WO1999041861A1

WO1999041861A1 - Bidding for telecommunications traffic

Info

Publication number: WO1999041861A1
Application number: PCT/US1999/001867
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jack J. Johnson; William F. Coyle
Original assignee: Summit Telecom Systems, Inc.
Priority date: 1998-02-12
Filing date: 1999-02-10
Publication date: 1999-08-19
Also published as: AU2653799A

Abstract

Telecommunications switches route calls in accordance with economic incentives (e.g., least cost routing) resulting from an auction process between participating telecommunications carriers (carriers) (62) by operation of a central processor, a computer referred to as a bidding moderator (moderator) (89). Each of the carriers (62) bidding for traffic informs the moderator (89) of the rate it is willing to charge (or other economic incentive it is willing to offer) for service at some particular time between two specific switching points, defining a route or route segment, in one or more telecommunications networks. This 'bid' rate may be lower than that carrier's established rate for any of several reasons (e.g., the carrier has excess capacity on that route or route segment at that time). The carrier (62) may change its bids as often as it likes as traffic patterns change. The moderator (89) collects this bid information from all the carriers (62), processes the bid information and transmits carrier selection information to subscribing switches implementing an auction service. Bid information is also transmitted to participating carriers' network management centers. From the list of all carriers (62) providing bid information to the moderator (89), each subscribing switch can select those carriers (62) to which it wants traffic routed and can change that selection at any time.

Description

BIDDING FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS TRAFFIC

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention is in the field of telecommunication network control.

2. Description of the Background Art

Many locally managed telecommunication systems, such as PBXs,

employ "least cost routing" software to reduce telecommunication costs. The

system's manager arranges with more than one interexchange carrier to carry the

system's traffic from the local exchange to which it is connected to other

exchanges. The manager keeps track of each carrier's charges and populates the

routing table in the "least cost routing" software. The charges may be the

regularly tariffed charges of the subscriber's primary carrier or contracted charges

offered by an alternate carrier for a bulk discount or for discounting traffic during

a specific time period during the day. The "least cost routing" software will

examine each call attempt and automatically decide which carrier is the best

economic choice for that call. If the call attempt fails, the software usually

defaults the call attempt to the subscriber's primary carrier. Telecommunication carriers regularly enter into wholesale

contractual arrangements with other carriers to use part or all of such other

carriers' telecommunications networks, for example, to complete calls to

geographic regions the first carrier does not serve or to provide additional capacity

on routes, or portions of routes, for which the first carrier may have little or no available capacity on its own network facilities at that time.

Recently a great deal of competition has developed between

telecommunication carriers. This has been stimulated by both regulatory and

technological changes. As telecommunication becomes more of a commodity it would be of great benefit to consumers to stimulate this competition and facilitate both a carrier's and a consumer's ability to make economic choices between

telecommunication carriers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Provision of telecommunication services is presently dominated by

fixed contractual relationships, between service providers on a wholesale basis

and between users and service providers on a retail basis. However, because of

technological and regulatory changes, telecommunication service is becoming

more of a commodity, with competition between service providers for traffic. The

herein disclosed invention stimulates this competition and facilitates a service

provider's and a consumer's ability to make economic choices between competing

-2- telecommunication carriers. In this method and system, telecommunication

switches route calls in accordance with economic incentives (e.g., least cost

routing) resulting from a bidding process between participating

telecommunication carriers (Carriers), administered by a bidding service provider

through operation of a central processor, a computer referred to as a bidding moderator (Moderator).

In this arrangement, each of the Carriers transmits to the Moderator

the rate it is willing to charge (or other economic incentive it is willing to offer)

for service between two specific switching points on one or more

telecommunications networks, at some particular time. This "bid" rate may be for

a route or a route segment. For purposes of differentiating in this document

between a route and route segment, a "route" is service from the "originating

switching point," i.e., the switching point on a telecommunications network that serves as the most immediate switching interface between the calling party and

that telecommunications network (e.g., a local exchange switch or equivalent

local switching node, whether hardware or software-defined, providing access to

that network), to the "terminating switching point," i.e., the switching point on a

telecommunications network (which may, but need not be, owned or operated by

the same carrier who owns or operates the originating switching point) that serves

as the most immediate switching interface between the called party and that

telecommunications network (e.g., a local exchange switch or equivalent local

-3- switching node, whether hardware or software-defined, providing access to that

network). A "route segment" is any and all of the following: (i) service from an

originating switching point on a telecommunications network to an "intermediate

switching point" on the same or different telecommunications networks, such "intermediate switching points" being all switching points on one or more

telecommunications networks that do not serve as the most immediate switching

interface between the calling party and a telecommunications network or the most immediate switching interface between the called party and a telecommunications

network, but do serve as switching points elsewhere in the telecommunications

network or networks over which a call attempt may be routed (e.g., a tandem

switch, a high-speed router or some other hardware or software-defined

intermediate switching node on a telecommunications network); (ii) service from

one intermediate switching point on a telecommunications network to another

intermediate switching point on the same or different telecommunications

networks; and (iii) service from an intermediate switching point on a

telecommunications network to a terminating switching point on the same or

different telecommunications networks.

Carriers may submit bids for routes or route segments to the

Moderator for different types of telecommunications network (e.g., circuit-

switched, frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode, packet data networks such as

the Internet, etc.) and for different classes of telecommunications service provided

-4- by such networks (e.g., transmission of voice, data, video, etc.). Access to such

telecommunications networks or facilities by end users or by other telecommunications carriers or service providers may be, for example, via the public switched telephone network, dedicated facilities, private lines, wireless

facilities, coaxial cable, electric utility power lines, Ethernet or other local area

network (LAN), metropolitan area network (MAN) or wide area network (WAN)

connections.

The bid rate may be lower than that Carrier's established rate for

any of several reasons (e.g., the Carrier has excess capacity on a particular route or

route segment at that time). The Carrier may, for example, also decide for

capacity or competitive reasons to place the same bid (i) on all traffic having the same originating switching point (e.g., an NPA-NXX) independent of terminating switching point or independent of which intermediate switching points such traffic

may pass through, or (ii) on all traffic having the same terminating switching

point independent of originating switching point or independent of which

intermediate switching points such traffic may pass through. The Carrier may

change its bids as often as it likes during the day as traffic patterns change. The

Moderator collects this bid information from all the Carriers, sorts it among

switching points, and may further process this bid information, for example, to

select Carriers for particular routes or route segments or for individual calls. This

carrier selection information may include, for example, a prioritization of the

-5- Carrier selection in accordance with Carriers' bids for each route or route segment

or the designation of a selected Carrier and, perhaps, a default Carrier. The Moderator then transmits selected portions of this information to each appropriate

subscribing switch location and to participating Carriers' network management

centers. Each subscribing switching point (a "Subscriber") gets the rate

information or carrier selection information from the Moderator for all "point-to- point" routes or route segments for service from the Subscriber to all other

switching points. The Moderator provides each Carrier with bid information from

other Carriers for at least a portion of all "point-to-point" routes or route segments

for which any Carrier has submitted a bid (e.g., any originating NPA-NXX to any other NPA-NXX or to any intermediate switching point on the public switched

telephone network in the world). A route or route segment may be entirely

contained within a single local exchange area.

From the list of all Carriers providing bid information to the

Moderator, each Subscriber can select those Carriers to which it wants traffic routed and can change that selection at any time. The Subscriber downloads the

bid information and/or carrier selection information of those selected Carriers into

the routing tables in its switch. After each new bid is submitted by a Carrier and

is processed by the Moderator, the rate and/or carrier selection information will be

distributed to the relevant Subscribers and rate information will be distributed to

other Carriers. The Carriers receiving the information will have the opportunity

-6- thereafter to submit a lower or higher bid for any point-to-point route or route segment on which they wish, respectively, to stimulate or discourage additional

traffic.

