United States Patent [19J
`Melen et al.
`
`111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
`US005956391A
`[11] Patent Number:
`[45] Date of Patent:
`
`5,956,391
`Sep.21,1999
`
`[54] BILLING IN THE INTERNET
`
`W097/03410
`
`1!1997 WIPO ............................. G06F 17/60
`
`[75]
`
`Inventors: Bjorn Melen; Mika Hyviinen, both of
`Jorvas, Finland
`
`[73] Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson,
`Stockholm, Sweden
`
`[21] Appl. No.: 08/798,466
`
`[22] Filed:
`
`Feb. 10, 1997
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`[60] Provisional application No. 60/012,686, Mar. 1, 1996.
`
`[30]
`
`Foreign Application Priority Data
`
`Feb. 9, 1996
`
`[FI]
`
`Finland .................................... 960619
`
`Int. Cl.6
`.................................................... H04M 15/00
`[51]
`[52] U.S. Cl. ........................... 379/114; 379!111; 379!115;
`379/229; 705/40
`[58] Field of Search ..................................... 379/111, 112,
`379/114, 115, 118, 120, 121, 122, 127,
`130, 134, 136, 201, 219, 220, 221, 229,
`230, 100.04, 100.06, 100.03, 100.13, 100.15,
`100.17; 370/389, 392, 352, 401; 705/25,
`29, 40
`
`[56]
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`9/1992 Silver eta!. ............................ 379/114
`5,146,491
`............................ 379/201
`5,469,500 11/1995 Satter et a!.
`5,608,786
`3/1997 Gordon ................................... 379/100
`5,710,918
`1!1998 Lagarde eta!. ......................... 395/610
`4/1998 Walker eta!. .............................. 380/4
`5,737,414
`5,745,556
`4/1998 Ronen ..................................... 379/127
`5,794,221
`8/1998 Egendorf ................................... 705/40
`5,845,267 12/1998 Ronen ....................................... 705/40
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`W090/11661 10/1990 WIPO ........................... H04M 11!08
`W096/38018 11/1996 WIPO ............................ H04Q 11/04
`W097/01920
`1!1997 WIPO ........................... H04M 15/00
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`International Search Report re PCT/FI97/00082 Date of
`Mailing of search report: Jul. 8, 1997.
`
`Primary Examiner-Curtis A Kuntz
`Assistant Examiner---Binh K. Tieu
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Burns, Doane, Swecker &
`Mathis, L.L.P.
`
`[57]
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A terminal (1, 2) connected to the public telephone network
`PSTN has access to the Internet-connecting node by dialling
`a service number. In the access node the server gives the
`terminal a temporary IP-address and sets up the connection
`to the area network (15) or to the worldwide Internet (11)
`offering chargeable services. In order to bind the A-number
`and the IP-address to each other and thus bill the user for the
`chargeable services the procedure is as follows: when setting
`up the connection to the service number, the telephone
`exchange ( 4), containing the intelligent network switching
`functions, informs the intelligent network Service Control
`Point (SCP) (14) of both the user's (1 or 2) A-number and
`the device location identification ( C') of the telephone
`exchange ( 4) from which the connection has been setup to
`the router (6) entry point in the access node. The entry point
`is given the same identification (C') as the device location
`connected to the point, and a message is sent to SCP
`containing the temporary address given to the terminal for
`the connection time as well as the router ( 6) entry point
`identification. In SCP the billing program binds to each other
`the A-number and the terminal's temporary IP-address hav(cid:173)
`ing the same device location identification and router entry
`point identification. The intelligent network database has the
`data of the providers of chargeable services, which data
`include at least their IF-addresses. When the terminal is
`connected to the chargeable service, the local area net server
`informs the IP-address of the service and the IP-address of
`the terminal to the Service Control Point (SCP).
