WO2016037320A1

WO2016037320A1 - Consumer-to-business internet services

Info

Publication number: WO2016037320A1
Application number: PCT/CN2014/086152
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sheng Chen
Original assignee: 21 Vianet Group, Inc.
Priority date: 2014-09-09
Filing date: 2014-09-09
Publication date: 2016-03-17

Abstract

A personalized internet service request for a specific geographic location is received from a user computing device. In response, candidate personalized internet service packages are sent to the user computing device. A selection of a specific personalized internet service package is received. Network management operations are caused to be performed with relevant ISPs to activate personalized internet service of the selected personalized internet service package at the specific geographic location.

Description

CONSUMER-TO-BUSINESS INTERNET SERVICES

TECHNOLOGY

The present invention relates generally to providing communication services， and in particular to providing personalized internet services.

BACKGROUND

Internet services may not satisfy performance requirements of individual users in a large user population. For example， a first user may wish to access overseas sites， but the internet service used by the first user may be optimized for accessing local websites or websites within nationwide networks， rather than for accessing remote websites or websites outside the nationwide networks. A second user may wish to run voice-over-IP (VOIP) applications， but the internet service used by the second user may be configured to support different types of applications or activities such as those that generate bursty internet traffic and tolerate bit errors， jitters， bandwidth fluctuations， packet drops， etc. ， rather than configured to support real time voice or video communications that require relatively low bit errors， low jitters， constant but not necessarily very high bandwidths， etc.

In addition， an individual user’s internet activities may change from time to time. In the previous examples， the first user and/or the second user may wish to run virtual private network (VPN) clients during weekdays and video on demand (VOD) display applications in evenings or over weekends. An internet service configured to meet average service requirements of a large user population is bound to fail to meet service requirements of most of the individual users at most of the time， even though the internet service’s capabilities in many respects are still underutilized and largely wasted.

The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued， but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore， unless otherwise indicated， it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section. Similarly， issues identified with respect to one or more approaches should not assume to have been recognized in any prior art on the basis of this section， unless otherwise indicated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example， and not by way of limitation， in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which：

FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B depict example configurations for internet services；

FIG. 2 illustrates an example customer-to-business (C2B) internet service provider (ISP) platform and example ISPs that support personalized internet services；

FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B illustrate example time sequences in which a C2B ISP platform and one or more ISPs cooperate to provide personalized internet services；

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B illustrate example process flows； and

FIG. 5 illustrates an example hardware platform on which a computer or a computing device as described herein may be implemented.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Example embodiments， which relate to providing personalized internet services， are described herein. In the following description， for the purposes of explanation， numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent， however， that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances， well-known structures and devices are not described in exhaustive detail， in order to avoid unnecessarily occluding， obscuring， or obfuscating the present invention.

Example embodiments are described herein according to the following outline：

1. GENERAL OVERVIEW

2. STRUCTURE OVERVIEW

3. C2B ISP PLATFORM

4. OPERATING SCENARIOS

5. EXAMPLE PROCESS FLOW

6. IMPLEMENTATION MECHANISMS-HARDWARE OVERVIEW

7. EQUIVALENTS， EXTENSIONS， ALTERNATIVES AND MISCELLANEOUS

1. GENERAL OVERVIEW

This overview presents a basic description of some aspects of an example embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that this overview is not an extensive or exhaustive summary of aspects of the example embodiment. Moreover， it should be noted that this overview is not intended to be understood as identifying any particularly significant aspects or elements of the example embodiment， nor as delineating any scope of the example embodiment in particular， nor the invention in general. This overview merely presents some concepts that relate to the example embodiment in a condensed and simplified format， and should be understood as merely a conceptual prelude to a more detailed description of example embodiments that follows below.

Internet users may use an ISP at a given time for one or more specific types of activities such as overseas website accesses， VOIP， VPN， VOD， etc. However， the ISP may not be specialized for optimally supporting the types of internet service in terms of bandwidth resources， quality of service (QOS) parameters， service level agreements (SLAs) ， etc. This mismatch between the ISP’s capabilities and the users’ activities could create very bad user experience as well as lost revenues to the ISP.

Techniques as described herein can be used to enable an internet user to subscribe， access and use personalized internet services provided by a C2B ISP platform in cooperation with a wide variety of ISPs. The C2B ISP platform is operatively linked to the ISPs and configured to receive data specifying individual internet service capabilities of each of the ISPs. In some embodiments， the C2B ISP platform may receive users’ personalized internet service requests， for example， via customer premises networks (CPNs) to which the users are connected. In response to receiving a specific user’s personalized internet service request， the C2B ISP platform matches personalized internet service requirements in the user’s personalized internet service request with internet service capabilities of one or more specific ISPs， and performs network management operations to direct the user’s internet traffic through the specific ISPs with appropriately provisioned bandwidth resources， quality of service (QOS) parameters， service level agreements (SLAs) ， etc.

In some embodiments， the C2B ISP platform cooperates with the ISPs to provide， to internet users， personalized internet service packages in any of service areas of the ISPs. In an example， the C2B ISP platform that provides the personalized internet service packages to its internet users can be an entity that is independent of all of the ISPs. That is， the C2B ISP platform may， but is not required to， be an ISP with a service area and may operate in any geographic location and/or any country. In some embodiments， the C2B ISP platform that cooperates with a variety of ISPs and provides personalized internet services as described herein to personalized internet service subscribers can be an entity that operates at least one of the ISPs.

The C2B ISP platform may comprise one or more subsystems or data repositories， which include， but are not limited to only， any of： one or more service template engines to keep track of the ISPs’ service templates， one or more internet user subsystem to manage user accounts for personalized internet services， one or more network management subsystems to perform network management operators， one or more service personalization engines to meet individual internet users’ internet service requirements， etc.

An internet user can be located in any geographic location and/or any country， and can establish a user account for personalized internet services with a C2B ISP platform as described herein that operates in conjunction with a wide variety of ISPs in possibly many different service areas， different geographic locations， different countries， etc.

The internet user may submit a personalized internet service request that may include， but is not limited to only， any of： specific known websites (e. g. ， local， remote， overseas， news sites， literature sites， information technology sites， etc. ) to be accessed， specific known VOIP services to be used， specific VPN networks to be accessed， specific VOD services to be accessed， specific internet accessing applications running on the internet user’s computing devices， specific time periods in which specific internet activities are likely to occur， one or more of specific peak and average download speeds and/or upload speeds， specific QOS parameters ifknown， specific SLAs， etc.

The C2B ISP platform can be configured to present candidate personalized internet service packages available to the internet user. In some embodiments， at least one of the candidate personalized internet service packages can be identified and ranked based on criteria specified in a personalized internet service request submitted by the internet user. Additionally， optionally， or alternatively， in some embodiments， at least one of the candidate personalized internet service packages can be identified and ranked based on criteria defined by the C2B ISP platform for the internet user.

Candidate personalized internet service packages as described herein can be pre-stored and/or generated based on pre-stored data-e. g. ， service capabilities of ISPs stored at a data repository of a C2B ISP platform as described herein， etc. -at the C2B ISP platform. Additionally， optionally， or alternatively， candidate personalized internet service packages as described herein can be obtained in real time after receiving the internet user’s personalized internet service request by interacting with and/or querying one or more ISPs， service areas of which covers a geographic location at which personalized internet services as described herein are to be received by the user’s computing device.

In response to the internet user selecting a specific personalized internet service package， the C2B ISP platform can perform one or more specific network management operations with one or more of： a specific ISP that provides at least a part of personalized internet services of the specific personalized internet service package， an internet access network (e. g. ， a CPN， a radio access network， a satellite network， etc. ) from which the internet user is to use the personalized internet services of the specific personalized internet service package， other ISPs， CPNs， computing networks， etc. ， that are involved in providing the personalized internet services of the specific personalized internet service package， etc.

