HK1091299A - A method and apparatus for supporting content purchases over a public communication network - Google Patents

Description

Method and apparatus for supporting content purchase over public communication network

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for supporting the purchase of content over a public communication network upon request from a customer to a content provider. More particularly, the present invention relates to securing and facilitating the purchase of content over a public communication network, such as the internet.

Background

Purchases over public communication networks such as the internet are rapidly becoming popular and widely mature locally and globally. Customers can be exposed to specific so-called "content providers" throughout the world in different ways to purchase various objects, such as goods, services and information, often collectively referred to as "content", over the internet.

In this description, the phrase "content" is used to generally represent any item, service, or piece of information that may be purchased over the internet. Such content may include, for example, any physical object or item, typically delivered through postal services, or information in the form of digital data delivered through a communications network to a fixed or mobile client terminal. Some content providers may also provide a variety of communication services such as call services, chat forums, news monitoring and alerts, database searches, and the like.

Most commonly, the internet is accessed with a stationary computer, such as a PC. Recently, however, wireless mobile terminals with internet capabilities have also been introduced, such as WAP (wireless application protocol) phones and PDA (personal digital assistant) devices. Internet browsing is a graphics-based process for navigating the internet when searching for a particular desired object in the available content. The end user can thus contact the content server via the internet and select an entry in a different menu and link or the like displayed on the terminal screen. Each entry may contain a URL (universal resource locator) identifying, for example, an internet address of a web page or electronic document in any form, such as text, image, audio, or video format, provided by the content provider.

If the user activates (clicks on) the URL, the corresponding document or page is transmitted through the internet with packet-based delivery and finally downloaded to the user's receiving terminal. When downloading so-called "multimedia" content based on audio and/or video, streaming technology can be used whereby the user can start playing the content at the receiving station while receiving the file. This is possible because the content is received as a packet data stream in a sequence order corresponding to the playing order of the content.

Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic communication scenario for purchasing content from a content provider over a public communication network with a user operated terminal according to the prior art. In this example, an internet capable mobile terminal 100 is connected to a mobile network 102 over a radio based air interface. The mobile network 102 uses standardized communication protocols, such as those defined for GSM, TDMA, PDC, UMTS, etc., to communicate voice and data over the air interface and within the network. The gateway 104 provides connectivity for the mobile terminal to the global internet 106. For example, mobile terminal 100 may be a WAP phone and gateway 104 may be a WAP gateway. A number of content servers 108 are also connected to the internet 106 throughout the world, only 3 of which are shown in fig. 1.

In order to purchase content from a content provider over the internet or other communication network, a secure and fast method is needed for delivering a fee calculated by a seller for the purchased content by a buyer. The customer can contact any of the content servers 108 through the mobile terminal 100 and search for content to purchase. There are currently different methods for paying if an object, such as an item, a service or a piece of information, is purchased at a certain price.

After each purchase is performed, the provider of the vended content may send an invoice to the purchasing customer. However, this method is relatively expensive and is particularly unsuitable for small transactions, so-called micropayments. There is also always a risk that the customer does not pay or ignores the invoice, resulting in further costs.

To establish some kind of secure relationship, the customer may first register with the content provider to create a payment account or the like, sometimes referred to as an "e-wallet" solution. The customer may then purchase multiple times over a period of time (e.g., periodically) with credit and receipt of invoices. Alternatively, the customer may also provide a credit card number that is paid for one or more executed purchases. However, the customer feels some boundary to registering or using a credit card, especially for small payments. This is mainly due to the inherent insecurity of, or effort to ensure, sending credit card numbers over public networks, such as the internet. Thus often limiting the customer from making purchases.

Operators of access networks, such as mobile network 102, sometimes establish business relationships with selected content providers in order to provide content to their customers, e.g., subscribers. The access operator can then pay for the content purchased by the customer using a regular subscription bill or pre-paid card, whereby the access operator "represents" the billing, thereby avoiding the above-mentioned problems. For example, the gateway 104 of the network 102 may contain one or more so-called ports created to support content purchases from a selected content provider. The operator of the mobile network 102 may then charge the customer for purchases from a selected content provider and also obtain some commission to provide the service. The customers do not have to register with each content provider nor have to send their credit card numbers over the internet.

However, there are still some serious drawbacks associated with this solution. A reliable business relationship must be established between each access operator and each content provider in order to satisfy billing operations and marketing activities, among other services. Moreover, standard technology interfaces are also typically lacking. Thus, both the operator and the content provider have to define and implement multiple technical interfaces and sign multiple agreements in order to provide even a limited range of different content to the subscriber/customer in this way. This is naturally quite expensive and time consuming and therefore limits business incentives for both parties, resulting in slow market growth.

Fig. 2 illustrates the complexity of having many such discrete relationships (as indicated by arrows) between multiple access operators 200A, 200B, 200c.

It is therefore highly desirable to enable customers to purchase a large number of different content at any price with an operator of their existing subscription or prepaid card with communication access through a public communication network. It is also desirable to avoid the complexity of having many separate business relationships and technical interfaces between different access operators and content providers.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to reduce or eliminate the above problems. This and other objects are achieved by providing a method and apparatus for supporting the purchase of content over a public communication network from a content provider to a customer using an access operator for communication.

A server controlled by a content provider receives a purchase request for content from a terminal operated by a customer via the public communication network. The content provider server sends a purchase indication message to indicate the purchase request to a transaction router, which has established a relationship with the content provider and the access operator, respectively. The transaction router approves the requested purchase in response to the purchase indication message, including checking whether the operator approves the requested purchase. If the transaction router has approved the purchase, the content provider delivers the content to the customer according to the requested purchase. The access operator may then charge the customer for the purchase, for example, by means of a subscription bill or a prepaid card.

The transaction router may also send a status report of the requested purchase to the content provider prior to delivering the content. The purchase status report may be sent in response to a purchase status request from the content provider.

Approving the requested purchase may further include identifying the operator based on the received customer identification of the customer. The customer identification may be any of: a telephone number, a web site, or a subscription identity. Approving the requested purchase may also include identifying the customer based on the received customer identification. Approving the requested purchase may also include receiving a purchase confirmation from the customer that may be received after prompting the customer in a purchase dialog with the transaction router. A purchase dialogue may be conducted in response to receiving the purchase indication message from the content provider.

When the content has been delivered, a charging request for the purchase may be sent from the content provider to the transaction router.

Each established relationship includes a business agreement and the necessary technical interfaces.

The invention also includes a transaction router that establishes relationships with each of a plurality of content providers and each of a plurality of access operators, respectively. The transaction router is adapted to act as a common payment mediator between the operator and the content provider for purchasing content over a public communication network. The transaction router comprises means for receiving a purchase indication message from a content provider server, the purchase indication message indicating: a content purchase is requested from a client operated terminal over the public network using an access operator for communication. The transaction router further comprises means for approving the requested purchase in response to the received purchase indication message, such that if the purchase has been approved, the content provider can deliver the content to the customer according to the requested purchase, and the access operator can charge the customer for the purchase.

The approving means may comprise means for identifying the access operator and the customer based on the received customer identification, and means for checking whether the access operator approves the requested purchase, in order to approve the requested purchase prior to content delivery.

The transaction router may be adapted to register the purchase, including storing purchase information.

The transaction router may be further adapted to send a status report of the requested purchase to the content provider prior to content delivery.

The transaction router may be further adapted to send said purchase status report in response to a purchase status request from the content provider.

The transaction router may be further adapted to: when the content has been delivered, a request for a charge for the purchase is received from the content provider.

The transaction router may be further adapted to perform identification and authorization of the customer in order to approve the requested purchase.

The transaction router may be further adapted to receive a purchase confirmation from the customer to approve the requested purchase.

The transaction router may be further adapted to prompt the customer to receive said purchase confirmation in a purchase dialogue.

The transaction router may be further adapted to conduct said purchase dialogue in response to receiving said purchase indication message from the content provider.