`
`11 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
`
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`
`INTEHNET
`
`USEHS
`
`PSTN
`
`LOCAL AHEA NET/fORK
`
`INTEHNET -NET/fOHK
`
`RingCentral Ex-1017, p. 1
`RingCentral v. Estech
`IPR2021-00574
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep.21,1999
`
`Sheet 1 of 4
`
`5,956,391
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`RingCentral Ex-1017, p. 2
`RingCentral v. Estech
`IPR2021-00574
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep.21,1999
`
`Sheet 2 of 4
`
`5,956,391
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`RingCentral Ex-1017, p. 3
`RingCentral v. Estech
`IPR2021-00574
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep.21,1999
`
`Sheet 3 of 4
`
`5,956,391
`
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`RingCentral Ex-1017, p. 4
`RingCentral v. Estech
`IPR2021-00574
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep.21,1999
`
`Sheet 4 of 4
`
`5,956,391
`
`FIG. 4
`
`SETTING UP CONNECTION
`
`tl
`
`IDENTifYING THE TERIIINAL
`USER INTERfACE DATA
`
`u
`
`IDENTIF!ING THE
`SELLERS DATA
`
`••
`
`COIIBINING THE IDENTifiED
`DATA FOR THE BILLING
`,,
`
`CONNECTING TO EACH OTHER
`THE A-NUIIBER AND THE
`ADDRESS Of THE TERIIINAL
`
`RingCentral Ex-1017, p. 5
`RingCentral v. Estech
`IPR2021-00574
`
`

`

`5,956,391
`
`1
`BILLING IN THE INTERNET
`
`This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
`application Ser. No. 60/012,686, filed Mar. 1, 1996.
`
`TECHNICAL FIELD OF INVENTION
`
`The invention relates to billing of services purchased
`through the data transmission network and especially to
`billing of Internet services.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`20
`
`25
`
`Internet is a network which connects the local area
`networks of thousands of firms, universities and other orga(cid:173)
`nizations. There is no centralized user or service directory in
`the net, but the user has to search the relevant subjects
`himself. Any kind of information can be transmitted in the
`network and anyone can establish an own service available
`for everyone. Computers having different programs and
`operating systems communicate using the TCP/IP
`(Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), which is a
`common nomination for Internet's two most important pro(cid:173)
`tocols. The data to be transmitted is divided by its length into
`(1-1500 byte) IP-packets, which are routed to the right
`positions by the network router according to the address data
`in the packets. TCP attends to the maintaining of a reliable
`connection between the transmitter and the receiver. It
`collects the incoming IP-packets into right order and
`requests if necessary a retransmission. The packet addresses,
`i.e. the addresses of the computers in the network, consist
`nowadays of four FIGS. 0-255 separated by dots, which
`four number combination is called the IP-address (IPv4).
`The address is hierarchical, the first part of the address
`specifying the network number, generally the national prefix
`comes first, and the latter part tells the computer number
`within the network. The computer is given an IP-address
`when connected to Internet. The use of the addresses is
`facilitated by the network DNS-address service (Domain
`Name Service), which converts the computer names into
`IF-addresses and vice versa. The user can therefore refer to
`the names of the computers and the services instead of their
`numeric addresses. As the DNS-service is completely dis(cid:173)
`tributed to cover different parts of Internet-network, the
`separate local area network Domain Name Servers can
`inquire addresses from each other if required.
`The rapid growth of Internet services and users will with
`in a few years cause the traffic in the net to tangle. As a result
`of this the TCP/IP-protocol may have to be substituted by a
`more developed link protocol. The change is also urged by
`the running short of Internet-addresses, especially c-class 50
`addresses, and by the poor applicability of the IP-traffic as
`now to real-time data transfer.
`Almost all Internet-services are used based on the client
`server-principle, i.e. the client program in the user's com(cid:173)
`puter gets in connection with the service provider server
`program, which then performs the work. E-mail is perhaps
`the most used service, which a private user can utilize by
`purchasing a personal mail-box from an Internet connection
`provider. The private user can then retrieve into his work
`station the messages from the network server (mail office) in 60
`the network, using POP (Post Office Protocol).
`WWW (World Wide Web) has become the most important
`service form. It is a worldwide WWW-server network
`containing the HTML-documents (HyperText Markup
`Language) WWW is a hypermedia-network, which means 65
`that it only exists virtually, i.e. in electronic form. The
`hyperdocument is one entity, which can contain text,
`
`2
`pictures, sound, moving picture. The document can com(cid:173)
`prise several pages. Some words or pictures in the text are
`links distinguishable on the screen or display, the activation
`of which by clicking starts the transfer to the user, to an
`invisible URL-address (Uniform Resource Locator) referred
`to in the link armature and brings a new document to the
`screen. Every WWW-server has a defined root, usually
`containing the file intended to be watched first. This is
`usually called the home page. Moreover every subdirectory
`10 generally contains a file which is the initial document of this
`directory. WWW can be accessed both with graphic user
`interfaces such as e.g. Mosaic, Netscape and Cello and
`text-based user interfaces such as e.g. Lynx.
`A hyperdocument has usually a webmaster, who updates
`15 the document data.
`A home user or a small company without an own local
`area network and not having direct access to the Internet
`computer can use the SLIP- (Serial Line Internet Protocol)
`or the PPP-(Point to Point Protocol)-connection or the
`terminal link program to get in contact with the Intern et
`computer. This computer is here called a connecting node, as
`from the Internet viewpoint it is one node having an address
`and represents to the user an access point to Internet. The
`node can e.g. be according to FIG. 1. The average home user
`has not a local area network to connect to Internet, but in
`accordance with FIG. 1 the user can have access through the
`public switching telephone network (PSTN) to the local are
`a network of some Internet contact company either from the
`ISDN user interface of the exchange or switch 4 by means
`of the computer 2 provided with an ISDN-adapter or from an
`analog user interface of the exchange or switch connected
`through a modem 3 to the computer 1 serial line port
`(RS232-, i.e. the so called COM-port(serial interface)). The
`computer 1 can instead of an external modem be provided
`with an internal modem card.
`Those using the dial-up network analog user interface and
`modem 3, are connected to the modem pool 5 linked to the
`router 6. The connection is established so that the computer
`1 data communications program sets up a connection to the
`router 9, which serves as DHCP-server. The local area
`network and thus also the users 1 and 2 are connected to the
`Internet-world through the router 10. Router 10 routes the
`transmitted IP-packets according to their addresses to the
`right networks and functions also as a traffic delimiter if
`necessary.
`The connection described above between the user and the
`contact company local area network is usually for the home
`users of an ordinary switched telephone network, but the
`contact companies also offer fixed connections in
`co-operation with the teleoperator.
`Computer 7 handling the users' E-mail traffic is an
`important component in the local area network, being the
`one from which the computers 1 and 2 can fetch their E-mail
`55 using the POP protocol. Another important local area net(cid:173)
`work component is the local PROXY-server 8. The PROXY(cid:173)
`server can also be behind the router 10 in Internet. The
`PROXY-server acts as the network service cache and also as
`a gateway between the company's own local area network
`and Internet. It saves into its own memory e.g. the latest
`retrieved Internet files or WWW-pages, from which the
`users in the same PROXY-server can quickly reread them
`into their own computer.
`To enable the user 1 who has connected his computer via
`a modem to a public telephone line, to use graphic client
`programs and the WWW-browsing, SLIP (Serial Line Inter(cid:173)
`net Protocol) or PPP (Point to Point Protocol) is used in the
`
`30
`
`35
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`40
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`45
`
`RingCentral Ex-1017, p. 6
`RingCentral v. Estech
`IPR2021-00574
`
`

`

`5,956,391
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`30
`
`10
`
`4
`purchaser's or telephone service user's bill, preferably to the
`telephone bill of the calls. The charging of the service
`utilized or the article purchased should be based on the
`connection time, a pulse per connection, a fixed price or a
`combination of these. The bill can naturally also be sent
`separately to the service user or the product purchaser as is
`customary e.g. in connection with credit card purchases.
