Enhanced encapsulation mechanism using GRE protocol

• US 9,008,106 B2
• Filed: 04/24/2013
• Issued: 04/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Moussa, Hachem, Serrano, Ricardo, Keith, Kory, El-Beik, Essam, Muhanna, Ahmad
• Primary Examiner(s): Sheikh, Ayaz
• Assistant Examiner(s): Moutaouakil, Mounir
• Application Number:
  US13/869,310
• Publication Number:
  US 20130235802A1
• Time in Patent Office: 720 Days
• Field of Search: 455405-408, 370465-467, 370/495.52, 370/474, 379/114.03, 379/114.1, 37911421-11502, 379/121.03
• US Class Current: 370/401
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/145 Payments according to the detected use or quantity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1425 involving dedicated fields in the data packet for billing purposes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/04 Protocols for data compression, e.g. ROHC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/161 Implementation details of TCP/IP or UDP/IP stack architecture; Specification of modified or new header fields
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/32 Involving wireless systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/06 Optimizing the usage of the radio link, e.g. header compression, information sizing , discarding information system modifying transmission characteristic according to link quality by modifying frame length H04L1/0007; dynamic adaptation of the packet size for flow control or congestion control H04L47/365
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing

Abstract

Wireless gateway nodes are enabled to support mobile node services, such as content based billing, when a data treatment server is present in the system. Using one of a defined Content Flow Label (CFL), an Application Program Interface (API), and a compression protocol header, content based billing is provided such as by exchanging content and byte count information with the data treatment server.

Claims

1. A data treatment server for providing services in a communications network, the data treatment server comprising:

a transceiver, configured to transmit and receive data; and

processing hardware coupled to the transceiver, wherein the processing hardware is configured to operate with the transceiver to;

receive at least one encapsulated data packet having a standard Internet Protocol (IP) header and a treated payload;

untreat the at least one encapsulated data packet treated payload to produce an untreated payload to permit inspecting and classifying of the untreated payload for content and a number of bytes;

forward, to a wireless gateway node, the at least one encapsulated data packet that includes the untreated payload for routing to the data packet network, wherein a content flow label is designated for the content; and

provide services based on the content flow label and the number of bytes.

2. The data treatment server of claim 1, wherein the data treatment server implements at least one of:

a Traffic Protocol Optimizer (TPO);

or

a load balancer.

3. The data treatment server of claim 1, wherein the services include at least one of content based billing, pre-paid wireless, or content based routing.

4. The data treatment server of claim 1, wherein the at least one encapsulated data packet is encapsulated using Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE).

5. The data treatment server of claim 1, wherein the communications network comprises at least one of a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) or a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network.

6. The data treatment server of claim 1, wherein untreating the at least one encapsulated data packet treated payload comprises, at least one of:

un-optimizing the at least one encapsulated data packet treated payload;

or

decompressing the at least one encapsulated data packet treated payload.

7. A non-transitory computer accessible memory medium storing program instructions for providing services in a communications network, wherein the program instructions are executable by a processor to:

receive at least one encapsulated data packet having a standard Internet Protocol (IP) header and a treated payload;

untreat the at least one encapsulated data packet treated payload to produce an untreated payload to permit inspecting and classifying of the untreated payload for content and a number of bytes;

forward, to a wireless gateway node, the at least one encapsulated data packet that includes the untreated payload for routing to the data packet network, wherein a content flow label is designated for the content; and

provide services based on the content flow label and the number of bytes.

8. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 7, wherein the program instructions are executable by a data treatment server, wherein the data treatment server implements at least one of:

a Traffic Protocol Optimizer (TPO);

or

a load balancer.

9. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 7, wherein the services include at least one of content based billing, pre-paid wireless, or content based routing.

10. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 7, wherein the at least one encapsulated data packet is encapsulated using Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE).

11. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 7, wherein the communications network comprises at least one of a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) or a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network.

12. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 7, wherein untreating the at least one encapsulated data packet treated payload comprises, at least one of:

un-optimizing the at least one encapsulated data packet treated payload;

or

decompressing the at least one encapsulated data packet treated payload.

13. A mobile station communicating in a communications network, the mobile station comprising:

wireless communication circuitry, wherein the wireless communication circuitry is configured to perform wireless communication in the communications network; and

processing hardware coupled to the transceiver, wherein the processing hardware is configured to operate with the wireless communication circuitry to;

provide at least one encapsulated data packet having a standard Internet Protocol (IP) header and a treated payload;

wherein, in response to the at least one encapsulated data packet being provided by the mobile station, a data treatment server is configured to untreat the at least one encapsulated data packet treated payload to produce an untreated payload to permit inspecting and classifying of the untreated payload for content and a number of bytes;

wherein the data treatment server is further configured to forward, to a wireless gateway node, the at least one encapsulated data packet that includes the untreated payload for routing to the data packet network, wherein a content flow label is designated for the content; and

wherein the data treatment server is further configured to provide services based on the content flow label and the number of bytes.

14. The mobile station of claim 13, wherein the data treatment server implements at least one of:

a Traffic Protocol Optimizer (TPO);

or

a load balancer.

15. The mobile station of claim 13, wherein the services include at least one of content based billing, pre-paid wireless, or content based routing.

16. The mobile station of claim 13, wherein the at least one encapsulated data packet is encapsulated using Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE).

17. The mobile station of claim 13, wherein the communications network comprises at least one of a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) or a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network.

18. The mobile station of claim 13, wherein untreating the at least one encapsulated data packet treated payload comprises, at least one of:

un-optimizing the at least one encapsulated data packet treated payload;

or

decompressing the at least one encapsulated data packet treated payload.