If the invention is used, only one reliable relationship needs to be established with the transaction router for each operator and each content provider, respectively.

Drawings

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 is an illustrative communication scenario for purchasing content over the internet according to the prior art.

Fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the relationship and technical interface between an access operator and a content provider according to the prior art.

Fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the relationship and technical interface between an access operator and a content provider according to the present invention.

Fig. 4 is an illustrative communication scenario for purchasing content over a public communication network in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic communication diagram illustrating steps performed in an example program supporting content purchase according to the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a transaction router in greater detail according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

In current solutions for charging customers for their purchase of content over the public internet with regular telephone subscription billing, a number of separate relationships and technical interfaces are required between the access operator and the content provider, as shown in fig. 2. The present invention greatly reduces the number of access operators and content providers by introducing a central transaction router as a payment mediator between them. The technical features of the inventive method and transaction router are summarized in the following description.

Fig. 3 schematically illustrates the reduced complexity of the transaction router 300, which has a reliable relationship with each of the plurality of access operators 200A, 200B, 200c. Each such relationship comprises the necessary technical interfaces applicable to each content provider and each access operator, respectively. Thus, only one business agreement and one set of necessary technical interfaces need to be established with the transaction router for each operator and each content provider, respectively. This configuration allows for a much smaller total number of single applicable relationships and interfaces (as indicated by the arrows) than is the case in fig. 2. Furthermore, this configuration supports the purchase of content from any content provider 202 connected to the transaction router 300 through any equally connected access operator 200.

Briefly described and with reference to the illustrative communication scenario of FIG. 4, as an example, a customer 400 is interested in purchasing content from a content provider 404 over a public communication network 102. As used herein, a "public relationship network" generally refers to any public network that may be used by a customer to communicate with a content provider. The global internet, which is currently the most prevalent, will serve as such a public network, which in fact comprises a large number of individual communication networks. However, any public network or combination of networks may be used within the scope of the present invention.

Customer 400 makes a purchase request to content provider 404 and then points to transaction router 406 in a purchase dialogue in response to the purchase request. The transaction router also performs approval of the requested purchase, including identification and authorization of the customer 400 and/or the content provider 404, prior to implementation of the requested purchase. In particular, in this case, the transaction router identifies the operator of the access network 408 with which the customer communicates, for example, with a subscription or pre-paid card. The transaction router also checks whether the identified operator agrees to the purchase, e.g. with respect to his/her subscription and/or current trustworthiness to the operator, or in some cases depending on the nature of the requested content.

There may be various reasons for not agreeing to the requested purchase. For example, a predetermined credit limit that the operator permits the customer to make purchases over the public network is exceeded. Further, the customer may have been prohibited from making any purchases in this manner, for example, due to a previous unpaid bill or the like. In another example, an operator may not allow content to be delivered from content providers on certain "black lists," or may not allow certain types of content to be sent to specific customers, etc.

The above-mentioned permission check may actually be performed by requesting permission from the operator or by retrieving a database or the like (not shown) that holds such information. In addition, the transaction router 406 prompts the customer 400 in a purchase dialogue to confirm the purchase. The transaction router then provides the purchase status to inform the content provider 404 whether the purchase has been approved and confirmed.

If the purchase has been successfully approved, the content provider may then deliver the requested content to the customer and subsequently receive payment from the transaction router. The transaction router will also receive payment from the customer access operator for the purchase, optionally including a commission. Finally, when the operator charges, the customer will pay for the purchase with his/her regular subscription bill, or a bill pull, or a pre-paid card.

In this way, the operator may charge the customer on behalf of a potentially large number of content providers. It is a great benefit for the customer that the billing or the like is provided by the operator with whom he/she has established a reliable relationship, and this is also often a secure payment mechanism. A plurality of such purchases from different content providers involving large or small amounts may also be charged together, e.g. on the same bill.

An example of a process for supporting the purchase of content over a public communication network according to the present invention will now be described in more detail. Fig. 5 illustrates a communication diagram containing various messages exchanged between a customer a operating a suitable communication terminal, a content provider B controlling one or more servers, a transaction router C and an access operator D with which the customer communicates, e.g. by subscription or pre-paid card. Preferably, conventional fixed or mobile telephone subscriptions may be used, but any other type of subscription that enables radio communication may be used, such as internet access, cable television, etc. The invention is not limited to any particular type of payment agreement between the customer and the access operator. The content provider B and the operator D communicate with the transaction router C, respectively, through suitable receiving/transmitting means and a predetermined interface (and thus particularly applicable), as described above.

The communication terminal operated by the client a is used to transmit and receive various messages indicated in fig. 5, and may be any user terminal or device capable of radio communication, such as a PC, a mobile station, a workstation, a game station or a TV set. In addition, the content provider server may be used to communicate messages with content provider B, as shown in fig. 5. In general, any suitable known methods, systems and devices that enable such communication may be used with the present invention and are therefore not described in detail herein.

The first step 500 generally illustrates customer a searching for content to purchase by communicating with content provider B over a public network. At this step the content provider may offer the customer a price to purchase the specific content and charge the purchase by his/her access operator D, e.g. by regular telephone bills or a prepaid card. After the customer finds some desired content, a purchase request is finally sent to content provider B in a next step 502. But before content provider B delivers the requested content, the purchase request must be approved in the following manner by utilizing transaction router C.

In response to the purchase request, the content provider B first sends a purchase indication message to the transaction router C at step 504. The transaction router, in response to the purchase indication message, will then approve the requested purchase and also initiate a purchase dialogue with the customer. Approving a purchase includes verifying customer a and/or content provider B, checking whether operator D agrees to the purchase, and asking the customer to confirm his/her requested purchase.

The purchase indication message sent at step 504 contains information about the requested content, such as identification and price, and the authentication specifications of content provider B, such as a username/password combination. The purchase indication message may also include a first URL, which is a web address for subsequently redirecting the customer back to content provider B after the purchase dialogue. In practice, the purchase indication message may be implemented as a "session request" or an "approval request" from the content provider.

In response to receiving the purchase indication message, the transaction router C sends session information to the content provider B regarding the purchase dialogue to be performed with the customer a at step 506. The session information includes an assigned session ID (identity) and a second URL, which is a web address used to direct the customer to the transaction router. The purchase indication message also triggers the transaction router to approve the requested purchase, as will be described further below.

At step 508, the content provider sends a second URL to the customer to connect the customer to the transaction router. The customer then connects to the transaction router using the received URL and a purchase dialogue is conducted between transaction router C and customer a at step 510. During this session, the transaction router preferably presents the purchase data to the customer and prompts him/her to confirm the purchase.

The WAP gateway of the access network used may also provide information to the transaction router about the identity and capabilities of the WAP terminal and the communication channel used, e.g. contained in a so-called "cookie" or HTTP header, if the customer operates a mobile WAP terminal. Such information may be useful if the requested content includes digital data to be delivered to the client WAP terminal in an appropriate format.

According to various embodiments of the invention, the customer may be prompted to confirm the purchase at step 512, for example by clicking on a "confirmation" on the terminal screen, or by sending a specific message to a certain phone number. For example, if a customer operates a mobile terminal, he/she can be prompted by sending an SMS (short message service) containing a specific code to a given telephone number.

Sometimes in the above process, the transaction router C checks whether the operator D agrees to the purchase indicated in step 512, by contacting the operator D or by retrieving a database or the like, as described above. In order to do this, some kind of identification means for the customer and/or the terminal used, such as a telephone number, a web address or a subscription identity, is required, whereby the transaction router can identify the operator D as well as the customer. In various embodiments, such a customer identification may already be included in the purchase request received from the customer at step 502 and forwarded to the transaction router, e.g., in the purchase indication message sent at step 504. Alternatively, in step 510, during the purchase session, customer identification means may have been provided from the customer terminal. Thus, at step 512, the transaction router checks whether the customer is authorized to make the purchase and charges the purchase by carrier D, as described above.

If the customer has been fully authorized and the requested purchase has been confirmed, the transaction router C registers the purchase and, at step 514, points customer A back to content provider B by providing the first URL received at step 504. Registering the purchase includes storing various purchase information such as a transaction ID, a content ID, a customer ID, a content provider ID, a customer authorization, a content price, and the like. Later retrieval of this information may be used to charge operator D and pay content provider B.

Before delivering the requested content to customer a, content provider B sends a request for purchase status to transaction router C at step 516, so that the purchase is approved. In one embodiment, the customer identification device may be provided to the transaction router in this step. The transaction router then retrieves the requested purchase status from the stored purchase information and sends it to the content provider, step 518. The requested purchase status may include any of the above-described stored purchase information, as well as the status of the operator's license, customer authorization, and confirmation.

If the purchase has been fully approved by means of the provided purchase status, the content according to the requested purchase may be delivered from the content provider B to the customer A in step 520. After delivery, content provider B may send a charge request 522 to the transaction router C for the delivery of the content. The transaction router may then pay or settle the charge with the content provider, as shown in step 524. The charge amount may actually be settled differently with the content provider. Accordingly, any suitable procedure may be used to process steps 522 and 524, such as, for example, periodically collecting multiple charges and payments. The transaction router also informs operator D about the payment amount, optionally including an additional commission, which is shown in another step 526. Different procedures may also be used for this, such as providing the operator with so-called Charging Data Records (CDR) after each execution of a purchase, or periodically containing information about a number of transactions that a number of customers subscribe to with the operator.

The operator then pays on time or settles the charge with the transaction router C in step 528. The operator finally charges the customer with a bill (e.g., a periodic phone bill) for the purchase and, optionally, additional commissions, in a final step 530.

The above example of supporting purchases over a public communication network may be modified in different ways within the scope of the invention, such as changing the order of the steps. For example, at any time after the step 504 of receiving a purchase indication message but before the step 518 of providing a purchase status, e.g., based on the time the customer identification was received, the transaction router may perform the step 512 of checking for operator D approval of the requested purchase. In particular, any suitable procedures and mechanisms may be used to bill and transfer the various payments, such as those contained in step 522-530 of the above example. Steps 522 and 526 may also be omitted if the respective charge amount has been forwarded in any previous step (e.g., steps 504, 506 or 516) or in any other manner. Further, when customer A is directed back to content provider B at step 514, the purchase status may be automatically provided to content provider B so that status request step 514 may be omitted.

Figure 6 illustrates a transaction router in more detail according to the present invention. The transaction router 600 is connected to and has established a relationship with each of the plurality of content providers 202 and each of the plurality of access operators 200, respectively. The transaction router is adapted to act as a common payment mediator between the operator 200 and the content provider 202 for purchasing content over the public communication network.

The transaction router 600 comprises receiving means 602 for receiving a purchase indication message from one of the content providers, the purchase indication message indicating: a content purchase is requested from a terminal operated by a customer through a public network by an access operator for communication.

The transaction router 600 further comprises purchase approving means 604 for approving the requested purchase in response to the purchase indication message, such that if the purchase has been approved, the content provider can deliver the content to the customer according to the requested purchase and the access operator can charge the customer for the purchase. Purchase approval apparatus 604 includes: identifying means 606 for identifying the access operator and the customer based on the received customer identification; and checking means 608 for checking whether the access operator approves the requested purchase in order to approve the requested purchase before delivery.

In the described inventive arrangements, the customer may select from a wide range of different content offered by a potentially large number of content providers. The payment can be made in a convenient and secure manner, for example, by regular subscription bills or pre-paid cards from the access operator. These advantages will make internet purchases more attractive to customers, thereby promoting market growth. Furthermore, content providers can utilize multiple carriers to market and sell their products to a wide range of customers in the described manner, simply by establishing a relationship (including a technical interface) with the transaction router.

The invention in turn enables access operators to derive revenue from increases in the amount of access to their visited networks and also by increasing commissions when performing the above described billing on behalf.

