ELECTRONIC SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

• US 20100017525A1
• Filed: 07/16/2008
• Published: 01/21/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/16/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Channel IP BV
• Original Assignee: Ipass Incorporated (Pareteum Corp.)
• Inventors: Fisher, Darin D., Albert, Peter B., Lin, Eric Y., Marmolejo-Meillon, Luis G.
• Granted Patent: US 8,984,150 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/229
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0811 by checking connectivity

Abstract

In some embodiments a method for correlating supply chain network information received from supply chain network components controlled by different entities includes receiving connection agent information indicating access point identifiers associated with network access points; receiving provisioning information including physical location identifiers identifying venues at which the network access points reside; receiving network authorization request and response records, wherein the network authorization request and response records include data associated with the connection agent information and the provisioning data. The method can also include determining an association between one of the physical location identifiers that identifies one of the venues and one of the access point identifiers associated with one of the network access points, the determining including, selecting, based on the common data, the physical location identifier from the provisioning information; and selecting, based on the common data, the one of the access point identifiers from the connection agent information.

Claims

1. A method for correlating supply chain network information received from supply chain network components controlled by different entities, the method comprising:

receiving connection agent information indicating access point identifiers associated with network access points;

receiving provisioning information including physical location identifiers identifying venues at which the network access points reside;

receiving network authorization request and response records, wherein the network authorization request and response records include data associated with the connection agent information and the provisioning data;

determining an association between one of the physical location identifiers that identifies one of the venues and one of the access point identifiers associated with one of the network access points, the determining including,

selecting, based on the common data, the physical location identifier from the provisioning information; and

selecting, based on the common data, the one of the access point identifiers from the connection agent information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the access point identifiers include one or more of media access control addresses, phone numbers, access point names, municipal Wi-Fi identifiers, and service set identifiers.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the common data includes session identifiers associated with one of the different entities.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the connection agent data originates at one or more connection agents configured to communicate with the network access points.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the provisioning data originates at the different entities.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the network authorization request and response records originate from a service provider.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the network authorization request and response records include data defined in one or more of Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS) protocol, Diameter protocol, total access communication system (TACS) protocol, SOAP protocol, and Directory Services x.500 protocol.

8. A method comprising:

compiling information about a supply chain network, the information including,

connection agent data created by connection agents configured to connect to access points and exchange information over the supply chain network;

Authentication Authorization and Account (AAA) data created by an internet service provider'"'"'s component in the supply chain network; and

provisioning data describing attributes of the internet service provider'"'"'s component and other components of the supply chain network;

determining physical location identifiers associated with the access points, the determining based on the connection agent data, the AAA data, and the provisioning data;

determining, based on the connection agent data, that one of the access points is exhibiting unsatisfactory performance;

transmitting a service request identifying the access point exhibiting irregular performance, wherein the service request includes one of the physical location identifiers associated access point.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the physical location identifier includes one or more of a street address, telephone number, map coordinates, and reference to database including additional location information.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

inspecting AAA start records in the AAA data to corroborate the determination that the access point is exhibiting irregular performance.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the determining physical location identifiers associated with the access points includes matching Media Access Control Addresses of the access points to the physical location identifiers.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the AAA data is formatted according to one or more of Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS) protocol, Diameter protocol, total access communication system (TACS) protocol, SOAP protocol, and Directory Services x.500 protocol.

13. A method for using traffic data to verify provisioning data in a supply chain network, the method comprising:

receiving provisioning data identifying components of the supply chain network, the provisioning data including a first group of access point Media Access Control (MAC) addresses associated with the supply chain network and a first group of network access server (NAS) Internet Protocol (IP) addresses associated with the supply chain network;

linking RADIUS accounting start and stop records with RADIUS authentication records to form Call Detail Records (CDRs), wherein the CDRs identify a second group of NAS IP addresses associated with the supply chain network;

linking the CDRs to connection agent data to form the traffic data, wherein the connection agent data indentifies a second group of access point MAC addresses associated with the supply chain network;

determining, by comparing the traffic data to provisioning data, one or more of the following,

the first group of access point MAC addresses does not match the second group of access point MAC addresses, and

the first group of NAS IP addresses does not match the second group of NAS IP addresses.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

adding certain access point MAC addresses from the second group to the first group of access point MAC addresses.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

adding certain NAS IP addresses from the second group to the first group of NAS IP addresses.

16. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

transmitting one or more notifications indicating that the provisioning data does not match the traffic data.

17. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

transmitting one or more notifications indicating that a NAS needs service, wherein the NAS is associated with one of the first group'"'"'s NAS IP addresses.

18. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

transmitting one or more notifications indicating that an access point needs service, wherein the access point is associated with one of the first group'"'"'s access point MAC addresses.

19. A system comprising:

a connection agent configured to transmit a network connection request including a unique session identifier, connect to an access point on a supply chain network, and transmit connection agent data including a Media Access Control (MAC) address associated with the access point and the unique session identifier;

a transaction server configured to transmit the connection request through the supply chain network;

a storage and analysis server including provisioning data identifying a physical location of the access point, wherein the storage and analysis sever is configured to receive the connection request and the Media Access Control address, and wherein the storage and analysis server is configured to link, based on the unique identifier and MAC address, the physical location to the access point.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the physical location identifier includes one or more of a street address and map coordinates.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the network connection request is in RADIUS format.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the storage and analysis server is further configured to transmit notices including the physical location and the access point.

23. A method for predicting malfunctions in a supply chain network, the method comprising:

receiving a first set of connection agent data including information about a first group of successful and unsuccessful connections to a network;

receiving a first set of Authentication Authorization and Account (AAA) data including authentication records, connection start, and connection stop records associated with the first group of successful and unsuccessful connections to the network;

determining, based on the first sets of connection agent data and AAA data, a first performance metric about the network;

receiving a second set of connection agent data including information about a second group of successful and unsuccessful connections to the network;

receiving a second set of AAA data including authentication records, connection start, and connection stop records associated with the second group of successful and unsuccessful connections to the network;

determining, based on the second sets of connection agent data and AAA data, a second performance metric about the network; and

determining, based on a comparison between the first and second performance metrics, that one or more components of the network are malfunctioning.

24. The method of claim 23 further comprising:

associating the first set of connection agent data to the first set of AAA data, the associating based on one or more of timestamps, access point identifiers, and network access server (NAS) Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the first and second performance metrics indicate one or more of a number of successful connections to the network over a time period, a number of connection attempts to the network over a time period, and traffic through the one or more components of the network over a time period.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the connection services facilitate connectivity to a network using one or more of access points and telephone connections.