Similarly, the Moderator could offer a different class of service

directly to end users who are calling parties. As part of such a service, Carriers

would provide an economic incentive for all such end users in a given local exchange area (e.g., an NPA-NXX or group of NPA-NXXs served by a switch) to

originate calls terminating anywhere (e.g., by means of a low rate or stated

discount). In that case the Moderator would broadcast (e.g., by wired data link or

wireless transmission) rate information or carrier selection information generated by the Moderator to an interface unit at each end user location. The information

may be displayed for evaluation by the end user or processed within the interface

unit, with direction from the end user, and all outgoing calls routed to the selected

Carrier. If the Carrier information is displayed for the end user, the user can choose a Carrier for a call attempt and key in the selected Carrier's Carrier

identification code before the desired destination address (e.g., telephone number).

If the information is processed automatically within an interface unit in the line

between the user's terminal equipment and the local exchange switch, the

interface unit can, for example, automatically insert the appropriate Carrier

identifier before outgoing telephone numbers. Through this bidding process, Carriers can compete for traffic on

selected routes or route segments, or compete for traffic originating from selected

points, in telecommunication networks. They can also manage their network

traffic by adjusting their bids from time to time, depending on network traffic

information or other network information. And users as well as other telecommunication service providers (who may, for example, wish to use the

bidding process to obtain a lower rate for resale to customers) can easily make

economic choices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a schematic view of an exemplary system of the

invention showing dedicated communications lines from each Carrier to the

Moderator, from the Moderator to each of the subscribing switches, and a

common data link from the Moderator to each of the Carriers.

Figure 2 is a schematic view of an exemplary system of the

invention showing the Carriers using a shared data link to provide information to the Moderator.

Figure 3 is a schematic view of an exemplary system of the

invention showing switched access from the Moderator to each of the subscribing

switches and to each Carrier. Figure 4 is a schematic view of an exemplary system of the

invention showing use of a shared data facility, such as a local area network, for

communication from the Moderator to each of the subscribing switches and to

each Carrier.

Figure 5 is a schematic representation of an exemplary process of

the invention showing transmission of bid information from the Moderator to the

subscribing switches.

Figure 6 is a schematic view of an exemplary system of the

invention in which the Moderator transmits data directly to the switches.

Figure 7 is a schematic view of an exemplary system of the

invention in which the Moderator transmits data to a computer associated with a

plurality of switches.

Figure 8 is a schematic representation of an exemplary process of

the invention in which the Moderator generates carrier selection data for the

subscribing switches.

Figure 9 is a schematic view of an exemplary network architecture

in which routing decisions can be made at originating and intermediate switching

points to select different route segments for call attempts presented to such

switching points, based on data received from the Moderator.

Figure 10 is a schematic view of an exemplary network

architecture in which a Moderator transmits data to a dedicated facility switch.

-9- Figure 11 is a schematic representation of an exemplary process of

the invention, including a billing capability.

Figure 12 is a schematic representation of an exemplary process of

the invention showing transmission of information from the Moderator directly to

end users.

Figure 13 is a schematic view of an exemplary end user portion of

a system of the invention.

Figure 14 is a schematic representation of an exemplary network architecture showing transmission of bid information from the Moderator to a

subscribing switch receiving call attempts from a local exchange switch.

Figure 15 is a schematic view of an exemplary network

architecture showing transmission of bid information from the Moderator to a subscribing switch receiving call attempts from a local exchange telephone

carrier's access tandem switch.

Figure 16 is a schematic representation of an exemplary network

architecture in which the Moderator transmits data to a local exchange switch of a

local exchange telephone carrier.

Figure 17 is a schematic view of an exemplary network

architecture in which the Moderator transmits data to an access tandem switch of

a local exchange telephone carrier.

-10- DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Figure 1 shows an exemplary system for carrying out the herein disclosed bidding process for telecommunication services, in which a Moderator 1

administers collection and dissemination of bidding information. The Moderator

1 includes a computer with a processor and memory, together with input and output devices to communicate with the Carriers' network management

computers 2, which are the source of the bidding information, and the subscribing

switches 3 (Subscribers), which are the ultimate users of the bidding information.

The Carriers are, primarily, Carriers that carry telecommunication

traffic between switching points (e.g., originating and terminating switching points such as local exchange switches or equivalent local switching nodes) on telecommunications networks. By means of the Figure 1 system, for example, the

Carriers bid for traffic from subscribing switches 3, associated with a switching

point on a telecommunications network, to other switching points on the same or different telecommunications networks. Some circumstances may result in the

bidding process controlling carriage of a call over a route or route segments within

a single local exchange area. A local exchange area is, typically, the geographic

region served by a local exchange switch (or equivalent local switching node).

The Carriers transmit their bids from their network management computers 2 over

data links 7, which may be either analog (using modems) or digital. However, the

-11- information is usually transmitted in digital form for input into the Moderator 1. Each Carrier has a network administrator who enters network management

instructions into each network management computer 2 through input port 6 by

means, for example, of a keyboard or a data link from a remote site or local

computer.

Carriers may submit bids for routes or route segments to the Moderator for different types of telecommunications networks (e.g., circuit-

switched, frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode, packet data networks such as

by such networks (e.g., transmission of voice, data, video, etc.). Access to such

telecommunications networks by end users or by other telecommunications carriers or service providers may be, for example, via the public switched

telephone network, dedicated facilities, private lines, wireless facilities, coaxial

cable, electric utility power lines, Ethernet or other local area network (LAN),

metropolitan area network (MAN) or wide area network (WAN) connections.

The Moderator 1 receives the bids, processes them in its processor,

for example, sorts them by originating point or to produce carrier selection data,

and enters both into a database in its memory by means of the data buses and

registers internal to a computer. The carrier selection data, applicable to each

Subscriber 3, are transmitted to such switch 3, perhaps by way of a computer 4

adjunct to the switch 3 over a data link 8. The data link 8 is illustrated as a

-12- dedicated transmission facility between the Moderator 1 and each switch 3. However, any other transmission technology offering a selective way to transmit

data from the Moderator 1 to the switch may be used. (A "transmission facility"

is a telecommunication path or channel. It may be, for example, a wired link, a

radio channel in a wireless system, or a time slot in a digitally multiplexed optical

transmission system). The data inputs and outputs of the Moderator 1, the network management computers 2, the adjunct computers 4, and the switches 3

are implemented by such devices as interfaces, registers and modems that are well

known in the art.

As illustrated in Figure 6, the Moderator 1 processes the bids to prioritize them for each route or route segment, producing derivative data,

including carrier selection data. This data can reflect, for example, designation of

a selected Carrier and alternate Carriers, based on the Carriers' bids for each route

or route segment. The Moderator 1 transmits the applicable bids and/or the derivative data to the switch 3. The Moderator 1 or the switch 3 can also

designate a default Carrier in the event a call cannot be completed via a Carrier

selected by the bidding process. The switch 3 can also be equipped to override

the Moderator's selection in accordance with decision rules from the switch administrator 5 (e.g., if the default Carrier designated for the switch 3 charges a

rate lower than the lowest bidding Carrier).

-13- An adjunct computer is known in the art to be a computer, closely

associated with a switch, that provides the switch's operating software additional

data or operating logic to provide the switch with additional operational

capability. In the herein disclosed architecture, while primary processing of the

bid data to produce carrier selection data is performed in the Moderator, as illustrated in Figure 1, the adjunct computer 4 can be employed to enter the carrier

selection data received from the Moderator 1 into a database in its memory and

receive, through input port 5, decision rules from the switch administrator.

Software in the adjunct computer's processor can then access the data in memory and apply the decision rules to the carrier selection data, producing the data required to populate the routing tables of the least cost routing software in the

switch 3. The adjunct computer 4 communicates with the switch 3 over a digital

data link or data bus 11. If the switch 3 has enough processing capacity, the function of the adjunct computer 4 may be incorporated in the switch's processor

and memory, the function being implemented in the processor by appropriate

software. In this case the switch must also provide input ports to receive

transmission link 8 and input 5 from the switch administrator. Each switch 3

receives call attempts over incoming lines 12. Each call attempt includes routing

data identifying the call's destination. The switch's least cost routing software

then selects the Carrier to which the call attempt shall be routed over outgoing line

13.

-14- In the implementation illustrated in Figure 7, an adjunct computer

71, perhaps belonging to a local exchange carrier, receives the carrier selection

data from the Moderator 1 , further processes the data and controls Carrier

selection in the switches 73 under its control. Routing tables in the switches 73 can be populated periodically by data from the adjunct computer 71 or the switch

73 can query the adjunct computer 71 as each call attempt is presented. The

adjunct computer 71 can receive selection rules and other administrative

directions from a local carrier administrator 70.

An alternative for end users to use of a PBX, a private switch, is subscription to Centrex service, in which the end users' originating switching

point is a software-defined portion of the local central office switch of the local

exchange telephone carrier. With data links between the adjunct computer 4 and

the local central office switch, the end users' switch administrator can administer the end user portion of the processing capability of the bidding process in much

the same way as if a PBX were being administered. In addition, instead of using a

PBX or subscribing to a Centrex service, a residential or business customer could

subscribe to a "least cost routing" feature offered by the local exchange telephone

carrier as part of its enhanced calling services (currently including call waiting,

call forwarding, 3-way calling, speed dialing, etc.). As with Centrex service the

end users' switch enabling these enhanced calling features is a software-defined

portion of the processing capability of the local central office switch.

-15- The Moderator 1 also transmits received bids to the network

management computers 2 of Carriers over the data link 9, 10. The exemplary

architecture of Figure 1 shows a combination of a single output data link 9 and

individual Carrier input links 10 for this Moderator-to-Carriers bid data, indicating that the Moderator 1 may send the same data to all Carriers. There are

many alternate transmission technologies available to transmit this bid data to all

Carriers, including dedicated bidirectional links between the Moderator 1 and

each Carrier, combining the function of links 7, 9, and 10.

Depending on the particular implementation, it may be appropriate

to transmit all received bids to all Carriers. However, for example, each Carrier's

bids need not be transmitted back to the bidding Carrier and there may be Carriers with limited service areas that are not interested in receiving bids from out-of-area

Carriers. In any event, at least a portion of the bids are transmitted to a least a

portion of the Carriers in order to implement an auction.

Figure 2 illustrates an alternative network architecture in which the

individual Carrier-to-Moderator data links 14 share a common data input line 15

into the Moderator 1. This can be done, for example, by means of fiber optics

using the SONET transmission protocol and ATM technology. This would

require an ATM switching module at each junction 16 between the individual

Carrier links 10, 14 and the common Moderator input-output links 9, 15. Figure 2

illustrates bidirectional transmission using two transmission paths. However,

-16- such bidirectional transmission can be implemented over a single physical

transmission line.

Figure 3 illustrates an architecture incorporating switched access from the Moderator 1 to the switches 3. In this architecture a single Moderator

output link 17 transmits each subscribing switch's bid data to a switch 18, which

may be a dedicated switch or part of a public switched network. The bid

information appropriate to each subscribing switch 3 is switched to each individual switch data link 8.

Figure 4 illustrates use of shared facilities between the Moderator 1

and each of the switches 3 and the Carriers' network management computers 2.

This could be accomplished, for example, by many known local area network (LAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), and wide area network (WAN) technologies.

The economic choices presented to telecommunication service

users under this invention depend on bids submitted by Carriers for

telecommunication traffic over the routes or route segments they serve as part of

the various telecommunication.networks available to the users. For purposes of

differentiating in this document between a route and route segment, a "route" is

service from the "originating switching point," i.e., the switching point on a

telecommunications network that serves as the most immediate switching

interface between the calling party and that telecommunications network (e.g., a

-17- local exchange switch or equivalent local switching node, whether hardware or software-defined, providing access to that network), to the "terminating switching point," i.e., the switching point on a telecommunications network (which may,

but need not be, owned or operated by the same carrier who owns or operates the

originating switching point) that serves as the most immediate switching interface

between the called party and that telecommunications network (e.g., a local

exchange switch or equivalent local switching node, whether hardware or

software-defined, providing access to that network). A route may also have an

originating point and a terminating point in the same local exchange area.

A local exchange switch (or equivalent local switching node) is generally considered to be (i) the switching point on a telecommunications

network that serves as the most immediate switching interface between the calling

party and that telecommunications network as well as (ii) the switching point on a

telecommunications network (which may, but need not be, owned or operated by

as the most immediate switching interface between the called party and that

telecommunications network, regardless of whether such telecommunications

networks use circuit-switched, frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode, packet

data, TCP/IP protocols or other current or evolving telecommunication

technologies. Local exchange switches (or equivalent local switching nodes), for

example, may include telephone companies' local central office switches, private

-18- telecommunications networks' local access nodes, and Internet service providers' local access switches - whether represented by a server, router or other switching

device (which may be hardware or software-defined), but in each case providing

access to the respective telecommunications network.

To identify originating and terminating switching points for telephone calls within North America, for example, each local exchange switch on the public switched telephone network is designated in the North American

Numbering Plan by a unique NPA-NXX code, where the NPA is a three digit

numbering plan area identifier (e.g., area code 201 identifies Northern New

Jersey) and NXX is a three digit code identifying a particular local exchange switch within the numbering plan area. It is common for a single local exchange

switch to house more than one NXX Code. The interexchange Carriers that

utilize this bidding process are usually identified by a Carrier access code. This

code may be, for example, a "1" signifying the end user's presubscribed or primary Carrier, a 5 digit code "10XXX" for a Carrier other than the end user's

primary Carrier, or some other code or data element designated for that purpose.

Once a Carrier is selected for a call attempt, the appropriate Carrier access code

may be inserted in the call attempt's routing data (e.g., NPA-NXX-XXXX, the

last four digits identifying the particular line served by the called party's NPA- NXX switch on the public switched telephone network).

-19- The subscribing switch may also have dedicated direct links to one

or more Carrier points of presence on any telecommunications network. If such a

Carrier is selected, the subscribing switch would route the call attempt directly to

that dedicated link (without, for example, being handled by the local exchange

switch that may otherwise serve that subscribing switch).

While the currently predominant numbering scheme for originating

and terminating switching points on the public switched telephone network is the

North American Numbering Plan, other numbering schemes identifying originating switching points and terminating switching points are possible, particularly for other types of telecommunication networks, and may be used as

telecommunication technology evolves. International telephone calling, for

example, currently uses a country code and a city code before the code that

identifies the local exchange switch on the public switched telephone network.

A "route segment" is any and all of the following: (i) service from an originating switching point on a telecommunications network to an

"intermediate switching point" on the same or different telecommunications

networks, such "intermediate switching points" being all switching points on one

or more telecommunications networks that do not serve as the most immediate

switching interface between the calling party and a telecommunications network

or the most immediate switching interface between the called party and a

telecommunications network, but do serve as switching points elsewhere in the

-20- telecommunications network or networks over which a call attempt may be routed

(e.g., a tandem switch, a high-speed router or some other hardware or software-

defined intermediate switching node on a telecommunications network); (ii)

service from one intermediate switching point on a telecommunications network to another intermediate switching point on the same or different

telecommunications networks; and (iii) service from an intermediate switching

point on a telecommunications network to a terminating switching point on the

same or different telecommunications networks. A route segment may also be

entirely contained within one local exchange area. Each intermediate switching point in a telecommunications network has a unique identifier that is used in

routing calls over route segments. Those identifiers can be used by the Moderator

and the Carriers to manage the bidding process.