Examples of network management operations， as performed by the C2B ISP platform and/or caused by the C2B ISP platform to be performed， may include， but are not limited to only， any of： content delivery network (CDN) related network management operations， QOS related network management operations， VPN related network management operations， VOD related network management operations， etc. Examples of types of network management operations as described herein may include， but are not limited to only， any of： provisioning， configuration， account management， performance management， security management， etc. In various embodiments， network management operations as described herein may include one or more of establishing virtual point-to-point connections through dedicated connections， virtual tunneling protocols， or traffic encryptions； configuring proxy servers； setting up network paths or sub-paths using Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) ， Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) ， etc. ； management operations performed on customer edge (CE) devices， provider edge (PE) devices， provider (or network core) devices， etc. ； management operations for packet marking， differentiated services (DiffServ) ， integrated services (IntServ) ， expedited forwarding (EF) ， assured forwarding (AF) ， best effort (BE) ， per hop behavior (PHB) ， fault tolerance， high availability， etc.

In some embodiments， a personalized internet service package as selected by an internet user and a set of corresponding network management operations configured to activate or provide personalized internet services of the selected personalized internet service package may be stored by the C2B ISP platform as a service plan for the internet user. This service plan for the internet user is not required to be static， and can be updated， upgraded， reviewed， etc. ， from time to time， dynamically， automatically， manually， on demand， periodically， etc. For example， the C2B ISP platform can perform a new set of one or more specific network management operations to enable a different personalized internet service package with the same specific ISP or a different ISP.

In some example embodiments， mechanisms as described herein form a part of an information processing system， including but not limited to any of： a computer server， a network switch， a router， a gateway， a computer cluster， an application server system， a database system， a handheld device， game machine， television， laptop computer， netbook computer， tablet computer， cellular radiotelephone， electronic book reader， point of sale tenminal， desktop computer， computer workstation， computer kiosk， plug-in devices， media accessing devices， or various other kinds of terminals and media processing units.

Various modifications to the preferred embodiments and the generic principles and features described herein will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Thus， the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown， but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.

2. STRUCTURE OVERVIEW

FIG. 1A illustrates example challenges and difficulties for meeting specific internet service requirements of an internet user by an ISP.

In the first operational scenarios， the internet user may use a user computing device 108 to access overseas websites 104 through an ISP 110. The overseas websites (104) may or may not have cached a user’s desired content on servers (e. g. ， CDN servers， CDN nodes， etc. ) close to the user computing device (108) in terms of computer network topology， etc. Network paths between the user computing device (108) and the overseas websites (e. g. ， or their content cache servers， etc. ) may comprise a large number of network hops， switches， routers， gateways， etc. ， some of which may be relatively slow and prone to generate relatively large delays， etc. As a result， the internet user may likely experience slow responses when accessing the overseas websites (104) or overseas networks.

In the second operational scenarios as illustrated in FIG. IA， the internet user may use the user computing device (108) to run VOIP applications 106 through the ISP (110) . The VOIP applications (106) can be voice only applications， video and voice applications， multi-party teleconferencing applications， multi-cast video and voice applications， etc. The VOIP applications (106) may require relatively small bandwidth for voice only applications， medium bandwidth for certain video and voice applications， relatively high bandwidth for other video and voice applications (e. g. ， high definition video， a large number of participants， etc. ) ， etc. The VOIP applications (106) may have stringent QOS requirements on packet loss， bit errors， delays， jitters， bandwidths， etc. ， in order to provide high quality user experience. Network paths and links among the user computing device (108) and other communication parties involved in the VOIP applications (106) may comprise a large number of network hops， switches， routers， gateways， etc. ， some of which may perform below and even well below the stringent QOS requirements as required by the VOIP applications (106) . As a result， the internet user may likely experience poor call quality when using the ISP (110) to run the VOIP applications (106) .

In the third operational scenarios， the internet user may use the user computing device (108) to run VPN applications 114 through the ISP (110) . The VPN applications (114) may generate user activity dependent bursty traffic which needs to be supported by bandwidths (e. g. ， download speeds， etc. ) that vary greatly in magnitudes within a VPN session. Network paths and links among the user computing device (108) and other communication parties involved in the VPN application (114) may comprise a large number of network hops， switches， routers， gateways， etc. ， some of which may not be equipped to adequately handle bursty traffic in a responsive manner. While the internet user might expect relatively fast responses from remote computer applications comparable to those from locally running computer applications， the internet user may likely experience slow responses， frustrating wait times， abnormal terminations/interruptions of VPN connections， etc. ， when using the ISP (110) to run the VPN applications (1i4) .

In the fourth operational scenarios as illustrated in FIG. 1A， the internet user may use the user computing device (108) to run VOD applications 112 through the ISP (110) . The VOD applications (106) may include live streaming applications in which streamed media content being downloaded are rendered on displays. The VOD application (112) may require relatively high downloading bandwidths with relatively moderate QOS requirements on packet loss， bit errors， delays， jitters， etc. Network paths and links among the user computing device (108) and other communication parties involved in the VOD application (112) may comprise a large number of network hops， switches， routers， gateways， etc. ， some of which may not be equipped to provide relatively high downloading bandwidths with relatively moderate QOS requirements on packet loss， bit errors， delays， jitters， etc. As a result， the internet user may likely experience poor video quality and constant resolution changes with downloaded video content when using the ISP (110) to run the VOD applications (112) .

As can be seen above， an internet user’s internet service requirements involve a wide variety of factors in addition to any bandwidth resource requirements. Furthermore， the internet user’s service requirements are not necessarily static. The internet user may run different internet accessing applications and activities at different times. Even for bandwidth resource requirements， they may vary over time.

Likewise， an ISP’s capabilities are not limited to bandwidth resource capabilities only， but may include service capabilities and access optimizations for specific networks or internet accessing applications. Even for bandwidth resources， their economic values may vary in times and types， and among different ISPs.

FIG. 1B depicts an example configuration 100 comprising a (e. g. ， cloud-based， etc. ) C2B ISP platform 102， one or more CPNs (e. g. ， 116-1， 116-2， etc. ) ， one or more user computing devices (e. g. ， 108-1 through 108-5， etc. ) ， one or more ISPs (e. g. ， 110-1 through 110-4， etc. ) ， etc. In some embodiments， the configuration (100) can be used to provide effective ways in deploying a diverse variety of ISP resources and service capabilities to meet personalized service requirements of individual internet users.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 B， the C2B ISP platform (102) can be communicatively and/or operatively linked with the one or more CPNs (116-1 and 116-2) . The one or more CPNs (116-1 and 116-2) may include， but are not limited to only， any of： one or more internet access networks， one or more of portions of the Internet， intranets， wireless or wire-based local area networks operatively linked with other computer networks， wireless or wire-based wide area networks (WANs) ， portions of telecom networks， etc. Through the one or more CPNs (116-1 and 116-2) ， the C2B ISP platform (102) can communicate with a wide variety of computing devices such as the user computing devices (108-1 through 108-5) ， the one or more ISPs (110-1 through 110-4) ， etc.

Examples of user computing devices as described may include， but are not limited to only， any of： desktop computers， personal computers， workstations， computer servers， tablet computers， laptop computers， personal digital assistants (PDAs) ， smartphones， mobile computing devices， multimedia devices， etc.

A user computing device (e. g. ， 108-1， etc. ) may be operated by an internet user that has established a user account for personalized internet services with a C2B ISP platform such as 102 of FIG. 1B， etc. The user computing device (108-1) may be authenticated or authorized (e. g. ， based on the internet user’s togin id and password， etc. ) by the C2B ISP platform (102) as a communication device of the internet user as a part of processing the internet user’s personalized internet service request. As illustrated in FIG. 1B， the user computing device (108-1) may be a computing device connected to the CPN (116-1) through a network interface at a home or business location in a service area of the CPN (116-1) . In some embodiments， a CPN as described herein may be operated by an ISP， the C2B ISP platform， a local telecom service provider， a local internet access service provider， etc.