`Further objectives are systems for establishing bases for an
`indentification of an user terminal or an user and a method
`for the same.
`The objectives set are achieved in the way presented in the
`claims.
`From the terminal user interface, which is e.g. the user's
`terminal interface according to the agreement with the
`teleoperator, a connection is setup to the network, through
`which at least one predetermined service and/or article
`seller, who made an agreement with the teleoperator, offers
`articles and services of different prices to be purchased.
`According to the invention, the user interface data are first
`20 of all identified when the connection is setup or during the
`connection. Secondly, the seller's data as well as the price of
`the selected article or service are identified when an article
`and/or service is chosen from the user interface. The iden(cid:173)
`tification is made during the connection. The data of the
`25 identified user interface and the seller are combined in order
`to charge the subscription user the price of the article or the
`service.
`In a preferable form of embodiment the user, i.e. the
`A-subscriber, calls through the modem or ISDN-adapter
`from the user interface to the access node, i.e. to the number
`of the contact company offering the interface service, which
`is a B-number. From the telephone exchange (switch), which
`also is the SSP (Service Switching Point) of the intelligent
`network (IN-service), the A-number and the B-number are
`transferred to the intelligent network SCP (Service Control
`Point) for use of the billing program, which provides the
`A-subscriber with a billing record containing the A- and
`B-numbers. The intelligent network informs the telephone
`exchange about the re-switching of the call to the number C
`defined for the service provider, provided the calling
`A-number is entitled to the service. In other case the access
`is prevented or blocked. This function can be used to fulfill
`possible service restriction conditions. The subscriber must
`by this restriction condition e.g. be able to restrict the use of
`45 the phone to basic calls only and prevent calls to other
`services. The telephone exchange makes the switching to the
`device location C' corresponding to the C-number and
`informs the identification of the device location C' to the
`intelligent network. The device location identification C' is
`50 added to the billing record, whereafter the intelligent net(cid:173)
`work has record of the A-number, the B-number and the
`device location identification C'.
`The call starts as normally from the PSTN exchange
`device location C' and comes to the entry point of the access
`55 node. The point and the exchange device location have a
`complete analogy, therefore the same device location iden(cid:173)
`tification as in the telephone exchange can for order's sake
`be used for the point, i.e. identification C'. From the point the
`call proceeds to the contact company's server/router indi-
`60 cated by the B-number, which now has record of the device
`location identification C' in the exchange, from where the
`call comes. The server/router gives the "visible" calling
`computer behind this device location an Internet-address I to
`be used in the normal way during the connection time. Both
`65 the device location identification C' and the given Internet(cid:173)
`address I are informed to the intelligent network, where the
`billing program which earlier received the A-number and the
`
`3
`data transfer between the user and the local area network.
`The protocol converts the modem line into an Internet cable
`and extends the Internet TCP/IP-telecommunication link to
`include the public telephone line from one modem to
`another, in the figure between terminal! and router 6. SLIP
`enables the Internet-communications using the computer
`serial line port, whereby the computer behind the serial
`interface becomes to a work station connected to the net(cid:173)
`work.
`One special feature of Internet is that the use of it has up
`till now been almost free of charge. Internet communication
`costs have been covered by public means, by authorities or
`universities. The user has during one session been able to be
`in connection with computers all over the world and receive
`a great amount of information free of charge. The contact 15
`company offering Internet-connections charges of course a
`connection (access) fee and a fixed monthly fee.
`The extent of the network and the amount of users have
`caused companies, communities and also private persons to
`produce an own Internet WWW-page to present their prod(cid:173)
`ucts and services. The aim of the companies and the com(cid:173)
`munities is to obtain public attention and to create new
`contacts with prospective customers.