The competing Carriers bid for traffic by transmitting to the Moderator the economic incentive each Carrier will offer for traffic over each route or route

segment it serves (or, at least, each route or route segment it wishes to compete for

using the bidding process). The economic incentive presently contemplated as

being most usual is the rate (amount of money charged per unit of time). However, many other kinds of economic incentive may be offered, such as a

credit toward other services or a credit toward an additional rebate that may be

offered if a user ' s traffic for a given month (or that of another telecommunication

service provider reselling, for example, a Carrier's service between two switching

-21- points on that Carrier's telecommunications network facilities) rises above a

threshold. The economic incentive could be a combination of rate and another

incentive. But the economic incentive should be selected from a limited set authorized by the provider of the bidding mechanism, because the incentive must

be capable of being evaluated by the software in the Moderator or in each

subscribing switch's adjunct computer. A Carrier may wish to submit more than

one bid for routes or route segments that start at switching points at which it offers

more than one class of service (e.g., switched service to some subscribers,

dedicated access to others, high-speed service to still others, or combinations of

different classes of service to some users). Each bid must be associated with a

time period within which the bid will be effective.

The rules of the bidding process can be structured in many ways. The following are examples of possible bidding rules.

a) The day is divided into blocks of time by the bidding service provider

and bids are submitted for each block of time. All bids for a given block of time

must be submitted prior to a cut-off time that precedes that block of time by a

protection interval. Any bid received after the cut-off time is considered to be effective for the next block of time, unless a new bid is subsequently received

from the same Carrier for that route or route segment. The protection interval is

needed to permit processing of the bid information by the Moderator and

transmission of carrier selection data or bid information to the switch (or its

-22- associated adjunct computer) prior to the bid's start time. For example, if thirty

minute blocks of time are auctioned, a five minute protection interval may be

appropriate. b) Carriers are permitted to submit bids for any time interval by specifying

a start time and a termination time or a start time and a good-until-cancel

instruction. However, no bid can be effective before a protection time interval

specified by the bidding service provider. The bidding service provider can provide confirmation of received bids back to the Carrier if the data link from the

Moderator to the Carriers is provided with a selective messaging capability.

c) Carriers may be permitted to enter default bids for any route or route

segment and/or block of time for which they transmit no other bid.

d) As a fail-safe mechanism, to avoid use of old bids that have not been changed due to communication failure, the Moderator may impose a rule setting a

time limit (a fail-safe protection time) to the applicability of any bid. At the

expiration of the time limit, the expired bid could default to a preset default bid or to no bid. Such a rule could also be built into the switch software to protect

against a failure in the Moderator-to-switch data link.

The principal data feedback from the Moderator to the Carriers is

transmission of bidding data from the Moderator to each of the Carriers. This

permits the Carriers to adjust their own bids for any particular route or route

segment in view of other Carriers' bids for that route or route segment. In a block

-23- of time bidding scheme this transmission may take place, in different service

offerings, either before or after the bid cutoff time for a given block of time. If

transmitted before the cutoff time, the Carriers have an opportunity, up to the

cutoff time, to adjust their bids for that block of time. If the service is arranged

for transmission back to the Carriers after the cutoff time, the Carriers can adjust

their bids for the next or subsequent blocks of time. If the bids are transmitted

back to the Carriers after the cutoff time but before the bid's effective time, the Carriers would be able to manage their networks to take account of that time

interval's bid structure. The bids can be adjusted to be higher or lower, dependent

on whether the Carrier, in view of the state of its network traffic, wishes to further

encourage or discourage additional traffic. The Carrier may wish to reduce its bid , for example, to encourage additional traffic on an underutilized

telecommunication facility, or increase its bid to discourage traffic over a facility

approaching a congested state. Depending on the transmission and computer

technologies used, transmission back to the Carriers could also be accomplished

by posting the bids on a bulletin board system, making them available for retrieval by all Carriers.

An evolutionary development in local exchange switch architecture

is the combination of a "dumb" switch and a "smart" peripheral computer. In this

arrangement the switch accomplishes the actual connection between incoming and

outgoing telecommunication facilities and the switch operating software performs

-24- the management functions specifically supporting the switching function. The

peripheral computer contains the service-related software. This arrangement permits the telecommunication service provider to modify its service offerings

without the need to ask the switch manufacturer to change the switch's operating

software. Through use of an intelligent peripheral computer, one service that

could be offered to all subscribers, including most businesses and individuals, is least cost routing. As in PBX least cost routing, the routing of a call attempt is

dependent on population of a routing table. This table is a memory file containing

the cost (or other economic incentive) of call carriage over each route accessed by

the switch or other carrier selection data. In accordance with the herein disclosed

process, this routing table could be populated by the Moderator, based on carrier

selection data it generates, or by a computer adjunct to the switch, based on

decision rules entered by a switch administrator. Or, with appropriate software,

the adjunct computer function could be incorporated in the switch's peripheral computer. With this combination of software implementations, a

telecommunication service provider could offer a least cost routing service, at

economically advantageous rates based on a bidding process, to all of its

customers.

As illustrated in Figure 8, the routing table can be populated with

derivative data generated 75 in the Moderator by further processing of the

economic incentive data. This could include carrier selection data, prioritizing the

-25- Carrier selection in accordance with Carriers' bids for each route or route segment starting at that switch. The applicable data can be transmitted 76 to each switch,

including those in which the adjunct computer populates the switch's routing table

80. While some of the decision making process has been performed by the

Moderator (i.e., sorting its bids and generating carrier selection data), the switch makes the ultimate Carrier selection 81 based on network conditions and decision

rules from the administrator 77. The network architecture involved is as

illustrated in Figure 6, where the switch 3 represents the combination of the dumb

switch and the intelligent peripheral computer and the input and output links 12, 13 represent all of the telecommunication facilities accessed by the switch 3.

Another arrangement contemplated by the bidding process is for a local exchange

carrier, controlling several switches, to receive the bidding or routing data for all

its switches and further process that data for all of its switches.

The bid information being transmitted between the Moderator, the Carriers, and subscribing switches is sensitive business information and may need,

under various circumstances, to be encrypted. Depending on how the service is

arranged, there may be a need to protect the privacy of bids from interception by

other participating Carriers or from interception by non-participating carriers.

Some of the most sensitive information would be bid information sent from the

Carriers to the Moderator, bid confirmation messages from the Moderator to the

Carriers, and carrier selection data sent from the Moderator to the subscribing

-26- switching points. Some less sensitive information would be the bids broadcast

back to all participating Carriers after the cutoff time for a given block of time.

There are several encryption schemes known in the art for such use, including the

RSA and PGP schemes.

Figure 5 illustrates an exemplary implementation of the bidding process of this invention. The process is carried out by participating Carriers,

acting through their network management computers, the bidding service

provider, acting through the Moderator computer, and the subscribing switches.

The Carriers' primary purpose is to maximize revenue from the carriage of telecommunication traffic over their networks. The subscribing switches are

usually managed to obtain telecommunication service most economically.

In operation of this exemplary bidding process, the Moderator

receives bids 20 from each Carrier specifying the economic incentive the Carrier

is willing to offer for carrying a call over each route or route segment for which it

wishes to place a bid. This information is stored in the computer's memory. At a

time appropriate to the particular service arrangement in operation, the Moderator

transmits 21 bids received from the Carriers to at least a portion of the Carriers.

The Moderator also processes the data in a sorting operation to determine which

bids and/or carrier selection data derived from the bids are for routes or route

segments that have a starting point associated with each subscribing switch and

the Moderator transmits 23 the appropriate bids to each such switch.

