Simplified service network architecture

• US 8,583,781 B2
• Filed: 03/02/2009
• Issued: 11/12/2013
• 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): Meky, Moustafa M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lai, Michael C
• Application Number:
  US12/380,777
• Publication Number:
  US 20100191847A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,716 Days
• Field of Search: 709/224, 709/225, 370/330, 713/155
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/177 Initialisation or configuration control processor initialisation G06F9/4405
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06375 Prediction of business process outcome or impact based on a proposed change
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/32 using wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0284 Time or distance, e.g. usage of parking meters or taximeters
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1407 Policy-and-charging control [PCC] architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0876 Aspects of the degree of configuration automation
• 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 41/5025 : by proactively reacting to service quality change, e.g. by reconfiguration after service quality degradation or upgrade
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5054 : Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/20 : Traffic policing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2408 : for supporting different services, e.g. a differentiated services [DiffServ] type of service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 : Interoperability with other network applications or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0236 : Filtering by address, protocol, port number or service, e.g. IP-address or URL
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/04 : for providing a confidential data exchange among entities communicating through data packet networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 : wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 : for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0853 : using an additional device, e.g. smartcard, SIM or a different communication terminal cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving additional secure or trusted devices H04L9/3234
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0892 : by using authentication-authorization-accounting [AAA] servers or protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 : for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 : for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/145 : avoiding end of session, e.g. keep-alive, heartbeats, resumption message or wake-up for inactive or interrupted session
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 : User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 : involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 : Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 : Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/564 : Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 : Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/32 : including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system or for message authentication, e.g. authorization, entity authentication, data integrity or data verification, non-repudiation, key authentication or verification of credentials
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 : involving digital signatures
• 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 15/49 : Connection to several service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/58 : based on statistics of usage or network monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/61 : based on the service used
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/66 : Policy and charging system
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/80 : Rating or billing plans; Tariff determination aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8055 : Selecting cheaper transport technology for a given service
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/88 : Provision for limiting connection, or expenditure
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0188 : Network monitoring; statistics on usage on called/calling number
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/00 : Security arrangements; Authentication; Protecting privacy or anonymity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 : Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/037 : of the control plane, e.g. signalling traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 : Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 : Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/37 : Managing security policies for mobile devices or for controlling mobile applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 : Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/02 : Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0215 : based on user or device properties, e.g. MTC-capable devices services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] H04W4/70; wireless resource selection or allocation plan definition based on terminal or device properties H04W72/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0268 : using specific QoS parameters for wireless networks, e.g. QoS class identifier [QCI] or guaranteed bit rate [GBR] negotiating SLA or negotiating QoS H04W28/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/12 : using signalling between network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 : Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 : Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 : Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/20 : Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 : Accounting or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 : Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/14 : using user query or user detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 : Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 : Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/02 : Processing of mobility data, e.g. registration information at HLR [Home Location Register] or VLR [Visitor Location Register]; Transfer of mobility data, e.g. between HLR, VLR or external networks
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/20 : Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/04 : Large scale networks; Deep hierarchical networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/042 : Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 : WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 : adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 : Access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/80 : Management or planning

Abstract

Various embodiments are disclosed for a services policy communication system and method. In some embodiments, a network device collects a plurality of service usage measurements for a communications device use of a service on a network; and compares the plurality of service usage measurements to a device assisted implementation of a service policy to verify the device assisted implementation of the service policy.

Claims

1. A network system comprising:

a communication interface for enabling the network system to communicate with an end-user device over a communication link;

a processor configured to;

obtain an indication of a particular path or a particular destination, wherein the particular path comprises a particular traffic route, a particular traffic tunnel, or a particular traffic link, and wherein the particular destination comprises a particular network end-point or a particular network server;

based on the indication of the particular path or the particular destination, collect a plurality of service usage measurements of the end-user device'"'"'s use of a first network data service of a plurality of network data services available to the end-user device over a wireless network, the end-user device configured to access the first network data service in accordance with a first service policy, the first service policy for assisting in routing or directing end-user device communications associated with the first network data service over the particular path or to the particular destination, at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements comprising a measure of attempted or successful communications over the particular path or to the particular destination; and

determine, based on the at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements, whether the end-user device is accessing the first network data service in accordance with the first service policy; and

memory coupled to the processor and configured to provide the processor with instructions.

2. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein:

the first network data service comprises a category of service activities less than all service activities available to the end-user device.

3. The network system recited in claim 2, wherein the at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements is a first measure associated with the category of service activities.

4. The network system recited in claim 3, wherein determine, based on the at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements, whether the end-user device is accessing the first network data service in accordance with the first service policy comprises determine whether the first measure is consistent with the end-user device accessing the first network data service in accordance with the first service policy.

5. The network system recited in claim 3, wherein determine, based on the at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements, whether the end-user device is accessing the first network data service in accordance with the first service policy comprises determine if an aspect of the first measure is consistent with a range of expected service usage, the range of expected service usage representing a behavior consistent with the end-user device accessing the first network data service in accordance with the first service policy.

6. The network system recited in claim 2, wherein the category of service activities comprises a particular application, a particular agent, a particular network communication end point, a particular uniform resource locator (URL), a particular website, a particular traffic type, a particular content type, a transaction, a download, an upload, an email activity, a messaging activity, a voice service, a background activity, a forwarding service activity, a hotspot activity, or a video service.

7. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein:

the first network data service is an intermediate networking device forwarding service, the intermediate networking device forwarding service allowing the end-user device to forward traffic communicated over a local network to or from the network system over the wireless network, the traffic being associated with at least one other end-user device, and

the at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements comprises a measure of attempted or successful use by the end-user device of the intermediate networking device forwarding service.

8. The network system recited in claim 7, wherein:

the intermediate networking device forwarding service assists the end-user device in providing forwarding service with a first service aspect to a first set of other end-user devices and forwarding service with a second service aspect to a second set of other end-user devices.

9. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein:

the first service policy assists in controlling the end-user device'"'"'s use of the first network data service,

the processor is further configured to obtain a value of a device setting, the device setting for assisting in controlling end-user device communications over the wireless network, and

the processor is further configured to determine if the value of the device setting is consistent with the end-user device accessing the at least one of the one or more network data services over the wireless network in accordance with the first service policy.

10. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein:

the first service policy assists in controlling the end-user device'"'"'s use of the first network data service,

the processor is further configured to obtain an indication of a user input, the user input comprising an indication of whether a user authorizes or desires to enable the end-user device'"'"'s use of the first network data service, and

determine, based on the at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements, whether the end-user device is accessing the first network data service in accordance with the first service policy comprises determine if the user input and the at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements are consistent with the end-user device accessing the first network data service in accordance with the first service policy.

11. The network system recited in claim 10, wherein the first service policy assists in limiting at least an aspect of the end-user device'"'"'s use of the first network data service based at least in part on the user input.

12. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein:

the first service policy assists in controlling the end-user device'"'"'s use of the first network data service, wherein the first network data service is associated with a particular software component on the end-user device.

13. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain a device credential associated with the end-user device to assist in collecting one or more of the plurality of service usage measurements.

14. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein collect a plurality of service usage measurements of the end-user device'"'"'s use of the first network data service comprises obtain one or more of the plurality of service usage measurements from the end-user device.

15. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the particular path or the particular destination is associated with a particular application or a particular agent on the end-user device.

16. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the particular path or the particular destination is based at least in part on an end-user device configuration.

17. The network system recited in claim 16, wherein the end-user device configuration comprises a credential.

18. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the particular path or the particular destination is based on a setting associated with the first service policy.

19. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the particular path or the particular destination is based on a device credential or a user credential.

20. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the particular path or the particular destination is based on an indication of a user input.

21. The network system recited in claim 20, wherein the user input comprises a response to a control option, a notification option, or a warning.

22. The network system recited in claim 20, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain an indication of the user input from the end-user device.

23. The network system recited in claim 20, wherein the user input comprises a response to a billing option, a service plan option, or a service plan offer.

24. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements indicates an attempted service usage or an amount of a successful service usage.

25. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of service usage measurements comprises a first measure of attempted or successful service usage obtained at a first time, and a second measure of attempted or successful service usage obtained at a second time.

26. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements comprises information from a network element, the network element comprising a packet inspection element, a usage accounting system element, a partner transaction server element, or a billing element.

27. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements comprises information from an agent on the end-user device.

28. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of service usage measurements comprises a measure of successful or attempted service usage over a particular network or a particular network type, wherein the particular network or the particular network type comprises a cellular home network, a cellular roaming network, a WiFi network, a 2G cellular network, a 3G cellular network, a 4G cellular network, or a network associated with a particular service provider.

29. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of service usage measurements comprises a measure of successful or attempted service usage during a particular time period or at a particular time.

30. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein routing or directing end-user device communications associated with the first network data service over a particular path or to a particular destination comprises routing or directing at least an aspect of the end-user device'"'"'s use of the first network data service over the particular path or to the particular destination.

31. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the wireless network is a roaming network, and wherein the first service policy assists in controlling at least an aspect of the end-user device'"'"'s use of the first network data service over the roaming network.

32. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein:

the wireless network comprises a roaming network, and

routing or directing end-user device communications associated with the first network data service over a particular path or to a particular destination comprises limiting or blocking a first communication over the roaming network and routing or directing a second communication over the particular path or to the particular destination, the second communication being a communication with a service controller or a roaming service center.

33. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the first service policy further assists in accounting for attempted or successful service usage over the wireless network, or in presenting a notification through a user interface of the end-user device.

34. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein routing or directing end-user device communications associated with the first network data service over a particular path or to a particular destination comprises routing or directing an attempted or successful service usage associated with a category of service activities over the particular path or to the particular destination, and wherein the first service policy further assists in accounting for the attempted or successful service usage associated with the category of service activities, or presenting a notification associated with the category of service activities, the category of service activities being less than all service activities available to the end-user device.

35. The network system recited in claim 34, wherein the category of service activities comprises a particular application, a particular agent, a particular network communication end point, a particular network destination, a particular uniform resource locator (URL), a particular website, a particular traffic type, a particular content type, a transaction, a download, an upload, an email activity, a messaging activity, a voice service, a background activity, a forwarding service activity, a hotspot activity, or a video service.

36. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein obtain an indication of the particular path or the particular destination comprises obtain the indication from the end-user device.

37. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein routing or directing end-user device communications associated with the first network data service over a particular path or to a particular destination comprises routing or directing at least a portion of traffic from the end-user device over the particular path or to the particular destination.

38. The network system recited in claim 37, wherein the at least a portion of traffic from the end-user device is associated with a particular application or agent on the end-user device.

39. The network system recited in claim 38, wherein the particular application or agent assists the end-user device in providing a forwarding service to one or more other end-user devices, the forwarding service allowing the end-user device to forward traffic communicated between the end-user device and the one or more other end-user devices over a local network to or from the network system over the wireless network, the local network comprising a wireless fidelity (WiFi) network, a Bluetooth network, or a universal serial bus (USB) network.

40. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the first service policy assists the end-user device in providing the indication of the particular path or the particular destination to the network system.

41. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein routing or directing end-user device communications associated with the first network data service over a particular path or to a particular destination comprises routing traffic associated with an intermediate networking device forwarding service over the particular path or to the particular destination, the intermediate networking device forwarding service allowing the end-user device to forward traffic communicated over a local network to or from the network system over the wireless network, the traffic being associated with at least one other end-user device, the local network comprising a wireless fidelity (WiFi) network, a Bluetooth network, or a universal serial bus (USB) network.

42. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein:

collect a plurality of service usage measurements of the end-user device'"'"'s use of the first network data service comprises obtain, from the end-user device, a device-generated service usage measurement, and

the at least one of the plurality of service usage measures is the device-generated service usage measurement.

43. The network system recited in claim 42, wherein:

determine, based on the at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements, whether the end-user device is accessing the first network data service in accordance with the first service policy comprises determine whether the device-generated service usage measurement is within an expected usage range.

44. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the indication of the particular path or the particular destination comprises a credential associated with the end-user device, and wherein determine, based on the at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements, whether the end-user device is accessing the first network data service in accordance with the first service policy comprises:

obtain information about the first service policy based on the credential,

determine an expected usage based on the information about the first service policy, and

determine whether the at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements is consistent with the expected usage.

45. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein:

the at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements is a first measure,

the first service policy further assists the end-user device in collecting the first measure and providing the first measure to the network system in a message over a secure link, the first measure indicating a successful or attempted service usage associated with the first network data service, the message comprising authentication information configured to assist the network system in determining whether the message has been tampered with or altered, and

determine, based on the at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements, whether the end-user device is accessing the first network data service in accordance with the first service policy comprises determine whether the first measure and the authentication information are consistent with the end-user device accessing the first network data service in accordance with the first service policy.

46. The network system recited in claim 45, wherein:

the authentication information comprises a sequence identifier,

determine whether the first measure and the authentication information are consistent with the end-user device accessing the first network data service in accordance with the first service policy comprises determining whether the sequence identifier is an expected sequence identifier, and

the processor is further configured to take an action to modify an ability of the end-user device to access the first network data service when the sequence identifier is not the expected sequence identifier.

47. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the first network data service comprises administrative communications between the end-user device and the network system.

48. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the first network data service comprises a sponsored service, the sponsored service being subsidized or paid for at least in part by a sponsor entity, the sponsor entity being an entity other than a user of the end-user device.

49. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the particular path is a first path, and wherein the particular destination is a first destination, and wherein the end-user device is further configured to access a second network data service of the plurality of network data services in accordance with a second service policy, the second service policy for assisting in routing or directing end-user device communications associated with the second network data service over a second path or to a second destination.

50. The network system recited in claim 49, wherein the second network data service is a data service of the end-user device, and wherein the first network data service is a forwarding service, the forwarding service enabling the end-user device to forward traffic communicated between the end-user device and one or more other end-user devices over a local network to or from the network system over the wireless network, the local network comprising a wireless fidelity (WiFi) network, a Bluetooth network, or a universal serial bus (USB) network.

51. The network system recited in claim 49, wherein the first network data service comprises administrative communications between the end-user device and the network system, and wherein the second network data service comprises data communications between the end-user device and the network system.

52. The network system recited in claim 49, wherein the first network data service comprises a user-paid service, and wherein the second network data service comprises a sponsored service, the sponsored service being subsidized or paid for at least in part by a sponsor entity, the sponsor entity being an entity other than a user of the end-user device.

53. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to take an action based on the determination of whether the end-user device is accessing the first network data service in accordance with the first service policy.

54. The network system recited in claim 53, wherein the action is to cause the end-user device'"'"'s use of the first network data service to be limited, throttled, restricted, or blocked.

55. The network system recited in claim 53, wherein the action is to cause a notification to be sent to a user of the end-user device or to an administrator.

56. The network system recited in claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain configuration information from the end-user device, the configuration information comprising an identifier, a signature, a hash, or a certificate.

57. A method performed by a network system in communication with an end-user device over a communication link, the method comprising:

obtaining an indication of a particular path or a particular destination, wherein the particular path comprises a particular traffic route, a particular traffic tunnel, or a particular traffic link, and wherein the particular destination comprises a particular network end-point or a particular network server;

based on the indication of the particular path or the particular destination, collecting a plurality of service usage measurements of the end-user device'"'"'s use of a first network data service of a plurality of network data services over a wireless network, the end-user device configured to access the first network data service in accordance with a first service policy, the first service policy for assisting in routing or directing end-user device communications associated with the first network data service over the particular path or to the particular destination, at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements comprising a measure of attempted or successful communications over the particular path or to the particular destination; and

determining, based on the at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements, whether the end-user device is accessing the first network data service in accordance with the first service policy.

58. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program code for causing a computer to perform the steps of:

obtaining an indication of a particular path or a particular destination, wherein the particular path comprises a particular traffic route, a particular traffic tunnel, or a particular traffic link, and wherein the particular destination comprises a particular network end-point or a particular network server;

based on the indication of the particular path or the particular destination, collecting a plurality of service usage measurements of an end-user device'"'"'s use of a first network data service of a plurality of network data services available to the end-user device over a wireless network, the end-user device configured to access the first network data service in accordance with a first service policy, the first service policy for assisting in routing or directing end-user device communications associated with the first network data service over the particular path or to the particular destination, at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements comprising a measure of attempted or successful communications over the particular path or to the particular destination; and

determining, based on the at least one of the plurality of service usage measurements, whether the end-user device is accessing the first network data service in accordance with the first service policy.