information that obtains in the proprietary mode of this consul and handle.

2. according to the system of claim 1, it is characterized in that its service authorization depends on the performance formerly of transaction.

3. according to the system of claim 1 or 2, it is characterized in that the method by first device (103) and consul (106) process information is hidden each other.

4. according to any one system of claim 1 to 3, it is characterized in that consul (106) physically is included in first device (103).

5. according to any one system of claim 1 to 3, it is characterized in that consul (106) is physically located at first device (103) outside.

6. according to any one system of claim 1 to 3, it is characterized in that this system comprises a central location (101) and one group of distant station (103) that is used to obtain content, the execution transaction of ticket and is connected to central location by first transmission circuit (102).

7. according to the system of claim 6, it is characterized in that each station (103) comprises a consul (106).

8. according to any one system of claim 6 and 7, it is characterized in that central location (101) comprises second transmission circuit (107) that is used for the data corresponding to the transaction of representing another operator to work are sent to the central location of another operator (201).

9. according to any one system of claim 6 to 8, it is characterized in that central location comprises the 3rd transmission circuit (108) that is used for the information that the consul handles the method for the information that ticket (105) carries is sent to from the central location of another operator (201) consul (106).

10. according to any one system of claim 1 to 9, it is characterized in that it is applied to a generic transport system and is the ticket checking device of climbing up this means of transport at distant station (103), the entrained information of ticket is read by this ticket checking device.

11. according to the system of claim 10, it is characterized in that ticket is the information carrier, as have the ticket of magnetic stripe, plastics or cardboard or contact or contactless smart card.

12. according to any one system of claim 1 to 9, it is characterized in that it is applied to a mobile telephone system and distant station (103) is base station in the mobile telephone network, the entrained information of ticket by the mobile phone reading and sending to the base station.

13., it is characterized in that ticket adopts and the relevant portable phone form of intelligent mobile phone card (GSM or UMTS standard) according to the system of claim 12.

14. according to any one system of claim 1 to 9, it is characterized in that it is applied to a banking system and distant station (103) is the distribution terminal, the entrained information of ticket is read by this distribution terminal.

15., it is characterized in that ticket adopts the form of the credit card that has chip or tape according to the system of claim 14.

16., it is characterized in that it is applied to have the system of different purposes according to the system of above-mentioned any one claim.

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