-27- Each subscribing switch is operated by a switch administrator that

formulates 29 the decision rules. A decision rule may be, for example, a simple

instruction to switch a call attempt to the Carrier that has submitted the lowest cost bid. The rules may include, for example, an instruction to route all calls in a

particular time period (e.g., from midnight to 6:00 A.M.) to a particular Carrier to

satisfy the requirements of a contract between the switch's owner and that Carrier,

or because this contract Carrier has contracted to carry all traffic during that time

period for a flat monthly fee. At all other times, the decision rules might include an instruction to route calls to this contract Carrier only if its contract rate is lower

than the lowest bid submitted_to the Moderator by the other Carriers. The switch

administrator may also instruct the switch or an associated adjunct computer to

value a non-rate economic incentive in a particular way. The bids and decision rules are received by the switch or associated adjunct computer and stored in a

data base in its memory. The switch or associated adjunct computer applies 31

the decision rules to the economic incentive data received as bids and generates

the carrier selection data needed to populate the switch's routing table. The

decision rules may be transmitted to the Moderator and the carrier selection data

can be generated in the Moderator. The carrier selection data can be transmitted

to the switch periodically, when generated, or in response to a query from the

switch. The query can call for the carrier selection data in full or on a call-by-call

basis. The routing table is the file that is accessed by the switch's least cost

-28- routing software to decide which Carrier will receive a call attempt. The software

will also provide for treatment of failed call attempts (e.g., retry, try the next lowest cost Carrier, or default to the contract Carrier). When a call attempt is

presented to the switch, a routing decision is made and the call routed 33 to a

Carrier for transmission to the call's destination or to an intermediate switching

point. In order to route a call, the subscribing switch's operating software

connects the input register carrying the call attempt to the output register

connected to telecommunication facilities which connect to the selected Carrier for that route or route segment.

To reduce the exposure of end users (and resellers) to the potential

volatility of prices offered via the bidding process, default Carriers may participate. If, for example, prices bid in the auction rise above a fixed upset price previously agreed to by the default Carrier, the Moderator could select the default

Carrier as the winning bidder. The Moderator or owner of the subscribing switch

may negotiate with one or more Carriers to serve as default Carriers. In the

alternative, an end user or group of end users (or a reseller) may wish to specify to

the Moderator or owner of the subscribing switch that a particular Carrier be

designated as that end user's or reseller's default Carrier (e.g., a

telecommunications service provider who has entered into a contract with the end

user to carry a significant portion of that end user's telecommunications traffic

outside of the bidding process).

-29- The Moderator can also accommodate end users (and resellers)

who wish to limit the group of Carriers from whom the Moderator will evaluate bids when a Carrier is to be selected for call attempts by such end users (or

customers of such resellers). An end user (or reseller) may wish to request of the

Moderator (or a subscribing switch's administrator) that each of its calls be routed

only to one of a set of Carriers specified by that end user (or reseller). The Moderator, in compliance with this request, will include the bids of only this set of specified Carriers when generating carrier selection data for call attempts by

such end users. The subscribing switch, when presented with a call attempt by

such an end user, can include the calling party identifier as part of a query made

by the switch to the Moderator for carrier selection data for this call. The Moderator can then associate this calling party identifier with data in its memory

that reflects the limited set of Carriers specified by this end user, and provide

carrier selection data to the querying switch based on the bids of this set of

Carriers only.

The bidding process can also accommodate those end users (and

resellers) who wish to employ a strategy of purchasing telecommunications

service at the lower of the bid price in the auction or a negotiated price they

agreed to pay a telecommunications service provider under a term contract. The

Moderator or the subscribing switch can include this contract price received from

such end user, along with the bids it evaluates each time telecommunications

-30- service is provided to this end user (or the customers of a reseller). If the contract

price is lower than all of the other bids, the contract Carrier could be selected as the Carrier of choice for that end user (or reseller). If the contract price is higher

than any of the other bids, the low bidder could be selected instead. The contract

price could serve as a ceiling while the end user (or reseller) can still capture the

benefit of low prices made available via the bidding process (e.g., at night when system-wide excess capacity is greater than during peak daytime periods). To

ensure that this end user (or reseller) can satisfy the volume commitments that

would likely be part of any attractively-priced contract, the Moderator could enable this end user (or reseller) to designate from time to time (e.g., during certain peak demand daytime hours) that the contract price is to be treated as the

low bid available to that end user (or reseller) at that time. At other times the

Moderator will consider all bids submitted by other carriers as well as such

contract price.

Routing decisions for each route or route segment of a call attempt

may be made using the auction process at each switching point (i.e., at the

originating switching point or any of the intermediate switching points on the

same or different telecommunications networks) as a call attempt is presented to

each respective switch. Routing decisions may also be made (e.g., by a central entity such as the Moderator) for all route segments comprising the entire route of

a call attempt, from its originating switching point through any and all

-31- intermediate switching points to its terminating switching point, at each respective

switching point before the call attempt is routed (e.g., in a manner conceptually

similar to the call set-up process used today in SS7 signaling networks).

Alternatively, routing decisions may be made using the auction process at any

switching point for any group of route segments constituting less than all of the

route segments comprising an entire route of a call attempt (e.g., for the remaining portion of a route from any intermediate switching point to its terminating

switching point) before the call attempt is routed by that switching point.

As illustrated in Figure 9, routing decisions for a call attempt can

be made at an originating switching point 82 as well as at intermediate switching points 3 on one or more telecommunications networks, based on bid information

and/or carrier selection data transmitted by the Moderator over a data link 8 to the

respective switching point presented with the call attempt. ISP stands for

Intermediate Switching Point.

On certain types of telecommunication networks (e.g., packet data

networks), a call attempt presented to a switch, for which a routing decision can

be made, may consist of all or only part of the message or information (whether

voice, data, video, etc.) being transmitted during the call by the calling party to the

called party. For example, on packet data networks, when a calling party sends a

data file to the called party, the network infrastructure would break up this file

into a series of individual packets that are separately addressed and transmitted to

-32- the called party. Each of these packets may cross over different route segments in

traveling from the originating switching point to the terminating switching point.

Each packet can be treated as a call attempt by (i) the originating switching point

for the entire route or (ii) by the originating switching point and each of the intermediate switching points to which the packet is presented for each of the

route segments. And a routing decision can be made for each packet at each such

switching point.

The transmission of bid information between the Carriers and the

Moderator is a feed back process as illustrated, for example, in Figure 5. Each Carrier transmits 28 its economic incentive bids to the Moderator and the

Moderator transmits 21 received bids to each Carrier or at least the portion of the

Carriers appropriate to each bid. The Carrier starts its bid formulation by

collecting 24 network data, such as the capacity and traffic loading of each network facility, and transmitting 25 this network data to the Carrier's network management computer. The network data can be entered by keying it in or

entered over a data link from the Carrier's network operations systems. The

Carrier's network administrator enters (e.g., by keying them in or by data link)

network management instructions, such as the fact that a particular facility is

being taken out of service for maintenance or has a trouble that reduces its

transmission capacity. The network management instructions could also be based

on network performance characteristics, such as response time, or competitive

-33- business factors, such as the intent to compete more intensively for traffic to a

specific region of the county or over routes or route segments that compete

directly with another specified Carrier.

Software within each Carrier's network management computer

then accesses its memory for the network data, the network management

instructions, and the bid data received from the Moderator and determines 27 the

economic incentive the Carrier will bid for traffic over each route or route

segment. These data are accessed by means of the data buses and registers commonly internal to a computer. These bids are stored in the computer memory and transmitted 28 to Moderator. Since the network management computer has

access to the bids of other Carriers, during each bidding cycle each Carrier has the

opportunity to adjust its bids in view of the bids of the other Carriers for traffic

over each route or route segment. This adjustment may be accomplished automatically by the software in response to the network management

instructions, or may be accomplished by direct input from the network

administrator viewing displayed bidding data. The result of such adjustment

consideration may be a decision to leave the bid as originally calculated, as being

appropriate to accomplish the network administrator's objective.

Figure 10 illustrates a network architecture that enables large users

61 that route telecommunications traffic to Carriers 62 over dedicated access lines

63, 64 to take advantage of a bidding arrangement. This architecture can be

-34- employed by large users who wish to send their telecommunications traffic over

different types of networks (e.g., circuit-switched, frame relay, asynchronous

transfer mode, packet data, etc.) and use different classes of telecommunications service provided by such networks (e.g., transmission of voice, data, video, etc.).

In this architecture a bidding Moderator 60 transmits the processed bidding data

over a data link 65 independent of the dedicated access facilities 63, 64 carrying

the calls from the users 61 to an auction switch 59 equipped with input and output ports adapted to receive dedicated facilities 63, 64, 66. The bidding data link 65 is

also independent of any common channel signaling network associated with the

dedicated facilities 63, 64, 66. The dedicated access facilities 63 may be

connected, for example, through a local exchange telephone carrier's local central

office 67 (or the equivalent local equipment of another provider of local access to a.telecommunication network) or routed directly 64 from the user's PBX 61 (or

other hardware or software-driven originating equipment) to the auction switch

59. The users 61 will, typically, also have switched access facilities 68 to a local

exchange telephone carrier's local central office 67.

This dedicated facility auction switch 59 has a switching matrix for

switching calls and a software directed switch controller for selecting a Carrier 62

for a call, based on carrier selection data resulting from the bidding process, and

routing the call to the selected Carrier 62 for a call, based on carrier selection data

resulting from the bidding process, and routing the call to the selected Carrier 62.

-35- The call is switched to the dedicated Carrier facility 66 connected to the selected

Carrier 62, perhaps by way of a serving wire center 69. Through this architecture

large users 61 sending telecommunications traffic over dedicated facilities can benefit from the bidding process and, for traffic sent by users to the public

telephone network, for example, such users can avoid the access charges imposed

by local exchange telephone carriers on central office switched access traffic. Even though a dedicated facility 63 may connect through a local exchange telephone carrier's local central office 67, it is given a dedicated, unswitched

connection, not triggering the imposition of a switched access rate element.

Some subscribing switches 59 (Subscriber) may be provisioned to

treat every call attempt presented to them as a call which is to be routed to the low-bidding Carrier 62 (e.g., a switching point dedicated for use only by calling

parties who are customers of the Moderator's bidding service). A calling party

may reach such a Subscriber 59 using dedicated access facilities 64 from the

calling party's premises equipment 61 (e.g., a PBX) to the Subscriber 59, as

illustrated in Figure 10. In the alternative, a calling party without such dedicated access facilities may reach a subscribing switch by means of a routing code stored

at the calling party's originating switching point indicating to the originating

switching point that calls from this calling party are to be routed first to the

subscribing auction switch (Auction Switch). In the existing public switched

telephone network, a calling party's local exchange switch (or an associated

-36- access tandem switch) recognizes the calling party's unique identifier (i.e., its telephone number) and routes call attempts for destinations outside the local calling area to the local point-of-presence of the calling party's presubscribed or

primary interexchange carrier, based on a unique carrier access code stored at the

switch identifying that carrier and associated with the calling party identifier by

the calling party's local exchange carrier as part of its local switching infrastructure. Using a similar approach, a unique carrier access code can also be

designated for the Auction Switch. Calling parties who elect to become

customers of the Moderator's bidding service, but do not have dedicated access

facilities to the Auction Switch, can be assigned the Auction Switch's carrier access code. The calling party's local exchange carrier will then incorporate the Auction Switch's unique carrier access code into its local switching infrastructure

in lieu of the designation for that calling party of a presubscribed or primary

interexchange carrier's unique carrier access code. Thereafter, all call attempts by

this calling party to non-local destinations will be routed by the local exchange

switch to the Auction Switch, which can then route such call attempts to the low-

bidding Carrier selected by the Moderator or the Auction Switch.

As illustrated in Figures 14 and 15, the routing decision for a call

attempt can be made at an Auction Switch 90, based on bid information and/or

carrier selection data transmitted by the Moderator 89 over a data link 8 to the

Auction Switch 90 perhaps by an adjunct computer with a data link to the Auction

-37- Switch. The call attempt can be routed to the Auction Switch 90 by the local exchange telephone carrier's local exchange switch 91 as illustrated in Figure 14,

or by that carrier's access tandem switch 92, as illustrated in Fig. 15, if non-local

call attempts are sent by that carrier's local exchange switch 91 to the tandem

switch 92 before the local exchange carrier associates the calling party identifier

(i.e., its telephone number) with the carrier access code for the calling party's presubscribed or primary interexchange carrier.

In the existing public switched telephone network, a calling party

can override its presubscribed or primary carrier designation by inputting a

different carrier access code before the call attempt's routing data when attempting to make a call (e.g., inserting a 5-digit code "10XXX" identifying the

alternative carrier before the particular NPA-NXX-XXXX being dialed). In the

same fashion, a calling party who wishes to make use of the Moderator's bidding

service only as an alternative to the calling party's presubscribed or primary interexchange carrier may do so by inputting the Auction Switch's unique carrier

access code before the call attempt's routing data (e.g., the particular NPA-NXX-

XXXX being dialed). This call attempt will then be routed to the Auction Switch

90, which can then route such call attempt to the selected low-bidding Carrier's point of presence 88.

In some cases, the Subscriber function can be incorporated in a

more generally capable switching point (e.g., a local exchange switch or

-38- equivalent local switching node) handling call attempts from calling parties who are customers of the Moderator's auction service and from other calling parties

who are not (e.g., a calling party with a presubscribed or primary interexchange

carrier). In that case, when a call attempt is presented to such a Subscriber

capable switching point, the Subscriber 91 can use the calling party's unique identifier (e.g., the calling party's telephone number or electronic mail address) to

determine whether this calling party 61 is or is not a customer of the Moderator's

auction service.

Many local exchange telephone carriers, for example, use intelligent network architectures well known in the art to offer features or classes

of service to their customers based on the local exchange switch's ability to

recognize the calling party's telephone number. Each calling party can elect to

subscribe for one or more of the available classes of service. The local exchange switch (with its intelligent network capabilities) can associate the calling party's

unique telephone number with the specific classes of service to which that calling

party has subscribed. One such class of service which local telecommunications

service providers, such as local exchange telephone carriers, could offer to calling

parties is the Moderator's bidding service.

As illustrated in Figure 16, the routing decision for a call attempt

using the auction service can be made at the local exchange telephone carrier's

local exchange switch 91 which, through a software defined portion of its

-39- software control, can serve as a subscribing switching point for a calling party

who subscribes for a class of service utilizing the Moderator's auction service.

Such routing decision can be based on the bid information and/or carrier selection

data transmitted by the Moderator over a data link 8 to the suitably enhanced local exchange switch (a Subscriber-capable switch) 91', perhaps by way of an adjunct

computer 93 with a data link 94 to the local exchange switch 91'. As illustrated in

Figure 17, if a local exchange telephone carrier implements this class of service at

its access tandem switch 92', which has been suitably enhanced to incorporate the Subscriber function, the routing decision for a call attempt can be made in a software defined portion of the tandem switch 92', based on bid information

and/or carrier selection data transmitted by the Moderator 89 over a data link 8 to

the enhanced tandem switch 92' (the subscribing tandem switch), perhaps by way of an adjunct computer 96 with a data link 95 to the tandem switch 92'.

In many public switched telephone network architectures a local

exchange carrier will use an access tandem switch serving several local exchange

switches to supplement the computing capabilities of the local switches it serves.

In such cases all calls requiring routing outside of each local exchange switch's

local serving area are sent to the access tandem switch. The access tandem switch

contains the network intelligence and information needed to route such calls to

other switches, including Carriers' points of presence. If the user identifier

transmitted with the call attempt identifies an authorized user of an auction

-40- service, the access tandem switch routes the call attempt to the selected Carrier's

point of presence or a switch dedicated to the auction service (an Auction Switch)

or a software defined portion of a switch of more general utility. The call attempt

may carry with it an access code, which may be a carrier access code, designating

the call as an auction service call

This telephone network architecture is an example of a more

general communication architecture placing different levels of intelligence and

functionality at different positions in the architecture. For the purposes of this

disclosure the "access tandem" concept will be used to designate the first switching point in a communication architecture at which a decision is made to

route a call attempt to one of several possible Carriers or to an Auction Switch.

In selected cases, a Subscriber-capable switch may be instructed to

treat call attempts received from callers identified as customers of one or more

telecommunication service providers (e.g., customers of a switchless reseller) as

calls for which routing decisions are to be based on the auction process. These

call attempts might reach the Subscriber-capable switch via public switched

access facilities or dedicated facilities from the telecommunication service

provider originating the call attempt, or the service provider carrying the call

attempt over the route segment ending at the Subscriber-capable switch. The

switch may distinguish between those call attempts that are to be routed based on

the auction process, and those that are not, by any of several means (e.g., calling

-41- party identifier, carrier identification code, or the carrier-specific facilities, if any,

over which the call attempt is received).

In certain other cases, a Subscriber-capable switch may be instructed to treat call attempts that have one of a set of destinations specified by

the Moderator or the switch administrator, as subject to the auction process. This

may be done, perhaps, at the request of the end user or the telecommunications

service provider originating the call or carrying the call to the subscriber-capable

switch (e.g., the subscriber, situated in New York City, will select the low-bidding Carrier for all call attempts it receives that have destinations in downtown

Chicago). Such a call attempt can reach the Subscriber-capable switch using any

of the methods described in the preceding paragraphs.

In order not to require each end user subscribing to the bidding arrangement to establish a billing relationship with each Carrier taking part in the

bidding process, a central billing arrangement is advantageous. In the billing

arrangement illustrated in Figure 11 , the bidding and routing takes place as

illustrated in Figure 5 or Figure 8. After the switch routes a call 33, it transmits

the call completion data identifying the call source, the Carrier, the applicable

route or route segment data, and any other information necessary for billing

purposes (e.g., the time and duration of the call) to a computer associated with the

Moderator. The Moderator transmits economic incentive data to this computer.

The computer associates the call completion information with this economic

-42- incentive data in its memory to form a billing record of the call, which is stored in

a billing data base. Periodically (e.g., at the end of each billing period) this computer sorts the billing records by call source identifier and generates a bill. As an alternative to a computer associated with the Moderator

preparing bills, a local exchange telephone carrier, for example, can generate bills

for those of its customers participating in the bidding process as callers, by having

a computer associated with one or more switches receive economic incentive data from the Moderator and call completion data from the switch. This computer

associates the bidding information with the call completion information in its

memory to form a billing record of the call, which is stored in a billing data base.

Periodically, the computer sorts the billing records by call source identifier and

generates a bill.

Figure 12 illustrates a process by which the Moderator transmits

bids directly to end users for traffic originating in a specified local exchange area

(e.g., an NPA-NXX or group NPA-NXXs on the public switched telephone

network, including a group comprising all NPA-NXXs in the North American

Numbering Plan) and terminating anywhere. Here the Moderator receives bids 34

as before. However, the bids are independent of terminating point. The

Moderator processes the data to sort it by originating point to determine 35 which

bids apply to which end users, each end user having an interface unit to receive

and store the data. The Moderator then transmits 36 the bid data and/or carrier

-43- selection data for a particular local exchange area to the interface units of all

subscribing end users in such local exchange area (e.g., all subscribing end users served by the local exchange switch for a specific NPA-NXX), as interface unit

information. The information may be displayed for evaluation by the end user or

processed, within the interface unit, with direction from the end user, and all

outgoing calls routed to the selected Carrier. If the Carrier information is

displayed for the end user, the end user can choose a Carrier for a call attempt and

key in the selected Carrier's carrier identification code before the desired

destination address (e.g., telephone number). If the information is processed

automatically within an interface unit, in the line or wireless connection between

the end user's terminal equipment and the local exchange switch (or equivalent local switching node) or a Carrier's point of presence, the interface unit can, for

example, automatically insert the appropriate carrier identifier in the outgoing

telephone numbers. The interface unit could be a stand-alone piece of equipment,

an attachment incorporated into the end user's terminal equipment or a software- defined portion of the end user's terminal equipment.

At the end user, the degree of automation of the process depends

on the particular telecommunication terminal equipment being used. If the

terminal equipment is a simple telephone, the telecommunicator function 37

specified in Figure 12 may consist of the end user reading the bids from a display

screen in the interface unit, making the routing decision, and routing 38 the call

-44- attempt by keying in the selected Carrier access code. If the terminal equipment is

more complex, such as a personal computer or other microprocessor-containing

equipment, the decision can be software implemented. The Carrier access code

could be inserted by the terminal equipment or by the interface unit, if the interface unit is in the end user's telecommunication access line or wireless

connection to the telecommunication network.

Figure 13 illustrates the interface unit's position within the bidding

architecture of Figure 12. The interface unit 39 receives bid data or carrier selection data from the Moderator 40 over a telecommunication facility that may

be a wire link 44 or a wireless link 45. The interface unit has either a wired input

port or contains a wireless receiver (e.g., radio or optical). The interface unit 39 is

in the telecommunication path between the telecommunicator and the external

telecommunication network, such as the local exchange switch 42 that routes the call to the selected Carrier 43 in response to the Carrier access code. The

interface unit may have a separate end user input port 46 for use by the end user to

key in the selected Carrier access code each time a call is placed. The end user

may also be able to key in a Carrier selection and the interface unit may contain a

tone generator or digital signal generator necessary to automatically insert the

Carrier access identification code for each call attempt. The interface unit 39 may

also have a screen to display the bid information to the end user.

-45-

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling a telecommunication network in which a moderating computer collects economic incentive data from each Carrier of a plurality of telecommunications Carriers, processes the economic incentive data, distributes at least a portion of the economic incentive data to at least a portion of the plurality of telecommunications Carriers and distributes processed data to at least a first subscribing auction switch equipped to implement an auction service, of a plurality of subscribing auction switches, thereby enabling the first auction switch to select a first Carrier of the plurality of telecommunication Carriers for a call attempt presented to the first auction switch, based on an economic choice, wherein the method comprises: a) receiving the call attempt in an originating switch, including a caller identifier; b) associating the caller identifier with a presubscribed first carrier access code identifying the first auction switch; c) routing the call attempt to the first auction switch; d) selecting the first Carrier on the basis of the processed data; and e) routing the call attempt to the first Carrier.

2. A method of Claim 1 in which the step of associating the caller identifier with the first carrier access code is performed at the originating switch.

-46-

3. A method of Claim 1 in which the step of associating the caller identifier with the first Carrier access code is performed at an access tandem switch associated with the originating switch.

4. A method of Claim 1 in which the processed data includes economic incentive data and the selecting is performed based on the economic incentive data.

5. A method of Claim 1 in which the processed data includes Carrier selection data and the selecting is performed based on the Carrier selection data.

