Patents by Inventor Paul E. Sulewski

Paul E. Sulewski has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Method and apparatus for providing charging status information to subscriber of communication service
    Patent number: 8712374
    Abstract: A method for providing charging status information to a subscriber of a communication service includes: receiving an accounting request (ACR) from a network element (NE) at a charging collection function (CCF) subsystem, the ACR associated with communication service provided to a subscriber in conjunction with a communication session, the subscriber subject to a rate plan that applies different billing rates for different usage levels, the ACR including a volume parameter indicating usage since a previous ACR; converting the ACR to a credit control request (CCR), the CCR including a usage parameter indicating usage since a previous CCR; sending the CCR to a quota monitoring function (QMF) subsystem; adding the volume parameter to a previously consumed amount in relation to a billing cycle to form a total consumed amount; and comparing the total consumed amount to a threshold value associated with a quota value for a first usage level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2014
    Assignee: Alcatel Lucent
    Inventors: Ranjan Sharma, Paul E. Sulewski
  • METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING CHARGING STATUS INFORMATION TO SUBSCRIBER OF COMMUNICATION SERVICE
    Publication number: 20120129490
    Abstract: A method for providing charging status information to a subscriber of a communication service includes: receiving an accounting request (ACR) from a network element (NE) at a charging collection function (CCF) subsystem, the ACR associated with communication service provided to a subscriber in conjunction with a communication session, the subscriber subject to a rate plan that applies different billing rates for different usage levels, the ACR including a volume parameter indicating usage since a previous ACR; converting the ACR to a credit control request (CCR), the CCR including a usage parameter indicating usage since a previous CCR; sending the CCR to a quota monitoring function (QMF) subsystem; adding the volume parameter to a previously consumed amount in relation to a billing cycle to form a total consumed amount; and comparing the total consumed amount to a threshold value associated with a quota value for a first usage level.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 21, 2011
    Publication date: May 24, 2012
    Applicant: ALCATEL-LUCENT USA INC.
    Inventors: Ranjan Sharma, Paul E. Sulewski