Verifiable device assisted service usage billing with integrated accounting, mediation accounting, and multi-account

• US 8,351,898 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2011
• Issued: 01/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Headwater Research LLC (Greg Raleigh)
• Original Assignee: Headwater Partners I LLC (Greg Raleigh)
• Inventors: Raleigh, Gregory G.
• Primary Examiner(s): RUDY, ANDREW J
• Application Number:
  US13/331,487
• Publication Number:
  US 20120089845A1
• Time in Patent Office: 385 Days
• Field of Search: 455403-411, 455/414.1, 455/456.1, 455/456.2, 455/456.3, 370/328, 370/330, 370/332, 370/389, 709/203, 709/217, 709/223, 709/224, 340/5.61, 340/825.49, 713/153, 713/170, 713/176, 705/28, 705/30, 705/34
• US Class Current: 455/405
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 Policy-based network configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5003 Managing SLA; Interaction between SLA and QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5045 Making service definitions prior to deployment
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/58 based on statistics of usage or network monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0188 Network monitoring; statistics on usage on called/calling number
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/00 Network traffic management; Network resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data

Abstract

Various embodiments are disclosed for a services policy communication system and method. In some embodiments, a communications device implements a service policy for assisting billing for the communications device use of a service on a network; and monitors use of the service based on the service policy, in which a local service usage is synchronized with a network based service usage.

Claims

1. A wireless end-user device comprising:

one or more wireless modems for enabling the end-user device to communicate over at least a first wireless access network;

memory configured to store a first wireless access network policy to be applied when the wireless end-user device communicates or attempts to communicate over the first wireless access network, the first wireless access network policy comprising one or more first policy instructions associated with a first service activity, the first service activity including a data communication associated with one of a subset of available applications capable of running on the wireless end-user device less than all available applications capable of running on the wireless end-user device; and

one or more device agents configured to perform the following steps, when the wireless end-user device communicates or attempts to communicate over the first wireless access network;

determining that a traffic flow is associated with the first service activity, the traffic flow comprising one or more related data transfers or attempted data transfers,

assigning a flow tag to the traffic flow, the flow tag comprising a traffic flow identifier configured to assist in preserving the association of the traffic flow with the first service activity when the traffic flow is processed by one or more device functions that operate on the traffic flow,

monitoring an attempted or successful first wireless access network service usage associated with the flow tag, the steps of determining, assigning and monitoring occurring in any order, and

after determining that the traffic flow is associated with the first service activity, applying the first wireless access network policy to the attempted or successful first wireless access network service usage.

2. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more first policy instructions are configured to assist the one or more device agents in one or more of:

presenting information associated with the first service activity through a user interface,

determining a service usage measure associated with the first service activity, and

controlling a wireless access associated with the first service activity,

wherein one or more of the presenting, determining, and controlling is based at least in part on a user input.

3. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, wherein:

the first wireless access network is associated with a first cost,

the one or more wireless modems are configured to enable the wireless end-user device to communicate over a second wireless access network, the second wireless access network associated with a second cost,

the memory is further configured to store a second wireless access network policy associated with the second wireless access network, the second wireless access network policy associated with the first service activity, and

the one or more device agents are further configured to;

determine that the wireless end-user device is communicating or attempting to communicate over the second wireless access network, and

apply the second wireless access network policy when the wireless end-user device is communicating or attempting to communicate over the second wireless access network.

4. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 3, wherein the first wireless access network is associated with a first cost and the second wireless access network is associated with a second cost, and wherein the first cost is greater than the second cost, and wherein the second cost is greater than or equal to zero.

5. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 3, wherein the first wireless access network is a roaming network and the second wireless access network is a home network.

6. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, wherein

the one or more wireless modems are configured to enable the wireless end-user device to communicate over a second wireless access network, and

the one or more device agents are further configured to:

determine that the wireless end-user device is communicating or attempting to communicate over the second wireless access network, and

refrain from applying at least a portion of the first wireless access network policy when the wireless end-user device is communicating or attempting to communicate over the second wireless access network.

7. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, further comprising a user interface, and wherein the one or more first policy instructions are configured to assist the one or more device agents in:

determining an accounting for a wireless access usage associated with the first service activity, and

presenting, through the user interface, information about the wireless access usage associated with the first service activity.

8. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, further comprising a user interface, and wherein the one or more first policy instructions are further configured to assist the one or more device agents in:

obtaining a user input from the user interface, the user input comprising an indication of a control to be applied to the first service activity, and

applying the control.

9. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 8, wherein the control is configured to assist in one or more of preventing, shaping, and enabling one or more communications associated with the first service activity over the first wireless access network.

10. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 8, wherein the indication of the control directs the one or more device agents to assist in limiting or allowing a first service activity aspect that is non-critical to a user of the wireless end-user device.

11. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 8, wherein the one or more device agents include an application interface function configured to interact with an application program to arrange an application setting, the application setting configured to cause the application program to assist in implementing the control.

12. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 7, wherein the one or more device agents are configured to determine the accounting for the wireless access usage associated with the first service activity based on a particular period of time.

13. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 7, wherein the accounting for the wireless access usage associated with the first service activity comprises a measure of a first service activity aspect that is non-critical to a user of the wireless end-user device.

14. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, wherein the available applications comprise one or more of a user software program, an operating system software program, an operating system software component or system function, or a firmware component or system function.

15. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, wherein the data communication is associated with one or more of a particular network route, a traffic re-direction, and a traffic tunnel.

16. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, further comprising a user interface, and wherein the one or more first policy instructions are configured to assist the one or more device agents in:

obtaining an aggregated wireless access usage accounting associated with an aggregated wireless access usage comprising a measure of a plurality of data communications over the first wireless access network, the plurality of data communications associated with one or more of a plurality of application programs, and

presenting, through the user interface, information associated with the aggregated wireless access usage accounting.

17. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 16, wherein the one or more first policy instructions are further configured to assist the one or more device agents in obtaining a user input through the user interface, the user input comprising an indication of a threshold associated with the aggregated wireless access usage.

18. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 16, wherein the one or more first policy instructions are further configured to assist the one or more device agents in presenting a notification through the user interface when the aggregated wireless access usage accounting satisfies a condition relative to a threshold.

19. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 17, wherein the one or more first policy instructions are further configured to assist the one or more device agents in controlling a wireless access usage when the aggregated wireless access usage accounting satisfies a condition relative to the limit setting.

20. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 16, wherein the one or more first policy instructions are further configured to assist the one or more device agents in:

obtaining a user input through the user interface, the user input comprising an indication of a control to be applied to at least one of the first service activity and the aggregated wireless access usage, the control associated with one or more of a first service activity background aspect and an aggregate data communication background aspect that is non-critical to a user of the wireless end-user device, and

applying the control to at least one of the first service activity and the aggregated wireless access usage.

21. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 16, wherein the one or more first policy instructions are further configured to assist the one or more device agents in:

obtaining a projected service usage accounting for the wireless end-user device, and

presenting information associated with the projected service usage accounting through the user interface.

22. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 16, wherein the aggregated wireless access usage accounting comprises a measure of a service usage aspect that is non-critical to a user of the wireless end-user device.

23. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, wherein the data communication uses one or more particular data protocols or comprises one or more particular data content types.

24. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 23, wherein at least one of the one or more particular data protocols comprises a simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), a secure socket layer (SSL) protocol, a transmission control protocol (TCP), an Internet protocol (IP), a user datagram protocol (UDP), a file transfer protocol (FTP), or a post office protocol (POP).

25. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 23, wherein at least one of the one or more particular data content types comprises one or more of streaming media, streaming audio, streaming video, digital voice, voice over Internet protocol (IP), digital audio, digital video, a digital image, a media file, a game file, an image file, a map file, an application file, and a digital transaction file.

26. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, wherein:

the data communication is associated with a first application program, and

the one or more device agents are further configured to;

obtain a first wireless access usage accounting associated with the first service activity,

obtain a second wireless access usage accounting associated with a second service activity, the second service activity comprising a data communication associated with a second application program, and

present, through the user interface, a notification associated with the first wireless access usage accounting and the second wireless access usage accounting, the notification configured to assist a user of the wireless end-user device in determining a contribution to a service usage by one or more application programs.

27. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more device agents are further configured to apply the one or more first policy instructions in a software environment that is protected from modification by at least a subset of application software.

28. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, further comprising a verification agent configured to validate at least one of the one or more device agents using a secure credential comprising an operating system configuration authentication certificate, a software subsystem configuration authentication certificate, a software security certificate, a software security signature, or a software security hash.

29. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more device agents are further configured to detect unauthorized software on the wireless end-user device.

30. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 29, wherein detecting unauthorized software on the wireless end-user device comprises using a signature.

31. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more first policy instructions are configured to assist the one or more device agents in implementing a wireless access usage accounting associated with the first service activity, and the one or more device agents are further configured to assist in sending the wireless access usage accounting to a network element.

32. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more first policy instructions are configured to assist the one or more device agents in implementing a wireless access usage accounting associated with the first service activity, and the one or more device agents are further configured to communicate over a secure communication link with a network element to assist in synchronizing a device service usage measure with a network service usage measure.

33. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more device agents are further configured to obtain at least a portion of the one or more first policy instructions from a network element.

34. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, wherein the first service activity comprises an access network service that supports a quality of service classification.

35. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more device agents are further configured to assign the flow tag without inserting flow tag information into a traffic flow data communications path.

36. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more device agents are further configured to assign the flow tag at least in part by inserting information associated with the flow tag into a traffic flow data communications path.

37. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, further comprising a user interface, and wherein:

the first service activity comprises a first data communication associated with a first network resource, and

the one or more device agents are further configured to;

obtain a first wireless access usage accounting associated with the first service activity,

obtain a second wireless access usage accounting associated with a second service activity, the second service activity comprising a data communication associated with a second network resource, and

present, through the user interface, a user notification associated with the first wireless access usage accounting and the second wireless access usage accounting, the user notification comprising information associated with a service usage associated with the first network resource and information associated with a service usage associated with the second network resource, the user notification configured to assist a user of the wireless end-user device in determining a contribution to a service usage associated with one or more network resources.

38. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 37, wherein the first network resource or the second network resource comprises one or more of a network destination, a server name, a host name, a host Internet protocol (IP) address, a port, a uniform resource locator (URL), a uniform resource indicator (URI), a domain name, and a media access control (MAC) address used to specify a network destination.

39. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, wherein:

the one or more wireless modems enable the end-user device to communicate over a second wireless access network,

the memory is further configured to store a second wireless access network policy to be applied when the wireless end-user device communicates or attempts to communicate over the second wireless access network, the second wireless access network policy associated with the first service activity, and

the one or more second policy instructions are configured to assist the one or more device agents in one or more of;

presenting information associated with the first service activity through a user interface,

determining a service usage measure associated with the first service activity, and

controlling a wireless access associated with the first service activity.

40. The wireless end-user device recited in claim 1, wherein:

the one or more first policy instructions are configured to assist the one or more device agents in controlling a wireless access associated with the first service activity, and

the one or more device agents include an application interface function configured to interact with the one of the subset of available applications to arrange an application setting, the application setting configured to cause the one of the subset of available applications to assist in controlling the wireless access associated with the first service activity.

41. A method performed by a wireless end-user device, the method comprising:

storing a first wireless access network policy to be applied when the wireless end-user device communicates or attempts to communicate over a first wireless access network, the first wireless access network policy comprising one or more first policy instructions associated with a first service activity, the first service activity including a data communication associated with one of a subset of available applications capable of running on the wireless end-user device less than all available applications capable of running on the wireless end-user device;

determining that a traffic flow is associated with the first service activity, the traffic flow comprising one or more related data transfers or attempted data transfers;

assigning a flow tag to the traffic flow, the flow tag comprising a traffic flow identifier configured to assist in preserving the association of the traffic flow with the first service activity when the traffic flow is processed by one or more device functions that operate on the traffic flow;

monitoring an attempted or successful first wireless access network service usage associated with the flow tag, the steps of determining, assigning and monitoring occurring in any order; and

after determining that the traffic flow is associated with the first service activity, applying the one or more first policy instructions to the attempted or successful first wireless access network service usage.

42. A wireless end-user device comprising:

means for storing a first wireless access network policy to be applied when the wireless end-user device communicates or attempts to communicate over a first wireless access network, the first wireless access network policy comprising one or more first policy instructions associated with a first service activity, the first service activity including a data communication associated with one of a subset of available applications capable of running on the wireless end-user device less than all available applications capable of running on the wireless end-user device;

means for determining that a traffic flow is associated with the first service activity, the traffic flow comprising one or more related data transfers or attempted data transfers;

means for assigning a flow tag to the traffic flow, the flow tag comprising a traffic flow identifier configured to assist in preserving the association of the traffic flow with the first service activity when the traffic flow is processed by one or more device functions that operate on the traffic flow;

means for monitoring an attempted or successful first wireless access network service usage associated with the flow tag; and

means for applying the one or more first policy instructions to the attempted or successful first wireless access network service usage, after determining that the traffic flow is associated with the first service activity.