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Claims  |
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What is claimed is:
1. In a computer system for supporting and analyzing Internet and electronic commerce data over the World Wide Web for service providers, the computer system including at
least one user station transmitting a user request, at least one server, connectable to said at least one user station, said at least one server providing said at least one user station access to external data sources being in a plurality of different
data formats, and at least one data collection and analysis system, a system of integrating data elements from an operational database of the service provider including at least one of an Internet service provider (ISP) and a commerce service provider
(CSP) into a predetermined format for supporting collection and integration of the Internet and electronic commerce data, comprising:
a database storing the integrated electronic commerce and Internet data for interrogation by the service provider wherein the electronic commerce data is merchant transaction data recording a specific purchasing transaction and the Internet data
is data collected during web browsing by a user; and
a user station, responsively connectable to said database and including a design database storing:
a logical data model providing a description of the database facilitating the integration of the plurality of different formats of Internet and electronic commerce data and facilitating query and report access of the database;
a formatted file library providing classifications including at least one of process characterizations, customer descriptions, preference determinations, and behavior patterns, the classifications being reusable for at least one of different
technical processes and different customer problems; and
a user interface capable of providing the query access and report access of the design database.
2. A system of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 1, wherein the electronic commerce
data includes environmental data, and the environmental data includes at least one of how long files are kept on a server without deleting, how current is the data, how often is the data refreshed, how the data is updated, how the data is manipulated
over time, the physical location, and the point of presence.
3. A system of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and extendable format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 1, wherein the
Internet and electronic commerce data includes business data, and the business data includes at least one of pre-paid user services, how the user purchases services and products, user discounts, billing rates, free subscriptions, and free information.
4. A system of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and extendable format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 1, wherein the
design database stores information source requirements, and the information source requirements include at least one of physical location and logical location where the information is located.
5. A system of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 1, wherein the design database
stores core business rules, and the core business rules include a minimum predetermined set of rules used to conduct customer business operation including administering a customer account.
6. A system of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 1, wherein the design database
stores core data sources, and the core data sources include a minimum predetermined data set which the customer is required to supply to perform the subsequent retrieval of the information.
7. A system of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 1, wherein the
Internet and electronic commerce data information is retrieved from a distributed on-line, and interactive environment including multiple client browsers.
8. A system of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 7, wherein the
multiple clients or client browsers are capable of accessing a SmartEC decisions server storing information.
9. A system of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 8, wherein the
multiple client browsers are capable of accessing a server storing information including customer support material and sales campaign schedules.
10. A system of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined but flexible format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 1, wherein the
logical data model and the formatted file library comprise metadata, and the metadata is used to WebTrack and define the Internet and electronic commerce data stored in said database and sources of the Internet and electronic commerce data feeding said
database.
11. A system of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined but flexible format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 1, wherein said
system is capable of reading a dataset and integrating the dataset into said database as metadata.
12. A system of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 1, further comprising a translator
providing an access function to access the logical data model and the formatted file library stored in said design database.
13. A system of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 1, wherein the
logical data model and the formatted file library comprise metadata, and the metadata includes a description of elements stored in said database in accordance with a core design.
14. A system of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 13, wherein the
core design provides an information structure that supports pre-defined decision support functionality.
15. A system of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 1, wherein the
logical data model and the formatted file library comprise metadata, and the metadata provides a comprehensive description of each component and source of the Internet and electronic commerce data used to populate said database.
16. A system of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 1, wherein the
logical data model and the formatted file library comprise metadata, and the metadata comprises schema for Internet/web data sources, and schema for operational data sources.
17. A system of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 16, wherein the
schema for Internet/web data sources includes type of system logs, description of each log, location of each log, data format for each log entry, and operational considerations.
18. A system of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection of the electronic commerce data according to claim 16, wherein the schema for
operational data sources includes tables, files and/or data elements that must be added to said database to enable decision-support functionality.
19. A method of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection and integration of the Internet and electronic commerce data being in a plurality
of different data formats using a computer, comprising the steps of:
(a) storing the integrated electronic commerce and Internet data for interrogation by the service provider in a database wherein the electronic commerce data is merchant transaction data recording a specific purchasing transaction and the
Internet data is data collected during web browsing by a user;
(b) storing in a design database a logical data model providing a description of the database facilitating the integration of the plurality of different data formats of the Internet and electronic commerce data and facilitating query and report
access of at least one of the databases and the design database;
(c) storing a formatted file library providing classifications including at least one of process characterizations, customer descriptions, preference determinations, and behavior patterns, the classifications being reusable for at least one of
different technical processes and different customer problems; and
(d) providing the query access and report access to the design database.
20. A method of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 19, wherein the
logical data model and the formatted file library comprise metadata, and the metadata is used to track and define the Internet and electronic commerce data stored in said database and sources of the Internet and electronic commerce data feeding said
database.
21. A method of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 19, wherein said
method is capable of reading a dataset and integrating the dataset into said database as metadata.
22. A method of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 19, further
comprising a translator providing an access function to access the logical data model and the formatted file library stored in said design database.
23. A method of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 19, wherein the
logical data model and the formatted file library comprise metadata, and the metadata includes a description of elements stored in said database in accordance with a core design.
24. A method of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 23, wherein the
core design provides an information structure that supports pre-defined decision-support functionality.
25. A method of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 19, wherein the
logical data model and the formatted file library comprise metadata, and the metadata provides a comprehensive description of each component and source of the Internet and electronic commerce data used to populate said database.
26. A method of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 19, wherein the
logical data model and the formatted file library comprise metadata, and the metadata comprises schema for Internet/web data sources, and schema for operational data sources.
27. A method of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 26, wherein the
schema for Internet/web data sources includes type of system logs, description of each log, location of each log, data format for each log entry, and operational considerations.
28. A method of integrating data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection of the Internet and electronic commerce data according to claim 26, wherein the
schema for operational data sources includes tables, files and/or data elements that must be added to said database to enable decision-support functionality.
29. A computer program memory, storing computer instructions to integrate data elements from an operational database of a service provider into a predetermined and expandable format for supporting collection and integration of the Internet and
electronic commerce data over one or more networks, the integrated electronic commerce and Internet data being in a plurality of different data formats, the computer instructions including:
(a) storing in a design database a logical data model providing a description of the database facilitating the integration of the plurality
of different data formats of Internet and electronic commerce data and facilitating at least one of query and report access to the design database, the electronic commerce data is merchant transaction data recording a specific purchasing
transaction and the Internet data is data collected during web browsing by a user;
(b) storing a formatted file library providing classifications including at least one of process characterizations, customer descriptions, preference determinations, and behavior patterns, the classifications being reusable for at least one of
different technical processes and different customer problems; and
(c) providing the query access and report access to the design database. |
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Description |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to a computer architecture and method for integrating data elements from Internet service providers (ISP) and commerce service providers (CSP) operational database(s) into predetermined format for
supporting collection of Internet and/or electronic commerce data, and more particularly, to a computer architecture and method for integrating data elements from commerce service providers's operational database(s) into predetermined format for
supporting collection of Internet and/or electronic commerce data over or from the World Wide Web for ISPs and CSPs.
2. Background of the Related Art
More and more people are using the Internet as a method of communicating, advertising and shopping for and purchasing goods. The sale of Internet services is growing at an amazing rate. The number of projected users into the year 2000 is
dramatically impacting the communications industry both from the standpoint of an opportunity to realize new business and as a concern due to the potential loss of traditional revenue sources. FIG. 1 illustrates this dramatic increase sales in World
Wide Web (WWW or web) servers, a summary of which is presented below:
______________________________________ WORLD WIDE WEB SERVER SALES FORECAST 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 ______________________________________ Intranet 475 2,673 5,483 9,210 13,133 Internet 621 979 1,410 1,777 2,159 Total 1,096 3,652 6,893
10,987 15,292 ______________________________________
The explosive growth in PCs, Servers and Internet related software has cultivated a need for companies to better understand their customer's needs. To better understand these needs, many gigabytes of data must be collected and analyzed to arrive
at the best way to service the customer.
Market and industry analysts alike, believe that the Internet will prove to be the most significant innovation in modern history since the light bulb and automobile. The method in which we perform daily business operations will be changed
forever due to this new technology. Many technology based companies in the computer industry are scrambling to outline new products and services using and exploiting the Internet as a vehicle to increase market share and revenue, while increasing
productivity and cutting operational costs. FIG. 2 is an illustration of the estimated growth in web users over the next several years.
In an effort to meet the above needs of digesting the vast amounts of information on the web, companies have designed many browsers and millions of web pages to access, retrieve and utilize this information. In addition to the Internet,
companies have set up local "intranets" for storing and accessing data for running their organizations. However, the sheer amount of available information is posing increasingly more difficult challenges
to conventional approaches.
A major difficulty to overcome is that information contained on the web or web pages are often dispersed across the network at many sites. It is often time-consuming for a user to visit all these sites. One conventional approach used to access
this information more effectively is called a search engine. A search engine is actually a set of programs accessible at a network site within a network, for example a local area network (LAN) at a company or the Internet and World Wide Web. One
program, called a "robot" or "spider," pre-traverses a network in search of documents and builds large index files of keywords found in the documents.
A user of the search engine formulates a query comprising one or more keywords and submits the query to another program of the search engine. In response, the search engine inspects its own index files and displays a list of documents that match
the search query, typically as hyperlinks. When a user activates one of the hyperlinks to see the information contained in the document, the user exits the site of the search engine and terminates the search process.
Search engines, however, have their drawbacks. For example, a search engine is oriented to discovering textual information only. In particular, they are not well-suited to indexing information contained in structured databases, e.g. relational
databases, voice related information, audio related information, and the like. Moreover, mixing data from incompatible data sources is difficult in conventional search engines.
Another disadvantage with conventional search engines is that irrelevant information is aggregated with relevant information. For example, it is not uncommon for a search engine on the web to locate hundreds of thousands of documents in response
to a single query. Many of those documents are found because they coincidentally include the same keyword in the search query. Sifting through search results in the thousands, however, is a daunting task.
Accordingly, we have determined that there is a need to be able to effectively collect the data, store the data and/or provide useful marketing information indicative of events occurring on the web. For example, data which indicates where a user
has been in prior sessions may be useful in designing future products accessible via the web. We have also determined that there is a need for an architecture and method used to support and analyze Internet and/or electronic commerce data over or from
the World Wide Web for CSPs and ISPs.
We have further determined that there is the need for an architecture and method used to correlate user, application, and access functions, and to store Internet and/or electronic commerce data in an efficient and multi-dimensional method. We
have also determined that there is a need to provide a tool set that can easily communicate with, or become a subset of, an existing scaleable data warehouse to provide Internet and/or electronic commerce marketing decision support. Unfortunately,
conventional architectures and/or techniques are unable to organize and present this information in an efficient manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To overcome the above-detailed disadvantages and shortcomings of the prior art, it is a feature and advantage of the present invention to effectively collect the data, efficiently store the data and/or provide useful marketing information
indicative of events occurring on the web. It is another feature and advantage of the present invention to collect data which indicates where a user has been in prior sessions, and which may be useful in designing future products accessible via and for
the web.
It is another feature and advantage of the present invention to provide an architecture and method used to support and analyze Internet and/or electronic commerce data over or from the World Wide Web for CSPs/ISPs.
It is another feature and advantage of the present invention to provide an architecture and method used to correlate user, application, and access functions and then to correlate these functions with business operational functions.
It is another feature and advantage of the present invention to provide a tool set that can easily communicate with, or become a subset of, an existing scaleable data warehouse to provide Internet and/or electronic commerce marketing decision
support.
In the attainment of the same, the present invention provides an architecture and method of supporting, collecting, storing, and analyzing Internet and/or electronic commerce data over or from the World Wide Web for ISPs and CSPs. The present
invention also includes one or more computer systems employing the method, a computer readable memory storing the medium, and a method for storing the synchronization process in memory and in a storage device.
The present invention combines improved methods of data collection, translation and storage with enhanced analysis techniques to exploit the vast amount of information available through emerging uses of the web, and other internet-based systems.
The results can be used as part of a customer's decision support system to allow better (e.g., more statistically valid) business decisions to be made faster.
The present invention concentrates on opportunities within, for example, the ISP sector of the telecommunications industry, and provides ISPs the insight into their customer's services usage, demographics, and behavior patterns. Through this
insight, ISPs should be able to support their decisions in such areas as customer retention, service pricing and profitability, and target marketing campaign using analytical methods based on customer and market data. Furthermore, ISPs can provide the
knowledge and capabilities to the hosted business customers in order for those customers to gain similar insight into their users to make effective and customer-driven business decisions.
In addition, the present invention is complementary with the current Internet Services Delivery Platform program. One environment where the present invention operates is where the consumer or business customer is able to utilize the CSP's/ISP's
web-based resources through a combination of access and backbone networks which, in turn, are connected to, for example, the global Internet to interface with the rest of the internet resources. The access networks consist of many Point of Presences
(POPs) which provide dial-up (e.g., analog/digital, ISDN) access service or dedicated digital (e.g., Frame Relay, ISDN) access service using either modem pool technologies and/or access server/router for the customers.
The access networks also provide Dynamic Host Communication Protocol (DHCP) services, a Proxy Cache Server, and a firewall to facilitate the service administration, address translation, security authentication and/or authorization, and web
operation efficiency. The backbone networks, consisting of switches and routers, optimize the transport between the access networks and the Internet Service Center. Internet Service Centers may provide Web Hosting Service and Electronic Commerce
Applications.
The present invention provides an architecture supporting value-added services to improve the operation and services of ISPs/CSPs. The present invention leverages data warehouse and data mining techniques augmented with networking elements and
web technologies. The goal of the present invention is to provide the customers with dynamic, flexible, and adaptable interfaces and systems to fully utilize the interactivity and the tracking of the interactivity of the new Web medium. As a result,
decision makers will be able to access decision support information through a secure network in a simple (ease of use), timely (fast enough), usable (valuable) and personalized (customized) fashion. Furthermore, this information will allow the customers
to make intelligence decisions and take timely actions to achieve their business goals.