While the present invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments, the description is only intended to illustrate the inventive concept and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention. Various alternatives, modifications, and equivalents may be used without departing from the spirit of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims.

Claims (23)

1. A method for supporting a purchase of content over a public communication network from a content provider to a customer using an access operator for communication, characterized by the steps of:

-receiving a content purchase request over said public network from said client operated terminal at a server controlled by a content provider;

-the content provider server sending a purchase indication message indicating the purchase request to a transaction router, the transaction router having established a relationship with the content provider and the access operator, respectively;

-said transaction router approving the requested purchase in response to said purchase indication message, including checking whether said access operator approves said requested purchase, and

-if said transaction router has approved said purchase, said content provider delivering content to said customer according to said requested purchase, such that said access operator can charge said customer for said purchase.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein: the access operator charges the customer for the purchase by means of a subscription bill or a prepaid card.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein: the transaction router sends a status report to the content provider requesting a purchase prior to delivering content.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein: transmitting the purchase status report in response to a purchase status request from the content provider.

5. The method of any one of claims 1-4, wherein: approving the requested purchase further comprises identifying the operator based on the received customer identification of the customer.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein: the customer identification is any one of: a telephone number, a web site, or a subscription identity.

7. The method of claim 5 or 6, wherein: approving the requested purchase further includes identifying the customer based on the received customer identification.

8. The method of any one of claims 1-7, wherein: approving the requested purchase further comprises receiving a purchase confirmation from the customer.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein: receiving the purchase confirmation after prompting the customer in a purchase dialog with the transaction router.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein: performing the purchase dialogue in response to receiving the purchase indication message from the content provider.

11. The method of any one of claims 1-10, wherein: sending a charging request for the purchase from the content provider to the transaction router when the content has been delivered.

12. The method of any one of claims 1-11, wherein: each of the established relationships includes a business agreement and the necessary technical interfaces.

13. A transaction router having established relationships with each of a plurality of content providers and each of a plurality of access operators, respectively, characterized by: said transaction router being adapted to act as a common payment mediator between said operator and said content provider for purchasing content over a public communication network, said transaction router comprising:

means for receiving a purchase indication message from a content provider server, the purchase indication message indicating: requesting a content purchase from a client-operated terminal via said public network using an access operator for communication, an

Means for approving said requested purchase in response to a received purchase indication message, such that if said purchase has been approved, said content provider may deliver content to a customer according to said requested purchase and said access operator may charge said customer for said purchase.

14. The transaction router of claim 13, wherein: the approving means comprises means for identifying the access operator and the customer based on the received customer identification, and means for checking whether the access operator approves the requested purchase in order to approve the requested purchase before content delivery.

15. A transaction router according to claim 13 or 14, wherein: the transaction router is adapted to register the purchase, including storing purchase information.

16. The transaction router according to any of claims 13-15, wherein: the transaction router is adapted to send a status report of the requested purchase to the content provider prior to content delivery.

17. The transaction router of claim 16, wherein: the transaction router is further adapted to send the purchase status report in response to a purchase status request from the content provider.

18. The transaction router of any of claims 13-17, wherein: the transaction router is further adapted to: receiving a request for a charge for the purchase from the content provider when the content has been delivered.

19. The transaction router according to any of claims 13-18, wherein: the transaction router is further adapted to perform identification and authorization of the customer to approve the requested purchase.

20. The transaction router according to any of claims 13-19, wherein: the transaction router is further adapted to receive a purchase confirmation from the customer to approve the requested purchase.

21. The transaction router of claim 20, wherein: the transaction router is further adapted to prompt the customer to receive the purchase confirmation in a purchase dialogue.

22. The transaction router of claim 21, wherein: the transaction router is further adapted to conduct the purchase dialogue in response to receiving the purchase indication message from the content provider.

23. The transaction router according to any of claims 13-22, wherein: each of the established relationships includes a reliable business agreement and any necessary technical interfaces.