6. A method for controlling a telecommunication network in which a moderating computer collects economic incentive data from each Carrier of a plurality of telecommunications Carriers, processes the economic incentive data, distributes at least a portion of the economic incentive data to at least a portion of the plurality of telecommunications Carriers and distributes processed data to at least a first subscribing auction switch equipped to implement an auction service, of a plurality of subscribing auction switches, thereby enabling the first auction switch to select a first Carrier of the plurality of telecommunication Carriers for a call attempt presented to the first auction switch, based on an economic choice, wherein the method comprises: a) receiving the call attempt in an originating switch, including a caller identifier and an access code associated with the auction service;

-47- b) confirming that the caller identifier is associated with a caller that is an authoπzed auction service user, c) routing the call attempt to the first auction switch, d) selecting the first Carrier on the basis of the processed data, and e) routing the call attempt to the first Carrier

A method for controlling a telecommunication network in which a moderating computer collects economic incentive data fiom each Carrier of a plurality of telecommunications Camers, processes the economic incentive data, distπbutes at least a portion of the economic incentive data to at least a portion of the plurality of telecommunication Carriers, and distributes processed data to at least a first subscπbmg oπginating switch equipped to implement an auction service, thereby enabling the first subscπbmg originating switch to select a first Camer of the plurality of telecommunication Carriers for a call attempt presented to the first subscribing onginatmg switch, based on an economic choice, wherein the method comprises a) receiving in the first subscribing onginatmg switch a call attempt including a caller identifier and an access code associated with the auction service, b) confirming that the caller identifier is associated with a caller that is an authoπzed auction service user, c) selecting the first Camer based on the processed data, and d) routing the call attempt to the first Camer

-48-

8. A method for controlling a telecommunication network in which a moderating computer collects economic incentive data from each Carrier of a plurality of telecommunications Carriers, processes the economic incentive data, distributes at least a portion of the economic incentive data to at least a portion of the plurality of telecommunication Carriers, and distributes processed data to at least a first subscribing access tandem equipped to implement an auction service, thereby enabling the first subscribing access tandem to select a first Carrier of the plurality of telecommunication Carriers for a call attempt presented to the first subscribing access tandem, based on an economic choice, wherein the method comprises: a) receiving in the first subscribing access tandem a call attempt including a caller identifier and an access code associated with the auction service; b) confirming that the caller identifier is associated with a caller that is an authorized user of the auction service; c) selecting the first Carrier based on the processed data; and d) routing the call attempt to the first Carrier.

9. A method for controlling a telecommunication network in which a moderating computer collects economic incentive data from each Carrier of a plurality of telecommunications Carriers, processes the economic incentive data, distributes at least a portion of the economic incentive data to at least a portion of the plurality of telecommunication Carriers, and distributes processed data to at least a first subscribing originating switch equipped to implement an auction service, thereby

-49- enabling the first subscribing originating switch to select a first Carrier of the plurality of telecommunication Carriers for a call attempt presented to the first subscribing originating switch, based on an economic choice, wherein the method comprises: a) receiving in the first originating switch a call attempt including a caller identi fier; b) associating the caller identifier with a class of service that utilizes the processed data; c) selecting the first Carrier based on the processed data; and d) routing the call attempt to the first Carrier.

10. A method for controlling a telecommunication network in which a moderating computer collects economic incentive data from each Carrier of a plurality of telecommunications Carriers, processes the economic incentive data, distributes at least a portion of the economic incentive data to at least a portion of the plurality of telecommunication Carriers, and distributes processed data to at least a first subscribing access tandem equipped to implement an auction service, thereby enabling the first subscribing access tandem to select a first Carrier of the plurality of telecommunication Carriers for a call attempt presented to the first subscribing access tandem, based on an economic choice, wherein the method comprises: a) receiving in the first access tandem a call attempt including a caller identifier;

-50- b) associating the caller identifier with a class of service utilizing the processed data; c) selecting the first Carrier based on the processed data; and d) routing the call attempt to the first Carrier.

1. A method for controlling a telecommunication network in which a moderating computer collects economic incentive data from each Carrier of a plurality of telecommunications Carriers and user-specific data from a plurality of users, processes the economic incentive data and user-specific data, distributes at least a portion of the economic incentive data to at least a portion of the plurality of telecommunications Carriers and distributes processed data to at least a first subscribing auction switch equipped to implement an auction service, of a plurality of subscribing auction switches, thereby enabling the first auction switch to select a first Carrier of the plurality of telecommunication Carriers for a call attempt presented to the first auction switch, based on an economic choice, wherein the method comprises: a) receiving the call attempt in an originating switch, including a caller identifier; b) associating the caller identifier with a presubscribed first carrier access code identifying the first auction switch; c) routing the call attempt to the first auction switch; d) selecting the first Carrier on the basis of the processed data; and e) routing the call attempt to the first Carrier.

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12. A method of Claim 11 in which the user-specific data includes designation of a default Carrier.

13. A method of Claim 1 1 in which the user-specific data includes rate information negotiated between a user and a contract Carrier designated by the user.

14. A method of Claim 11 including specification of the time interval in which the user-specific information is valid.

15. A method of Claim 11 in which the user-specific data includes designation of a portion of the plurality of telecommunications Carriers acceptable to the user.

16. A method of Claim 1 1 in which the plurality of users includes telecommunication service resellers.

17. A method for controlling a telecommunication network in which a moderating computer collects economic incentive data from each Carrier of a plurality of telecommunications Carriers and user-specific data from a plurality of users, processes the economic incentive data and user-specific data, distributes at least a portion of the economic incentive data to at least a portion of the plurality of telecommunication Carriers, and distributes processed data to at least a first subscribing originating switch equipped to implement an auction service, thereby

-52- enabling the first subscribing originating switch to select a first Carrier of the plurality of telecommunication Carriers for a call attempt presented to the first subscribing originating switch, based on an economic choice, wherein the method comprises: a) receiving in the first subscribing originating switch a call attempt including a caller identifier and an access code associated with the auction service; b) confirming that the caller identifier is associated with a caller that is an authorized user of the auction service; c) selecting the first Carrier based on the processed data; and d) routing the call attempt to the first Carrier.

18. A method for controlling a telecommunication network in which a moderating computer collects economic incentive data from each Carrier of a plurality of telecommunications Carriers and user-specific data from a plurality of users, processes the economic incentive data and user-specific data, distributes at least a portion of the economic incentive data to at least a portion of the plurality of telecommunication Carriers, and distributes processed data to at least a first subscribing originating switch equipped to implement an auction service, thereby enabling the first subscribing originating switch to select a first Carrier of the plurality of telecommunication Carriers for a call attempt presented to the first subscribing originating switch, based on an economic choice, wherein the method comprises:

-53- a) receiving in the first originating switch a call attempt including a caller identifier; b) associating the caller identifier with a class of service that utilizes the processed data; c) selecting the first Carrier based on the processed data; and d) routing the call attempt to the first Carrier.

19. A method of Claim 18 in which the user-specific data includes an instruction to treat all calls terminating at switching points outside of a defined geographic area as auction service calls.

20. A method of Claim 18 in which the user-specific data includes an instruction to treat all calls terminating at switching points of a defined plurality of switching points as auction service calls.

21. A method for controlling a telecommunication network in which a moderating computer collects economic incentive data from each Carrier of a plurality of telecommunications Carriers, processes the economic incentive data, distributes at least a portion of the economic incentive data to at least a portion of the plurality of telecommunications Carriers and distributes processed data to at least a first subscribing auction switch equipped to implement an auction service, of a plurality of subscribing auction switches, thereby enabling the first auction switch to select a first Carrier of the plurality of telecommunication Carriers for a call

-54- attempt presented to the first auction switch, based on an economic choice, wherein the method comprises: a) receiving the call attempt in the first auction switch over a first facility limited to auction service calls; b) selecting the first Carrier on the basis of the processed data; and c) routing the call attempt to the first Carrier.

22. A method of Claim 21 in which the processed data includes economic incentive data and the selecting is performed based on the economic incentive data.

23. A method of Claim 21 in which the processed data includes Carrier selection data and the selecting is performed based on the Carrier selection data.

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