The present invention also is a decision support solution targeted at an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and Commerce Service Provider (CSP). CSPs and ISPs are service providers who offers a full range of value-added services such as electronic
commerce applications. Its purpose is to help ISPs/CSPs to better manage their business, customer base, and services by leveraging areas of expertise in data warehousing and data retrieval.
The present invention was designed in view of the following goals which we have determined:
1. Understand electronic commerce over the Internet.
2. Understand the dynamics of the ISP/CSP business.
3. Determine the type of decision support needed to effectively run an Internet-based service business.
4. Understand how to leverage data warehouse and data storage and retrieval assets into this environment.
The present invention is a data warehouse--data storage and retrieval solution that is tailored to internet-based applications and services. One of its primary purposes is to allow ISP/CSP decision-makers to exploit the intelligence contained in
datasets derived from the following environments:
ISP/CSP business operations.
Internet or Web-based applications.
Web-based commerce applications.
Additionally, the decision-support information derived for specific applications can be provided by ISPs/CSPs to their electronic commerce clients as a service. The "discovery" of knowledge from each dataset is beneficial to ISPs/CSPs and their
customers for the deep insights that it provides into business dynamics and customer behavior.
The scope of WebMining includes a data warehouse that extracts data from web logs as well as various business operational data bases. The warehouse, in turn, sources three datamarts: one focused on business operations, one on the CSPs customers
and one on electronic commerce applications and on-line content. On-line content, in this context means, applications provided by the CSP as a service to his/her subscribers. The integration of web data to business data is key.
WebWarehouse and datamarts provide information in a business context, not a web site context. This is an important distinction. Although the system logs from one source of input to the warehouse, the data extracted from them is refined and
translated into a business context before it is correlated with other operational data (customer, billing, product, etc.) and put into the warehouse. In other words, the warehoused data is refined to represent products being sold through electronic
commerce applications, advertisements being seen by customers, specific content being viewed by customers, etc., not URLs. The extraction utilities and translation libraries that provide content for the warehouse will be as important to our offering as
the decision support functions at the back end.
The systems elements of the present invention include:
1. mapping module: systems to collect, interpret, analyze, translate, refine and correlate customer Internet usage, Web/Internet application data, electronic commerce application data and other operational data.
2. storage module: Scaleable Data Warehouse to structure, organize, store and manage the data.
3. data visualization: business decision-support solutions based on knowledge analysis and discovery of the data contained in the storage module.
The benefits of the present invention include:
1. providing decision support and adding operational information for the ISP/CSP to enable new/improved value-added services, allow the implementation of equitable and value-based pricing, achieve better quality of service, manage capacity, and
add bill-back capabilities for charge back scenarios.
2. providing to the ISP's/CSP's customers valuable information such as decision support for proactive targeted marketing, usage and customer preferences feedback on the web applications, usage information for business access, direct decision
support access for specific ISP/CSP customers' applications.
The WebWarehouse designer of the present invention provides a core design that is tailored for the decision-support functions. Extensions and/or changes to this design, however, may be optionally required to accommodate the ISP's/CSP's
operational data and, perhaps, any additional decision-support requirements that surfaced during the data discovery phase. WebWarehouse designer contains two main components: a logical data model and a formatted library. The logical data model provides
overall descriptions of the WebWarehouse. This description determines how well the WebWarehouse can integrate additional datasets and how effective the access of WebWarehouse will be for queries and reports. The Formatted File Library provides the
intermediate classifications such as process characterizations, customer descriptions, preference determination, and behavior patterns. These classifications can beneficially be reused in different technical process and different customer problems.
In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a system integrates data elements from an operational database of an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and Commerce Service Provider (CSP) into a predetermined format for supporting collection of
the Internal and/or electronic commerce data. The system includes a database storing the Internet and/or electronic commerce data for interrogation by the ISP/CSP, and a user station including a design database. The design database includes a logical
data model providing a description of the database facilitating the integration of the Internet and/or electronic commerce and operational data and facilitating query and report access of the database. The design database also includes a formatted file
library providing classifications including at least one of process characterizations, customer descriptions, preference determinations, and behavior patterns, the classifications being reusable for at least one of different technical processes and
different customer problems. As optional, a user interface is also provided which is capable of providing the functions of query access and report access of the design database.
One or more computer memory products are also provided. One or more computers memory stores, and one or more computers executes a program including the above process steps.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better
appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth
in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for
the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the
present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or
phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it
intended to be limiting as to th | | |