`A WWW-based ordering system has been suggested
`enabling the merchant to order the desired products from
`different distributors using his own computer. In this system
`the invoicing is however made traditionally afterwards out(cid:173)
`side Internet. Some progressive businessmen already offer
`this kind of service merely on an experimental basis.
`For the electronic trading it has been suggested a system
`in which the seller gives a general presentation of his shop
`and its products on his own home page. From this page there
`are links to the complete product catalogues. Having chosen
`the product, the buyer clicks a certain link, which brings an 35
`order form on the screen. The buyer fills in the form and
`adds his credit card number. After receipt of the order, the
`seller's server generates a confirmation message and sends
`it to the buyer. The disadvantage of such an electronic trade
`is the security risk involved in the transfer and handling of 40
`the credit card number.
`The common feature of all the suggested ordering meth(cid:173)
`ods is that the invoicing is done traditionally, always sepa(cid:173)
`rately and afterwards. This involves however the risk that
`the client orders the product without any intention to pay for
`it. It is also possible for someone to order in the false name
`and have the product delivered to a third party, or someone
`who snatched the credit card number makes orders and the
`invoice is sent to the right owner of the credit card.
`One solution to the problems mentioned above would be
`to connect the service charging to the telephone bill for such
`users, who according to FIG. 1 use the dial-up telephone
`network for the connection to Internet. This would improve
`the reliability of ordering, as the origin of the call is known
`and excludes the possibility of ordering services anony(cid:173)
`mously. The present arrangements do not however enable
`this, as the operator charging for the calls does not know the
`IP-address of the user's computer. Furthermore, the user's
`telephone number, the IP-address of the computer and the
`chargeable Internet-service prices are separate information.
`
`DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
`The objective of this invention is thus a method of buying
`articles and/or services, in which billing of products and
`services offered through Internet is handled in a way char(cid:173)
`acteristic for the telephone network charging, where a single
`service or purchase is registered and added to the product
`
`RingCentral Ex-1017, p. 7
`RingCentral v. Estech
`IPR2021-00574
`
`

`

`5
`device location identification C' combines the received data
`having the same device location identification C' and gets as
`a result a record of the A-number and its given !-address.
`The user can hereafter move in the different networks at his
`choice.
`The user is initially connected via the access node to the
`area network MAN offering Internet-services, and can act
`according to the agreed charges and rules within this net(cid:173)
`work. The user's A-number is known, therefore the billing
`can be based on this number. The intelligent network has
`record of the chargeable service providers's database in the
`area network, MAN.
`When the user moves from the area network MAN into
`the worldwide Internet, the access node sends a message to
`the intelligent network that the user has moved to use 15
`Internet services. Correspondingly when the user returns to
`the services within the MAN-network, the access node sends
`a message to the intelligent network about the return back to
`the area network MAN.
`When the user moves to the chargeable services within the 20
`MAN-network, the access node informs the intelligent net(cid:173)
`work about this. All the user's control requests to chargeable
`services in the MAN-net are transmitted by the access node,
`which means that always when the user moves to a service
`advertised on some WWW-page, the access node receives
`information about the subscriber's IP-address as well as the
`service provider's IP-address. Both addresses are transmit(cid:173)
`ted to the intelligent network, which now knows that the
`A-number subscriber using the IP-address in question has
`moved to a chargeable service obtainable from the certain
`IP-address. The basis for the billing of the service is thus
`established. When the user makes a purchase in the charge(cid:173)
`able service, the access node receives information about the
`purchase and informs the intelligent network about this
`purchase.
`The billing of the service utilized or the article bought is
`based on a fixed lump sum, on the connection time or a
`single pulse per connection or a combination of these. A
`software transfer can e.g. be charged as a lump sum or as a 40
`combination of the connection time and the lump sum. Pools
`and lotto are examples of service or article billing, in which
`an electronic coupon can be filled in the own computer and
`transferred to the pools office, which sends a receipt of the
`transaction using E-mail. The user corresponding to the 45
`telephone number can then be charged for the pools. Further
`application examples of the proposed system are e.g. mail(cid:173)
`order selling and securing of the authenticity and billing of
`such articles as home-delivery of pizza, etc. as well as
`electronic media services and articles, such as programs and 50
`their update, products, text, picture, sound, piece of music or
`e.g. video.
