System and method for providing application-specific on-line charging in a communications environment
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a policy server, configured with at least one processor, operable to;
identify an application selected by an end user;
install one or more charging rules on a policy enforcement point upon communicating with an on-line charging system;
analyze authorization information of a network resource reservation request from the application and in response to an indication that one or more requested network resources have been authorized for the application;
reserve the one or more requested network resources on behalf of the end user based on the indication that the one or more requested network resources have been authorized for the application; and
perform on-line charging on behalf of the application by charging the end user according to the charging rules based on usage of the one or more requested network resources and on one or more application-specific events.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An architecture for A method for providing on-line charging in a network environment is provided that includes interacting with an application that is selected by an end user, and with a policy enforcement point to install corresponding policies that are inclusive of charging rules. The method also includes performing, via a policy server, on-line charging interactions on behalf of the selected application itself such that application-specific on-line charging for the application is enabled. In more particular embodiments, the policy server understands which application is interacting with it by use of application tokens, source, or service identifiers. Also, the application element can query the policy server indirectly to grant network resources and the policy server examines an end user'"'"'s policy profile or a network-wide profile (or both) and recognizes that on-line charging applies to the selected application.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a policy server, configured with at least one processor, operable to; identify an application selected by an end user; install one or more charging rules on a policy enforcement point upon communicating with an on-line charging system; analyze authorization information of a network resource reservation request from the application and in response to an indication that one or more requested network resources have been authorized for the application; reserve the one or more requested network resources on behalf of the end user based on the indication that the one or more requested network resources have been authorized for the application; and perform on-line charging on behalf of the application by charging the end user according to the charging rules based on usage of the one or more requested network resources and on one or more application-specific events. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method comprising:
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identifying, by a policy server configured with at least one processor, an application selected by an end user; installing, by the policy server, one or more charging rules on a policy enforcement point upon communicating with an on-line charging system; analyzing authorization information of a network resource reservation request from the application and in response to an indication that one or more requested network resources have been authorized for the application; reserving, by the policy server, the one or more requested network resources on behalf of the end user based on the indication that the one or more requested network resources have been authorized for the application; and performing, by the policy server, on-line charging on behalf of the application by charging the end user according to the charging rules based on usage of the one or more network resources and on one or more requested application-specific events. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer software product embodied in one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having program code that when executed by one or more processors is operable to:
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identify, by a policy server, an application selected by an end user; install, by the policy server, one or more charging rules on a policy enforcement point upon communicating with an on-line charging system; analyze authorization information of a network resource reservation request from the application and in response to an indication that one or more requested network resources have been authorized for the application; reserve, by the policy server, the one or more requested network resources on behalf of the end user based on the indication that the one or more requested network resources have been authorized for the application; and perform, by the policy server, on-line charging on behalf of the application by charging the end user according to the charging rules based on usage of the one or more requested network resources and on one or more application-specific events. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification