US 7,924,854 B2Granted

System and method for billing end users in a peer-to-peer transaction in a network environment

AssigneeCisco Technology, Inc.

InventorsWalter G. Dixon, Robert M. Batz, Robert A. Mackie, Mark Albert, Chris O'Rourke, Humberto Tavares

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A method for billing end users in a peer-to-peer transaction in a network environment is provided that includes a client services packet gateway operable to communicate with a first end user and a second end user in order to facilitate the peer-to-peer transaction and a flow manager element operable to receive one or more packets of the peer-to-peer transaction from one or more interfaces, such that the interface is a subscriber interface or a network interface. The flow manager is further operable to associate a first session object with the first user and associate a second session object with the second user.

Claims19

Dependent claims

An apparatus, comprising:

a client services packet gateway operable to communicate with a first end user and a second end user in order to facilitate a peer-to-peer transaction;
and
a flow manager element operable to:
receive one or more packets of the peer-to-peer transaction from one or more interfaces, wherein an interface is a subscriber interface or a network interface;
if a selected packet is received from the subscriber interface:
associate a first source Internet Protocol (IP) address corresponding to the first user and a second destination IP address corresponding to the second user with a first session object corresponding to the first user;
and
associate a second source IP address of the second user and a first destination IP address of the first user with a second session object corresponding to the second user;
and
if the selected packet is received from the network interface:
associate the second source IP address and the first destination IP address with the first session object;
and
associate the first source IP address and the second destination IP address with the second session object.

10 more elements

A method, comprising:

receiving one or more packets of a peer-to-peer transaction from one or more interfaces, wherein an interface is a subscriber interface or a network interface;
if a selected packet is received from the subscriber interface:
associating a first source Internet Protocol (IP) address corresponding to the first user and a second destination IP address corresponding to the second user with a first session object corresponding to a first user;
and
associating a second source IP address of the second user and a first destination IP address of the first user with a second session object corresponding to the second user;
and
if the selected packet is received from the network interface:
associating the second source IP address and the first destination IP address with the first session object;
and
associating the first source IP address and the second destination IP address with the second session object.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 11/929,001Filed 30 Oct 2007
Published: US 2009/0109983 A130 Apr 2009
Granted: 12 Apr 2011
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification3 codes

H04L 12/14
Details: charging, metering or billing arrangements specially adapted for data communications, e.g. authentication, authorisation and accounting…
H04L 12/1471
Methods or systems for payment or settlement of the charges for data transmission involving significant interaction with the data transmission…
H04L
Digital communication