`
`35
`
`25
`
`30
`
`6
`the invention in a sub-network forming a restricted number
`space. This is practical, as in most cases the buyer wants the
`article supplier to be geographically close. Such a sub-net is
`the area network 15 in FIG. 2, which can be a Metropolitan
`Area Network (MAN) covering a geographically limited
`area such as a city or in Finland e.g. a province or perhaps
`all Finland. Other networks can be connected to the sub-net
`with a gateway if required. The communication traffic would
`be implemented as in the international telephone traffic, but
`however so that the A-number data is transferred in the net.
`Service providers are connected to the sub-net 15, some
`of them offering services free of charge and some of them
`offering chargeable services or service events S1 and S2.
`Those telephone numbers that can utilize the chargeable
`services according to the invention are recorded in the
`intelligent network database SDP as a number space. These
`telephone numbers have access to the service providers'
`numbers (B-numbers), which act as the intelligent network
`triggers. The amount entitled to the service can be restricted
`by entering as a criteria for the access the user's (A-number)
`geographical location, e.g. when ordering pizza the distri(cid:173)
`bution area, i.e. the border for home delivery. The data about
`the service providers, possible access criteria and service
`prices can be recorded into the intelligent network SDP
`(Service Data Point).
`The user has access to the worldwide Internet (WAN) and
`the sub-net (MAN) through the access node offering the
`access service. The access node can comprise a computer,
`which from the Internet viewpoint is one node having an
`IP-address, and which offers the PSTN/ISDN-subscriber
`access to Internet. In a preferable form of embodiment
`described below, the access node is presumed to be the
`contact company's local area network according to FIG. 1.
`The connection to the local area network is setup as a
`normal call as follows: The user calls through his modem 3
`or ISDN-adapter from his user interface the contact com(cid:173)
`pany's service number, which is a B-number. The telephone
`exchange 4 is also the SSP (Service Switching Point) of the
`intelligent network IN-service, i.e. the exchange contains the
`intelligent network service switching functions, wherefore
`there is access from the exchange to the intelligent network
`IN services. In case the exchange is not provided with the
`service switching functions, the call is routed in the normal
`way to the nearest exchange having these functions. This is
`not essential for the invention.
`The exchange 4 identifies whether the A-subscriber's
`number is included in the number space having access to the
`B-numbers. Such a subscriber restriction regarding the
`access can be made if desired. The restriction can be utilized
`to fulfill e.g. some possible service restriction conditions: the
`subscriber must have the possibility to prevent the use of the
`phone for other calls than the actual basic calls. If the access
`condition is fulfilled or the condition is not stated, the
`B-number is checked. The exchange 4 is provided with a
`point in BCSM (Basic Call State Model) where the call
`control can be interrupted in order to start the intelligent
`network service. The B-number acts as such a service
`trigger, resulting in that SSP sends to the intelligent network
`and there to SCP (Service Control Point) a message to take
`60 into use the billing program according to the invention,
`which message contains the A-number and the B-number.
`The message is transferred according to the !NAP-protocol
`through the signalling network. SCP, which physically can
`be located in the same exchange or in connection with some
`65 other exchange, defines for the call a re-switching to number
`C given to the service provider. After this SCP sends to the
`exchange 4 a reply message containing the switching data C,
`
`5,956,391
`
`10
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`FIG. 1 presents schematically the connection of a private 55
`user to the local area network of a company selling Internet-
`connection;
`FIG. 2 presents a network structure applicable for the
`embodiment of the method;
`FIG. 3 presents a feasible signalling in the method accord(cid:173)
`ing to the invention; and
`FIG. 4 presents a flow chart of one embodiment of the
`present invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
`The invention is in principle adapted for use in the whole
`worldwide Internet, but in practice it is preferable to apply
`
`RingCentral Ex-1017, p. 8
`RingCentral v. Estech
`IPR2021-00574
`
`

`

`5,956,391
`
`7
`in response to which the telephone exchange switches to the
`starting side device location C' of the exchange correspond(cid:173)
`ing to the C-number. Exchange 4 then informs the device
`location C' identification to the intelligent network SCP
`billing program, which updates the billing record. The
`intelligent network has at this stage records of the A-number,
`the B-number (and the C-number) as well as the device
`location identification C'.