The C2B ISP platform (102) can perform network management operations to enable the internet user’s computing device (e. g. ， 108-1， another computing device other than 108-1， etc. ) to be communicatively and/or operatively linked with one or more ISPs (e. g. ， one or more of 1 10-1 through 110-4， etc. ) at a designated location (e. g. ， a home， a business， etc. ) for the purpose of using the personalized internet services. For the purpose of illustration， the user computing devices (108-1) uses the personalized internet services as provisioned by the C2B ISP provider (102) to perform internet accessing activities and applications， to communicate with a wide variety of other computing devices， media content servers， social networking websites， etc.

The ISPs (110-1 through 110-4) may be owned by one or more entities (e. g. ， communication companies， service providers， telecom operators， etc. ) . In some embodiments， each of the one or more ISPs (110-1 through 110-4) is owned by an entity that is different from all other entities that own other ISPs as described herein. In some embodiments， the entities that own the one or more ISPs (110-1 through 110-4) are different from an entity that owns the C2B ISP platform (102) . In some embodiments， one of the entities that own the one or more ISPs (110-1 through 110-4) is the same as an entity that owns the C2B ISP platform (102) .

Examples of a service area covered by an ISP (e. g. ， one of 110-1 through 110-4， etc. ) may include， but are not limited to only， any of： continents， countries， regions in a coun try， cities， local areas in a region， cities， rural areas， amusement parks， stadiums， tourist attractions， airplanes， airports， cruise ships， buses， trains， transportation centers， commercial venues， etc. In some embodiments， service areas covered by two or more ISPs may overlap one another. In some embodiments， a first service area covered by a first ISP may encompass one or more second service areas covered by one or more second ISPs. In some embodiments， service areas covered by two or more ISPs may not overlap one another.

Examples of personalized internet services provided by a C2B ISP platform (e. g. ， 102， etc. ) as described herein in conjunction with ISPs (e. g. ， one or more of 110-1 through 110-4， etc. ) as described herein may include， but are not limited to only， any of： media content downloading services， video conferencing services， overseas website accesses， VOIP applications， VPN services， VOD applications， tunneling services， internet protocol (IP) based services， etc.

Techniques as described herein can be used to enable an internet user to subscribe， access and use personalized internet services provided by a C2B ISP platform (e. g. ， 102， etc. ) as described herein in cooperation with a wide variety of ISPs. The internet user as described herein may submit a personalized internet service request to the C2B ISP platform (102) . The internet user’s personalized internet service request may comprise specific internet service requirements of the internet user. Examples of internet service requirements as described herein may include， but are not limited to only， any of： specific known websites (e. g. ， local， remote， overseas， news sites， literature sites， information technology sites， etc. ) to be accessed， specific known VOIP services to be used， specific VPN networks to be accessed， specific VOD services to be accessed， specific internet accessing applications running on the internet user’s computing devices， specific time periods in which specific internet activities are likely to occur， specific peak and average download speeds and/or upload speeds， specific QOS parameters， specific SLAs， etc.

For example， a first personalized internet service request from a first internet user to the C2B ISP platform (102) may comprise first internet service requirements that identify overseas websites (e. g. ， 104 of FIG. 1A， etc. ) as websites to be frequently accessed with a first user computing device (e. g. ， 108-2) of the first internet user. The first internet user can interact with the C2B ISP platform (102) to search for and select a first personalized internet service package， among candidate personalized internet service packages that are identified based on the first internet service requirements in the first personalized internet service request from the first internet user and presented to the first internet user for selection. Furthermore， the C2B ISP platform (102) can perform， and/or cause other computing devices to perform， a first set of network management operations to provide and/or implement specific communication services of the specific personalized internet service package for the first internet user. For example， these network management operations may optimize end-to-end paths between the first user computing device (108-2) and the overseas websites (104) or overseas networks. As a result， the first internet user can experience relatively fast responses when accessing the overseas websites (104) or overseas networks.

In another example， a second personalized internet service request from a second internet user to the C2B ISP platform (102) may comprise second internet service requirements that identify VOIP applications (e. g. ， 106 of FIG. 1 A， etc. ) as internet accessing applications to be frequently run with a second user computing device (e. g. ， 108-3) of the second internet user. The second internet user can interact with the C2B ISP platform (102) to search for and select a second personalized internet service package among candidate personalized internet service packages that are identified based on the second internet service requirements in the second personalized internet service request from the second internet user and presented to the second internet user for selection. Furthermore， the C2B ISP platform (102) can perform， and/or cause other computing devices to perform， a second set of network management operations to provide and/or implement specific communication services of the specific personalized internet service package for the second internet user. For example， these network management operations may be used to implement relevant QOS requirements on packet loss， bit errors， delays， jitters， bandwidths， etc. ， over network paths and links among the user computing device (108-3) and other communication parties involved in the VOIP applications (106) . As a result， the second internet user can experience high quality call quality when running the VOIP applications (106) .

In a further example， a third personalized internet service request from a third internet user to the C2B ISP platform (102) may comprise third internet service requirements that identify VPN applications (e. g. ， 114 of FIG. 1A， etc. ) as internet accessing applications to be frequently run with a third user computing device (e. g. ， 108-4) of the third internet user. The third internet user can interact with the C2B ISP platform (102) to search for and select a third personalized internet service package among candidate personalized internet service packages that are identified based on the third internet service requirements in the third personalized internet service request from the third internet user and presented to the third internet user for selection. Furthermore， the C2B ISP platform (102) can perform， and/or cause other computing devices to perform， at least a part of a third set of network management operations to provide and/or implement specific communication services of the specific personalized internet service package for the third internet user. For example， these network management operations may be used to configure network hops， switches， routers， gateways， etc. ， to handle bursty traffic in a responsive and robust manner. As a result， the third internet user can experience relatively fast response times from remote computer operations on a remote computing device not too different from response times produced by local computer operations on a local computing device， when running VPN sessions using the VPN applications (114) .

In another example， a fourth personalized internet service request from a fourth internet user to the C2B ISP platform (102) may comprise fourth internet service requirements that identify VOD applications (e. g. ， 112 of FIG. 1A， etc. ) as internet accessing applications to be frequently run with a third user computing device (e. g. ， 108-5) of the fourth internet user. The fourth internet user can interact with the C2B ISP platform (102) to search for and select a fourth personalized internet service package among candidate personalized internet service packages that are identified based on the fourth internet service requirements in the fourth personalized internet service request from the fourth internet user and presented to the fourth internet user for selection. Furthermore， the C2B ISP platform (102) can perform， and/or cause other computing devices to perform， a fourth set of network management operations to provide and/or implement specific communication services of the specific personalized internet service package for the fourth internet user. For example， these network management operations may be used to provide relatively high downloading bandwidths with relatively moderate QOS requirements on packet loss， bit errors， delays， jitters， etc. ， on network paths and links among the user computing device (108-5) and other communication parties involved in the VOD application (112) . As a result， the internet user can experience high video quality with spatial resolutions of downloaded video when running the VOD applications (112) .

In some embodiments， a set of network management operations as described herein may be used to support different internet accessing activities and/or applications at different times. For example， the set of network management operations may comprise a first subset of network management operations to be used to provide， to an internet user for a first time period (e. g. ， certain months， certain weeks， certain days， certain times of a day， etc. ) ， first internet services that are optimized for a first type (e. g. ， VPN applications， etc. ) of internet accessing activities and/or applications. The set of network management operations may further comprise a second subset of network management operations to be used to provide， to the same internet user for a second time period different from the first time period， second internet services that are optimized for a second type (e. g. ， VOD applications， etc. ) of internet accessing activities and/or applications that is different from the first type internet accessing activities and/or applications.

In some embodiments， a set of network management operations as described herein may be used to connect an internet user’s computing device with different ISPs at different times. For example， the set of network management operations may comprise a third subset of network management operations to be performed with one or more first ISPs (e. g. ， ISP 110-1， etc. ) that are provisioned/designated (e. g. ， by the C2B ISP platform 102， etc. ) to provide to， an internet user for a third time period (e. g. ， certain months， certain weeks， certain days， certain times of a day， etc. ) ， third internet services. The set of network management operations may further comprise a fourth subset of network management operations to be performed with one or more second ISPs (e. g. ， ISP 110-2 and ISP 110-3， etc. ) ， which may or may not be completely the same as the one or more first ISPs， that are provisioned/designated (e. g. ， by the C2B ISP platform 102， etc. ) to provide to， to the same internet user for a fourth time period different from the third time period， fourth internet services. The fourth internet services may or may not be completely the same as the third internet services.

In some embodiments， a set of network management operations as described herein may include different types of network management operations to be performed at different times. For example， the set of network management operations may comprise a fifth subset of network management operations that are of one or more first network management operational types (e. g. ， configuring MPLS to support VPN applications， etc. ) to be used to provide， to an internet user for a fifth time period (e. g. ， certain months， certain weeks， certain days， certain times of a day， etc. ) ， fifth internet services. The set of network management operations may further comprise a sixth subset of network management operations that are of one or more second network management operational types (e. g. ， configuring CDN nodes to support VOD applications， etc. ) to be used to provide， to the same internet user for a fifth time period different from the fifth time period， sixth internet services.

Thus， techniques as described herein can be used to meet internet service requirements that may dynamically change and vary from time to time. Personalized internet services provided under these techniques can also be modified or adapted by a C2B ISP platform and ISPs with time-dependent changes and variations not only on bandwidth resource allocation but also other performance characteristics of the personalized internet services in order to better serve the internet service requirements of the internet users who may rnn different internet accessing applications/activities at different times than under other approaches that do not implement techniques as described herein.

Additionally， optionally， alternatively， techniques as described herein can be used to take advantage of variations in ratings， strengths and cost benefits of different ISPs， different services from the same ISP， different service time periods of the same ISP， etc.

For example， some ISPs may have carrier-class networks to ensure relatively high QOS for internet services， while some ISPs may have relatively large bandwidth resources. Some ISPs may have relatively high performance gateways to overseas computer networks， while some ISPs may have relatively high performance CDN networks to stream video content. A C2B ISP platform (e. g. ， 102) as described herein can take advantage of these different strengths among ISPs to better serve different internet service requirements than under other approaches that do not implement techniques as described herein.

Even for the same ISP， economic values， costs， charge rates， etc. ， may vary in times and service types. For example， internet accessing activities and applications may peak at certain times and/or certain service types provided by the ISP. Thus， the ISP may charge differently (e. g. ， premiums for peak hours of a day， a week， etc. ； discounts for non-busy hours of a day， a week， etc. ) for different times and/or service types. A C2B ISP platform (e. g. ， 102， etc. ) as described herein may be configured to evaluate values， costs， rates， etc. ， related to different times， different service types， different ISPs， and select candidate service packages from ISPs based on such evaluation.

3. C2B ISP PLATFORM

FIG. 2 illustrates an example C2B ISP platform (e. g. ， 102， etc. ) ， an example CPN (e. g. ， 116-2， etc. ) and example ISPs (e. g. ， 110-1 through 110-4， etc. ) that support personalized internet services by a user computing device (e. g. ， 108-4， etc. ) .

In some embodiments， the C2B ISP platform (102) may be operated by an entity that also operates at least one of the ISPs that has its own internet service network and a service area. In some other embodiments， the C2B ISP platform (102) may be a mobile communication system that does not have its own its own internet service network； thus， personalized internet services provided by the C2B ISP platform (102) are provided in conjunction with other internet service networks such as the ISPs 110-1 through 110-4， etc.

In some embodiments， as shown in FIG. 2， the C2B ISP platform (102) is implemented with one or more computing devices， and may comprise software， hardware， a combination of software and hardware， etc. ， that represents an ISP interface 202， a subscriber system 204， an internet user interface 206， a service template engine 208， a personalized service engine 210， a network management system 220， an internet user data repository 216， an ISP service information repository 218， etc.

In some embodiments， an ISP (e. g. ， one of 110-1 through 110-4， etc. ) is implemented with one or more computing devices， and may comprise software， hardware， a combination of software and hardware， etc. ， configured to provide internetwork services through the C2B ISP platform (102) . An ISP as described herein may further comprise an ISP network management agent (e. g. ， one of 212-1 through 212-4， etc. ) that can be used to carry out network management operations， for example， as directed by the C2B ISP platform (102) based at least in part on personalized service requirements of individual internet users.

In some embodiments， a CPN (e. g. ， anyone of 116-1 and 116-2 of FIG. 1B， etc. ) is implemented with one or more computing devices， and may comprise software， hardware， a combination of software and hardware， etc. ， configured to provide network access services through the C2B ISP platform (102) . The CPN (e. g. ， 116-2 of FIG. 2， etc. ) may further comprise a CPN network management agent (e. g. ， 212， etc. ) that can be used to carry out network management operations related to the CPN (116-2) ， for example， as directed by the C2B ISP platform (102) based at least in part on personalized service requirements of individual internet

In some embodiments， the subscriber system (204) in the C2B ISP platform (102) is configured to receive requests for creating internet user accounts for personalized internet services， and to create the internet user accounts in response to receiving the requests. In some embodiments， the C2B ISP platform (102) is cloud based and can be accessed by user computing devices (e. g. ， 108-4， etc. ) with one or more IP addresses， website addresses， URLs， etc.

For example， a user of the user computing device (108-4) may access the C2B ISP platform (102) using one or more specific display pages (e. g. ， a home page， an internet user sign-up page， a login page， an account page， detailed pages， summary pages， etc. ) of the C2B ISP platform (102) . The user may make such access from the user computing device (108-4) directly or alternatively from a computing device other than the user computing device (108-4) . The user can cause a computing device the user is using to access the specific display pages to send a request for creating a user account for personalized internet services to the C2B ISP platform (102) . Upon receiving the request， the C2B ISP platform (102) may grant or deny the request. If the request is granted， the C2B ISP platform (102) proceeds to perform one or more account creation operations to create a user account for personalized internet services for the user.

In some embodiments， the user may enter device information (e. g. ， as a part of account creation， before or after account creation， etc. ) that identifies to the C2B ISP platform (102) one or more computing devices such as the user computing device (108-4) ， etc. ， with which the user wishes to receive personalized internet services. Examples of device information may include， but are not limited to only， any of： an MAC address， a cloud-based account identifier， etc. The device information as received from the user and/or generated by the C2B ISP platform (102) may be stored by the C2B ISP platform (102) at the internet user data repository (216) accessible to the subscriber system (204) in the C2B ISP platform (102) . The internet user account that is set up by the C2B ISP platform (102) may have a prepaid payment plan， or alternatively a non-prepaid payment plan.

In some embodiments， the user may enter location information (e. g. ， as a part of account creation， before or after account creation， etc. ) that identifies to the C2B ISP platform (102) a location at which the user wishes to receive personalized internet services. Additionally， optionally， or alternatively， the user may enter network access information (e. g. ， as a part of account creation， before or after account creation， etc. ) that identifies to the C2B ISP platform (102) a CPN with which the user wishes to receive personalized internet services.

The user account that is set up by the C2B ISP platform (102) may have a prepaid payment plan， or alternatively a non-prepaid payment plan.

4. OPERATING SCENARIOS

FIG. 3A illustrates an example time sequence (or use case) in which a C2B ISP platform (e. g. ， 102 of FIG. 1B or FIG. 2， etc. ) and a plurality of ISPs 110 (e. g. ， 110-1 through 110-4 of FIG. 1B or FIG. 2， etc. ) cooperate to provide personalized internet services to a user computing device (e. g. ， 108-4 of FIG. 1B or FIG. 2， etc. ) .

In block 302， the plurality of ISPs (110) registers， through an ISP interface (e. g. ， 202 of FIG. 2， etc. ) of the C2B ISP platform (102) ， service capability templates of the ISPs with a service template engine (e. g. ， 208， etc. ) of the C2B ISP platform (102) . Aservice capability template from an ISP as described herein may comprise specific identifiers and descriptions for specific internet service capabilities (e. g. ， express forwarding， assured forwarding， best effort， content caching servers， international gateways， VOIP， VPN， VOD， etc. ) that are supported by the ISP， service areas in which these specific internet service capabilities are available， performance and QOS parameters of each of the internet service capabilities， pricing informafion (e. g. ， time-varying charging rates， flat charge rates， etc. ) of each of specific internet services provided based on the specific internet service capabilities， etc. In some embodiments， the C2B ISP platform (102) stores the service capability templates and/or the service capabilities in the service capability templates into an ISP service information repository (e. g. ， 218， etc. ) .

In block 304， a user of the user computing device (108-4) submits through an internet user interface (e. g. ， 206 of FIG. 2， etc. ) of the C2B ISP platform (102) ， one or more personalized internet service requests to a personalized service engine (e. g. ， 210 of FIG. 2， etc. ) of the C2B ISP platform (102) . In various embodiments， the C2B ISP platform (102) ， or a subscriber system (e. g. ， 204 of FIG. 2， etc. ) therein， can verify that the personalized internet service requests are from an internet user with a valid user account subscribing to personalized internet services of the C2B ISP platform (102) ， based on user account information as stored in an internet user data repository (e. g. ， 216 of FIG. 2， etc. ) . In various embodiments， the verification of the internet user can be made before， at the same time， or after the personalized internet service requests are received by the C2B ISP platform (102) .

A personalized internet service request as described herein may include， but not is not limited to only， any of： specific known websites (e. g. ， local， remote， overseas， news sites， literature sites， information technology sites， etc. ) to be accessed， specific known VoIP services to be used， specific VPN networks to be accessed， specific VOD services to be accessed， specific internet accessing applications running on the internet user’s computing devices， specific time periods in which specific internet activities are likely to occur， specific peak and average download speeds and/or upload speeds ifknown， specific QOS parameters ifknown， etc.

In various embodiments， the C2B ISP platform (102) ， or the subscriber system (204) therein， can determine a location at which personalized internet services， as requested by the personalized internet service requests， are to be received. This location can be specified by the personalized internet service requests； determined from the user’s account information in the internet user data repository (216) ； determined from the location of the user computing device (208) ； etc. For the purpose of illustration only， the user computing device (208) is to receive the personalized internet services (at the location of the user computing device (208) ) in the present example. In other embodiments， the personalized internet services as requested by the personalized internet service requests can be provided at a different location from the location of the user computing device (208) that sends the personalized internet service requests； for example， in some embodiments， the user computing device (208) may be a mobile device that currently is not at a place of residence but sends the personalized internet service requests to request the personalized internet services for the place of residence.

In block 306， in response to receiving the one or more personalized internet service requests from the user computing device (108-4) ， the personalized service engine (210) sends one or more matching requirement-capability requests to the service template engine (208) . The one or more matching requirement-capability requests may comprise one or more of internet service requirements such as service areas， types of internet accessing applications or activities， etc. In some embodiments， at least some of the internet service requirements can be identified in the personalized internet service requests as received from the user computing device (108-4) . In some embodiments， at least some of the internet service requirements can be identified or determined by the personalized service engine (210) ， for example， based on user account information.

In block 308， in response to receiving the one or more matching requirement-capability requests from the personalized service engine (210) ， the service template engine (208) searches the service capability templates in the ISP service information repository (218) that are registered by ISPs with service areas covering the location at which the personalized internet services are to be received， and matches the internet service requirements or options specified in the one or more matching require-capability requests with service capabilities specified in one or more service capability templates of one or more ISPs among the plurality of ISPs (110) . The service template engine (208) then returns one or more matching requirement-capability responses to the personalized service engine (210) . The one or more matching requirement-capability responses may comprise information about the matched service capabilities， the specific internet services corresponding to the matched service capabilities， etc. ， and identifies one or more ISPs that are available for providing the specific internet services.

In block 310， in response to receiving the one or more matching requirement-capability responses from the service template engine (208) ， the personalized service engine (210) send one or more service detail queries to each of the one or more ISPs that are identified as available for providing the specific internet services in block 308. Service details requested by the service detail queries may include， but are not limited to only， any of： packet loss， bit errors， delays， jitters， bandwidths， round trip times， QOS parameters， VPN server performance parameters， factors of whether large bandwidths can be allocated dynamically in runtime to specific applications such as video applications， pricing information， etc. Some or all of these service details may be obtained by real-time measurements， past performance data collected from data traffic， etc. ， between two network elements of one or more ISPs， from a provider edge to another provider edge over one or more ISPs， from a network element (e. g. ， aprovider edge device， etc. ) in an ISP to a specific destination network or specific hostname， etc. In some embodiments， the service details may include service/configuration information such as network management parameters， controls， etc. ， to be used by the C2B ISP platform to perform or to cause an ISP to perform network management operations， etc.

In block 312， the personalized service engine (210) receives one or more service detail responses from the one or more ISPs that are identified as providing the specific internet services in block 308. In some embodiments， the one or more service detail responses from the one or more ISPs are sent by the one or more ISPs in response to the one or more service detail requests， and include specific service details for each of the specific internet services in block 308.

In block 314， in response to receiving the one or more service detail responses from the one or more ISPs， the personalized service engine (210) in the C2B ISP platform (102) generates one or more candidate personalized internet service packages. These candidate personalized internet service packages can be generated based on one or more of： the service details (e. g. ， pricing information， etc. ) in the service detail responses， the matched service capabilities， the specific internet services corresponding to the matched service capabilities， the performance and QOS parameters of the matched service capabilities， etc. The personalized service engine (210) proceeds to cause the one or more candidate personalized internet service packages to be presented (e. g. ， displayed in one or more user interface components， etc. ) on the user computing device (108-4) to the user.

In block 316， in response to being presented with the one or more candidate personalized service packages from the personalized service engine (210) in the C2B ISP platform (102) ， the user can provide user input to the user computing device (108-4) to indicate a selection of a specific personalized internet service package among the one or more candidate personalized internet service packages. In response to receiving the user input， the user computing device (108-4) sends a service selection message for personalized internet services to the subscriber system (204) in the C2B ISP platform (102) . The service selection message specifies that the specific personalized internet service package of the one or more personalized internet service packages is selected to provide personalized internet services.

In block 318， in response to receiving the service selection message from the user computing device (108-4) ， the subscriber system (204) sets a service charge rate for the user corresponding to pricing information presented to the user in the selected personalized internet service package； stores the service charge rate in one or more data repositories such as the internet user data repository (216) ； determines a set of network management operations that are to be performed in order to activate or provide the personalized internet services corresponding to the selected personalized internet service package； etc.

Examples of network management operations， which are to be performed by the C2B ISP platform (102) as well as which are caused by the C2B ISP platform (102) to be performed by other network elements， may include， but are not limited to only， any of： CDN related network management operations， QOS related network management operations， VPN related network management operations， VOD related network management operations， etc. Examples of types of network management operations as described herein may include， but are not limited to only， any of： provisioning， configuration， account management， performance management， security management， etc. In various embodiments， network management operations as described herein may include one or more of establishing virtual point-to-point connections through dedicated connections， virtual tunneling protocols， or traffic encryptions； configuring proxy servers； setting up network paths or sub-paths using MPLS， L2TP， etc. ； management operations performed on CE devices， PE， provider (or network core) devices， etc. ； management operations for packet marking， DiffServ， IntServ， EF， AF， BE， PHB， fault tolerance， high availability， etc.

In block 320， the subscriber system (204) proceeds to send one or more CPN network management operation requests to a CPN (e. g. ， 116-1， 1 16-2， etc. ) that provides network interface services or network access services at the location at which the personalized internet services are to be received. A CPN network management agent (e. g. ， 212 of FIG. 2， etc. ) in the CPN that receives the CPN network management operation requests performs CPN network management operations (e. g. ， in the set of network management operations as determined in block 318， etc. ) as requested in the one or more CPN network management operation requests. In some embodiments， as shown in block 324， the CPN network management operations can be performed or directed by a network management system (e. g. ， 220 of FIG. 2， etc. ) in the C2B ISP platform (102) .

In embodiments in which a CPN network management agent (e. g. ， 212 of FIG. 2， etc. ) in the CPN performs the CPN network management operations， the C2B ISP platform (102) can be configured to receive one or more CPN network management operation responses from the one or more ISP network management agents (e. g. ， 214-1 of FIG. 2， 214-1 of FIG. 2， 214-3 of FIG. 2， 214-4 of FIG. 2， etc. ) . In embodiments in which a network management system (e. g. ， 220 of FIG.2， etc. ) in the C2B ISP platform (102) performs the CPN network management operations， as shown in block 328， the C2B ISP platform (102) receives the one or more CPN network management operation responses from the network management system (220) in the C2B ISP platform (102) .

In block 322， concurrently， consecutively， or part concurrently part consecutively， with at least some operations in block 320， the subscriber system (204) proceeds to send one or more ISP network management operation requests to the one or more ISPs (e. g. ， 110-1， 110-2， 110-3， 110-4， etc. ) that are to provide personalized internet services of the selected personalized internet service package at the location at which the personalized internet services are to be received. In block 326， one or more ISP network management agents (e. g. ， 214-1 of FIG. 2， 214-1 of FIG. 2， 214-3 of FIG. 2， 214-4 of FIG. 2， etc. ) that receives the ISP network management operation requests performs ISP network management operations (e. g. ， in the set of network management operations as determined in block 318， etc. ) as requested in the ISP network management operation requests.

In block 330， the C2B ISP platform (102) receives one or more ISP network management operation responses from the one or more ISP network management agents (e. g. ， 214-1 of FIG. 2， 214-1 of FIG. 2， 214-3 of FIG. 2， 214-4 of FIG. 2， etc. ) .

In block 332， the subscriber system (204) determines， based on the ISP network management operation responses， the CPN network management operation responses， etc. ， whether the ISP and CPN network management operations have been performed successfully. In response to determining that the ISP and CPN network management operations have been performed successfully， the subscriber system (204) sends， to the user computing device (108-4) ， a personalized internet service response that the personalized internet services in the selected personalized internet service package have been successfully provisioned/configured in response to the personalized internet service request.

FIG. 3B illustrates another example time sequence (or use case) in which a C2B ISP platform (e. g. ， 102 of FIG. 1B or FIG. 2， etc. ) and a plurality of ISPs 110 (e. g. ， 110-1 through 110-4 of FIG. 1B or FIG. 2， etc. ) cooperate to provide personalized internet services to a user computing device (e. g. ， 108-4 of FIG. 1B or FIG. 2， etc. ) .

In some embodiments， instead of querying ISPs in real time or in near real time to determine service details (e. g. ， configuration parameters， performance parameters， pricing information， etc. ) of these ISPs， a C2B ISP platform (102) may accessing an ISP service information repository (e. g. ， 218 of FIG. 2， etc. ) to obtain service details for the purpose of generating candidate personalized internet service packages.

As illustrated in FIG. 3B， in block 334， in response to receiving the one or more matching requirement-capability responses from the service template engine (208) ， the personalized service engine (210) searches the ISP service information repository (218) for service details related to each of the one or more ISPs that are identified as providing the specific internet services in block 308. The personalized service engine (210) in the C2B ISP platform (102) proceeds to generate one or more candidate personalized internet service packages based on one or more of： the service details (e. g. ， pricing information， etc. ) ， the matched service capabilities， the specific internet services corresponding to the matched service capabilities， the performance and QOS parameters of the matched service capabilities， etc. The personalized service engine (210) proceeds to cause the one or more personalized internet service packages to be presented (e. g. ， displayed in one or more user interface components， etc. ) on the user computing device (108-4) to the user.

Additionally， optionally， or alternatively， a C2B ISP platform as described herein can perform service upgrades or downgrades for personalized internet services at a location. For example， after a user computing device obtains personalized internet services， the internet user may， at a later time， request a new (e. g. ， replacement， etc. ) service package from the C2B ISP platform at the same location. In some embodiments， the same ISP is the provider of both of the (replaced and new) service packages. In some embodiments， two different ISPs provide the two different service packages， respectively.

Additionally， alternatively， or optionally， a C2B ISP platform as described herein can be configured to receive billing data from an ISP. In some embodiments， the C2B ISP platform can use its own collected usage data of user computing devices to audit the billing data received from the ISP.

Additionally， alternatively， or optionally， a C2B ISP platform as described herein may provide a computer application， a plug-in， etc. ， to a user computing device to implement or automate user operations with a user computing device. For example， a computer application， a web browser， etc. ， may be used by the user computing device to access the C2B ISP platform for the purpose of submitting a personalized internet service request， upgrading service packages， etc.

5. EXAMPLE PROCESS FLOWS

FIG. 4A illustrates an example process flow according to an example embodiment of the present invention. In some example embodiments， one or more computing devices or components may perform this process flow. In block 402， a C2B ISP platform (e. g. ， 102 of FIG. 1B or FIG. 2， etc. ) receives a personalized internet service request for a specific geographic location from a user computing device， the request specifying personalized internet service requirements.

In block 404， in response to receiving the personalized internet service request， the C2B ISP platform (102) semds a description of a set of candidate personalized internet service packages to the user computing device for a user to select.

In block 406， the C2B ISP platform (102) receives a selection of a specific personalized internet service package in the set of candidate personalized internet service packages. The specific personalized internet service package comprises personalized internet services to be provided by one or more internet service providers (ISPs) with one or more service areas that includes the specific geographic location.

In block 408， in response to receiving the selection of the specific personalized internet service package， the C2B ISP platform (102) causes a set of network management operations to be performed with the one or more ISPs， the set of network management operations activating the personalized internet service at the specific geographic location.

In an embodiment， the personalized internet services are to be used by a computing device at the geographic location other than the user computing device that has submitted the personalized internet service request.

In an embodiment， the personalized internet services are to be used by the user computing device.

In an embodiment， the personalized internet services comprise one or more of wireless local area network (WLAN) services， wireless data services， internet accesses to one or more of specific web sites or specific networks， video on demand (VOD) services， video conferencing services， voice over internet protocol (VOIP) services， virtual private network (VPN) services， Ethernet services， etc. ， internet protocol (IP) based services.

In an embodiment， the set of candidate personalized internet service packages is generated based at least in part on ISP service capabilities and service details stored in a service information repository maintained by the C2B ISP platform (102) .

In an embodiment， the C2B ISP platform (102) is further configured to perform： sending， in response to receiving the personalized internet service request， one or more service detail queries to one or more ISPs that have matched service capabilities to provide internet services at the specific geographic location； receiving one or more service detail responses from the one or more ISPs； generating， based at least in part on service details in the one or more service package responses， the set of candidate personalized internet service packages； etc.

In an embodiment， the C2B ISP platform (102) is further configured to perform： searching a plurality of service capability templates registered by a plurality of ISPs in a service information repository； matching one or more personalized internet service requirements generated based at least in part on the personalized internet service request with one or more service capabilities specified in one or more service capability templates of the one or more ISPs among the plurality of ISPs； etc.

In an embodiment， the set of network management operations includes one or more of ISP network management operations or customer premise network (CPN) management operations.

In an embodiment， the set of network management operations comprises a first subset of network manage operations to be performed at a first time to support one or more of first internet accessing activities or first internet accessing applications； and the set of network management operations comprises a second different subset of network manage operations to be performed at a second different time to support one or more of second different internet accessing activities or second internet accessing applications.

In an embodiment， the set of network management operations comprises a first subset of network manage operations to be performed at a first time with one or more first ISPs； and the set of network management operations comprises a second different subset of network manage operations to be performed at a second different time with one or more second ISPs that are not the same as the one or more first ISPs.

In an embodiment， the set of network management operations comprises one or more first types of network manage operations to be performed at a first time； and the set of network management operations comprises one or more second different types of network management operations to be performed at a second different time.

In an embodiment， the C2B ISP platform (102) is further configured to perform： causing the user computing device to perform one or more device configuration operations to access at least one specific internet service of the personalized internet services.

In an embodiment， the personalized internet service request comprises one or more of specific websites to be accessed， specific networks to be accessed， specific VoIP servers to be used for VPN sessions， specific VOD services to be accessed， specific internet accessing applications that are to use the personalized internet services， specific time periods in which specific internet accessing activities or applications are to occur， specific peak bandwidths to be used， average bandwidths to be used， bursty bandwidths to be used when specific types of internet accessing or applications occur， specific quality-of-services (QoS) parameters， etc.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example process flow according to an example embodiment of the present invention. In some example embodiments， one or more computing devices or components may perform this process flow. In block 452， a C2B ISP platform (e. g. ， 102 of FIG. 1B or FIG. 2， etc. ) receives a personalized internet service request from a user computing device， the request specifying personalized internet service requirements for a specific geographic location for two or more different types of internet services that are to be used at two or more different time periods.

In block 454， the C2B ISP platform (102) determines a personalized internet service plan to meet the personalized internet service requirements for the specific geographic location for the two or more different types of internet services that are to be used at the two or more different time periods.

In block 456， the C2B ISP platform (102) automatically performs one or more first network management operations in the personalized internet service plan at a first time before a first time period in which a first type of internet services in the two or more different types of internet services is to be used.

In block 458， the C2B ISP platform (102) automatically performs one or more second different network management operations in the personalized internet service plan at a second different time before a second time period in which a second type of internet services in the two or more different types of internet services is to be used.

In an embodiment， the one or more first network management operations are performed with one or more first ISPs； and the one or more second network management operations are performed with one or more second ISPs that differ from the one or more second ISPs.

In an embodiment， the one or more second different network management operations in the personalized internet service plan is performed at the second different time in response to detecting that a specific type of internet accessing application or activity has started.

In an embodiment， the specific type of internet accessing application or activity represents one of： accessing one or more overseas networks or websites， a voice over IP (VOIP) application， a virtual private network (VPN) session， a video on demand (VOD) session， etc.

In various example embodiments， a system， an apparatus， or one or more other computing devices performs any or a part of the foregoing methods as described.

In an embodiment， a non-transitory computer readable storage medium， storing software instructions， which when executed by one or more processors cause performance of any of the foregoing methods.

In an embodiment， a computing device comprising one or more processors and one or more storage media storing a set of instructions which， when executed by the one or more processors， cause performance of any of the foregoing methods. Note that， although separate embodiments are discussed herein， any combination of embodiments and/or partial embodiments discussed herein may be combined to form further embodiments.

6. IMPLEMENTATION MECHANISMS-HARDWARE OVERVIEW

According to one embodiment， the techniques described herein are implemented by one or more special-purpose computing devices. The special-purpose computing devices may be hard-wired to perform the techniques， or may include digital electronic devices such as one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) that are persistently programmed to perform the techniques， or may include one or more general purpose hardware processors programmed to perform the techniques pursuant to program instructions in firmware， memory， other storage， or a combination. Such special-purpose computing devices may also combine custom hard-wired logic， ASICs， or FPGAs with custom programming to accomplish the techniques. The special-purpose computing devices may be desktop computer systems， portable computer systems， handheld devices， networking devices or any other device that incorporates hard-wired and/or program logic to implement the techniques.

For example， FIG. 5 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system 500 upon which an example embodiment of the invention may be implemented. Computer system 500 includes a bus 502 or other communication mechanism for communicating information， and a hardware processor 504 coupled with bus 502 for processing information. Hardware processor 504 may be， for example， a general purpose microprocessor.

Computer system 500 also includes a main memory 506， such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device， coupled to bus 502 for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor 504. Main memory 506 also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor 504. Such instructions， when stored in non-transitory storage media accessible to processor 504， render computer system 500 into a special-purpose machine that is customized to perform the operations specified in the instructions.

Computer system 500 further includes a read only memory (ROM) 508 or other static storage device coupled to bus 502 for storing static information and instructions for processor 504. A storage device 510， such as a magnetic disk or optical disk， is provided and coupled to bus 502 for storing information and instructions.

Computer system 500 may be coupled via bus 502 to a display 512， such as a liquid crystal display， for displaying information to a computer user. An input device 514， including alphanumeric and other keys， is coupled to bus 502 for communicating information and command selections to processor 504. Another type of user input device is cursor control 516， such as a mouse， a trackball， or cursor direction keys for communicating direction information and command selections to processor 504 and for controlling cursor movement on display 512. This input device typically has two degrees of freedom in two axes， a first axis (e. g. ， x) and a second axis (e. g. ， y) ， that allows the device to specify positions in a plane.

Computer system 500 may implement the techniques described herein using customized hard-wired logic， one or more ASICs or FPGAs， firmware and/or program logic which in combination with the computer system causes or programs computer system 500 to be a special-purpose machine. According to one embodiment， the techniques herein are performed by computer system 500 in response to processor 504 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory 506. Such instructions may be read into main memory 506 from another storage medium， such as storage device 510. Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in main memory 506 causes processor 504 to perform the process steps described herein. In alternative embodiments， hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions.

The term “storage media” as used herein refers to any non-transitory media that store data and/or instructions that cause a machine to operation in a specific fashion. Such storage media may comprise non-volatile media and/or volatile media. Non-volatile media includes， for example， optical or magnetic disks， such as storage device 510. Volatile media includes dynamic memory， such as main memory 506. Common forms of storage media include， for example， a floppy disk， a flexible disk， hard disk， solid state drive， magnetic tape， or any other magnetic data storage medium， a CD-ROM， any other optical data storage medium， any physical medium with patterns of holes， a RAM， a PROM， and EPROM， a FLASH-EPROM， NVRAM， any other memory chip or cartridge.

Storage media is distinct from but may be used in conjunction with transmission media. Transmission media participates in transferring information between storage media. For example， transmission media includes coaxial cables， copper wire and fiber optics， including the wires that comprise bus 502. Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic or light waves， such as those generated during radio-wave and infra-red data communications.

Various forms of media may be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to processor 504 for execution. For example， the instructions may initially be carried on a magnetic disk or solid state drive of a remote computer. The remote computer can load the instructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions over a telephone line using a modem. A modem local to computer system 500 can receive the data on the telephone line and use an infra-red transmitter to convert the data to an infra-red signal. An infra-red detector can receive the data carried in the infra-red signal and appropriate circuitry can place the data on bus 502. Bus 502 carries the data to main memory 506， from which processor 504 retrieves and executes the instructions. The instructions received by main memory 506 may optionally be stored on storage device 510 either before or after execution by processor 504.

Computer system 500 also includes a communication interface 518 coupled to bus 502. Communication interface 518 provides a two-way data communication coupling to a network link 520 that is connected to a local network 522. For example， communication interface 518 may be an integrated services digital network (ISDN) card， cable modem， satellite modem， or a modem to provide a data communication connection to a corresponding type of telephone line. As another example， communication interface 518 may be a local area network (LAN) card to provide a data communication connection to a compatible LAN. Wireless links may also be implemented. In any such implementation， communication interface 518 sends and receives electrical， electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams representing various types of information.

Network link 520 typically provides data communication through one or more networks to other data devices. For example， network link 520 may provide a connection through local network 522 to a host computer 524 or to data equipment operated by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) 526. ISP 526 in turn provides data communication services through the world wide packet data communication network now commonly referred to as the “Internet” 528. Local network 522 and Internet 528 both use electrical， electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams. The signals through the various networks and the signals on network link 520 and through communication interface 518， which carry the digital data to and from computer system 500， are example forms of transmission media.

Computer system 500 can send messages and receive data， including program code， through the network (s) ， network link 520 and communication interface 518. In the Internet example， a server 530 might transmit a requested code for an application program through Internet 528， ISP 526， local network 522 and communication interface 518.

The received code may be executed by processor 504 as it is received， and/or stored in storage device 510， or other non-volatile storage for later execution.

7. EQUIVALENTS， EXTENSIONS， ALTERNATIVES AND MISCELLANEOUS

In the foregoing specification， example embodiments of the invention have been described with reference to numerous specific details that may vary from implementation to implementation. Thus， the sole and exclusive indicator of what is the invention， and is intended by the applicants to be the invention， is the set of claims that issue from this application， in the specific form in which such claims issue， including any subsequent correction. Any definitions expressly set forth herein for terms contained in such claims shall govern the meaning of such terms as used in the claims. Hence， no limitation， element， property， feature， advantage or attribute that is not expressly recited in a claim should limit the scope of such claim in any way. The specification and drawings are， accordingly， to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

Claims

A method for providing personalized internet services， comprising：

receiving a personalized internet service request for a specific geographic location from a user computing device， the request specifying personalized internet service requirements；

in response to receiving the personalized internet service request， sending a description of a set of candidate personalized internet service packages to the user computing device for a user to select；

receiving a selection of a specific personalized internet service package in the set of candidate personalized internet service packages， where the specific personalized internet service package comprises personalized internet services to be provided by one or more internet service providers (ISPs) with one or more service areas that includes the specific geographic location；

in response to receiving the selection of the specific personalized internet service package， causing a set of network management operations to be performed with the one or more ISPs， the set of network management operations activating the personalized internet service at the specific geographic location；

wherein the method is performed one or more computing devices.
The method of Claim 1， wherein the personalized internet services are to be used by a computing device at the geographic location other than the user computing device that has submitted the personalized internet service request.
The method of Claim 1， wherein the personalized internet services are to be used by the user computing device.
The method of Claim 1， wherein the personalized internet services comprise one or more of wireless local area network (WLAN) services， wireless data services， internet accesses to one or more of specific web sites or specific networks， video on demand (VOD) services， video conferencing services， voice over internet protocol (VOIP) services， virtual private network (VPN) services， or Ethernet services， internet protocol (IP) based services.
The method of Claim 1， wherein the method is performed by a customer-to-business (C2B) ISP platform.
The method of Claim 5， wherein the set of candidate personalized internet service packages is generated based at least in part on ISP service capabilities and service details stored in a service information repository maintained by the C2B ISP platform.
The method of Claim 5， wherein sending a set of candidate personalized internet service packages comprises：

sending， in response to receiving the personalized internet service request， one or more service detail queries to one or more ISPs that have matched service capabilities to provide internet services at the specific geographic location；

receiving one or more service detail responses from the one or more ISPs；

generating， based at least in part on service details in the one or more service package responses， the description of the set of candidate personalized internet service packages.
The method of Claim 1， further comprises：

searching a plurality of service capability templates registered by a plurality of ISPs in a service information repository；

matching one or more personalized internet service requirements generated based at least in part on the personalized internet service request with one or more service capabilities specified in one or more service capability templates of the one or more ISPs among the plurality of ISPs.
The method of Claim 1， wherein the set of network management operations includes one or more of ISP network management operations or customer premise network (CPN) management operations.
The method of Claim 1， wherein the set of network management operations comprises a first subset of network management operations to be performed at a first time to support one or more of first internet accessing activities or first internet accessing applications， and wherein the set of network management operations comprises a second different subset of network manage operations to be performed at a second different time to support one or more of second different internet accessing activities or second internet accessing applications.
The method of Claim 1， wherein the set of network management operations comprises a first subset of network manage operations to be performed at a first time with one or more first ISPs， and wherein the set of network management operations comprises a second different subset of network manage operations to be performed at a second different time with one or more second ISPs that are not the same as the one or more first ISPs.
The method of Claim 1， wherein the set of network management operations comprises one or more first types of network manage operations to be performed at a first time， and wherein the set of network management operations comprises one or more second different types of network manage operations to be performed at a second different time.
The method of Claim 1， further comprising： causing the user computing device to perform one or more device configuration operations to access at least one specific internet service of the personalized internet services.
The method of Claim 1， wherein the personalized internet service request comprises one or more of specific websites to be accessed， specific networks to be accessed， specific voice over IP (VOIP) servers to be used for virtual private network (VPN) sessions， specific video on demand (VOD) services to be accessed， specific internet accessing applications that are to use the personalized internet services， specific time periods in which specific internet accessing activities or applications are to occur， specific peak bandwidths to be used， average bandwidths to be used， bursty bandwidths to be used when specific types of internet accessing or applications occur， or specific quality-of-services (QOS) parameters.
A method for providing personalized internet services， comprising：

receiving a personalized internet service request from a user computing device， the request specifying personalized internet service requirements for a specific geographic location for two or more different types of internet services that are to be used at two or more different time periods；

determining a personalized internet service plan to meet the personalized internet service requirements for the specific geographic location for the two or more different types of internet services that are to be used at the two or more different time periods；

automatically performing one or more first network management operations in the personalized internet service plan at a first time before a first time period in which a first type of internet services in the two or more different types of internet services is to be used；

automatically performing one or more second different network management operations in the personalized internet service plan at a second different time before a second time period in which a second type of internet services in the two or more different types of internet services is to be used；

wherein the method is performed one or more computing devices.
The method of Claim 15， wherein the method is performed by a customer-to-business (C2B) ISP platform； wherein the one or more first network management operations are performed with one or more first ISPs； and wherein the one or more second network management operations are performed with one or more second ISPs that differ from the one or more second ISPs.
The method of Claim 15， wherein the one or more second different network management operations in the personalized internet service plan is performed at the second different time in response to detecting that a specific type of internet accessing application or activity has started.
The method of Claim 17， wherein the specific type of internet accessing application or activity represents one of accessing one or more overseas networks or websites， a voice over IP (VOIP) application， a virtual private network (VPN) session， or a video on demand (VOD) session.
A system performing any of the methods as recited in Claims 1-18.
A non-transitory computer readable storage medium， storing software instructions， which when executed by one or more processors cause performance of the method recited in any of Claims 1-18.
A computing device comprising one or more processors and one or more storage media， storing a set of instructions， which when executed by one or more processors cause performance of the method recited in any of Claims 1-18.