`Thereafter the call switching continues as normally: from
`the telephone exchange 4 output side device location C' the 10
`call proceeds to a certain entry point of the router 6 con(cid:173)
`necting the local area network and the PSTN-network,
`which entry point is for the user the access point to Internet.
`The device location and the entry point have a complete
`analogy, wherefore the router's entry point is also given the 15
`identification C' in order to make the invention more intel(cid:173)
`ligible. The A-subscriber is now in connection with the
`contact company's LAN-network through the router 6. The
`A-subscriber computer gets thereafter in contact with the
`router 9 using e.g. the DHCP-protocol or Radius-server and 20
`receives from the controller a temporary IP-address. The
`IP-address and the device location C' data are transmitted to
`the server 12 containing the required service program. The
`controller and the server can physically be the same device.
`The server/router has now record of the device location 25
`identification C' of the incoming call. A charge is defined for
`the connection from the terminal to the local area network in
`the same way as in the telephone traffic generally.
`The server 12 or the router 9 sends through the SS#7-
`signalling network to the intelligent network 14 SCP the
`!NAP-message, which contains the terminal IP-address and
`its device location identification C' for the incoming call.
`IP-address and C can be sent also as tcp/ip message by using
`local area network. SCP has already previously received
`information about the device location identification C' and 35
`the A-number related thereto, therefore it can easily combine
`the data containing the same device location identification
`C'. As a result, SCP has record of the user's A-number and
`the IP-address given by the local area network to the user's
`computer.
`The router 9 updates the router 6 routing tables so that the
`A-subscriber has access to a restricted address space within
`the MAN-network 15.
`The user is now connected to the local area network
`(LAN) of the company offering Internet connection service
`and also to the area network (MAN) and can act according
`to agreed charges and rules in the nets. He can read messages
`from the local area network mail box 7 and record them as
`well as use the area network MAN services. The user's 50
`A-number is recorded, wherefore the billing can also be
`made based on the A-number.
`When the user wants to go outside the MAN-net, to e.g.
`the worldwide Internet 11, he clicks a link on his screen,
`which information is transmitted to the router 9, which
`changes the routing file so as to give the A-subscriber's
`computer access to the WAN-net. The connection is routed
`to Internet-network, whereafter the user can move in the
`wide Internet-network. When the router 9 routes the user's
`connection to the worldwide Internet (WAN), it simulta(cid:173)
`neously sends a message through the signalling network to
`the intelligent network 14 SCP for the use of the billing
`program that the user has moved to use the Internet services.
`The message contains the user's IP-number, based on which
`SCP knows the user's A-number. SCP converts the billing
`bases to correspond with the changed situation. The billing
`can e.g. be based on time charging.
`
`8
`When the user requests access to return to the services in
`the MAN-net, the router changes the routing file and informs
`through the signalling network about the change of network
`to the intelligent network SCP for the use of the billing
`program. SCP changes the billing bases to correspond with
`the new network.
`As described above, information about the user's
`IP-address and the network is transmitted to the intelligent
`network always when the user moves from one net to
`another.
`When the user moves to the MAN-network 15 containing
`chargeable services, it can simultaneously be established
`whether he is entitled to use the chargeable services. One
`procedure is as follows: when the user wants to move to the
`MAN-network 15 containing chargeable services such as S1
`and S2, he clicks in the normal way the link