Techniques for attribution of mobile device data traffic to initiating end-user application

• US 9,094,311 B2
• Filed: 07/23/2014
• Issued: 07/28/2015
• 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., Green, Jeffrey, Lavine, James, Nguyen, Vien-Phuong
• Primary Examiner(s): RUDY, ANDREW J
• Application Number:
  US14/338,807
• Publication Number:
  US 20140337519A1
• Time in Patent Office: 370 Days
• Field of Search: 709/224, 709/203, 709/207, 709/217, 709/219, 709/223, 709/228, 455/405, 455/406, 455/414.1, 370/223, 370/230, 370/252
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1485 Tariff-related aspects
• 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 41/0896 Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities flow or congestion control using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation, H04L47/76
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5019 Ensuring fulfilment of SLA
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5029 Service quality level-based billing, e.g. dependent on measured service level customer is charged more or less
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/062 related to network traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0876 Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0888 Throughput
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/19 at layers above the network layer network arrangements for networked applications for scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/806 Broadcast or multicast traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/83 based on usage prediction
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/70 Media network packetisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/75 Media network packet handling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/752 adapting media to network capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/561 Adding application-functional data or data for application control, e.g. adding metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]

Abstract

A method performed by a network system communicatively coupled to a device over a wireless access network, the method comprising transmitting a traffic flow to, or receiving the traffic flow from, a software application on the device, the traffic flow comprising one or more related data transfers over the wireless access network, the traffic flow being routed between the software application and the network system through an assisting element comprising a control application or a proxy agent on the device, wherein the traffic flow has a characteristic associating the traffic flow with the first software application, the characteristic preserving the association between the traffic flow and the software application when the traffic flow is routed by the one or more assisting elements; identifying the characteristic; and implementing at least a portion of a control, accounting, or notification service policy based on the identified characteristic.

Claims

1. A mobile device, comprising:

at least one processor;

a software application and a service to each run on the at least one processor, the service to be called by the software application, the software application to be selectively launched by a user of the mobile device, the service to transfer data at the application layer between the software application and a network;

circuitry to wirelessly exchange traffic between the service and the network representing the data; and

at least one software agent to register an association between the service and the software application responsive to call of the service by the software application and to identify a portion of the traffic which is attributable to the software application.

2. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein:

the software application is a first software application, the association is a first association, the data is first data that is to be transferred at the application layer between the first software application and a first network address, and the portion of the traffic is a first portion of the traffic;

the mobile device further comprises a second software application to run on the at least one processor, the second software application also to be selectively launched by a user of the mobile device, the second software application also to call the service, the service to transfer second data at the application layer between the second software application and a second network address; and

the at least one software agent is to register a second association between the second software application responsive to call of the service by the second software application and the service and is to identify a second portion of the traffic which is attributable to the second software application.

3. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein:

the at least one software agent is to identify a respective application identifier with each of the first software application and the second software application; and

the at least one software agent is to monitor packets exchanged between the mobile device and the first network address, is to monitor packets exchanged between the mobile device and the second network address, and is to associate the respective packets with the respective application identifier.

4. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein:

the at least one software agent is to associate a respective application identifier with each of the first software application and the second software application;

the mobile device is to format the first portion of the traffic to include headers identifying the first network address, and is to format the second portion of the traffic to include headers identifying the second network address; and

the at least one software agent is to detect the first network address or the second network address in the traffic and is to responsively associate the first portion and second portion with the respective application identifier.

5. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein the mobile device is a smart phone, and wherein the service is a media service.

6. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein the mobile device is a smart phone, and wherein the service is a download service.

7. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein:

the at least one software agent comprises a software agent to measure service usage information attributable to the first software application and the second software application, respectively; and

the at least one software agent is to cause presentation to a user on a display device of the mobile device of a display dependent on the respective service usage information.

8. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein:

the at least one software agent comprises a software agent to measure usage information attributable to the first software application and the second software application, respectively; and

the at least one software agent is to cause the wireless reporting to a network location of the respective usage information.

9. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein:

the at least one software agent is to implement at least one service policy affecting exchange of the first portion of the traffic;

the at least one software agent is further to provide differential service for the first portion of the traffic relative to the second portion of the traffic based on the first association and the second association, respectively; and

the differential service is to be effectuated by a specific level of one of blocking, throttling or queuing of the first portion of the traffic but not the second portion of the traffic.

10. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the network is a first network, wherein the mobile device is to identify an access network used to couple the mobile device to the first network, wherein the at least one service policy is dependent on the identified access network, and wherein application of the specific level is dependent on the identified access network.

11. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the network is a first network, wherein the mobile device is to identify a roaming state of the mobile device in which the mobile device is to couple the first network through a wireless access network, wherein the at least one service policy is dependent on the roaming state, and wherein application of the specific level differential service is dependent on identification of the roaming state.

12. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein:

the mobile device further comprises a user interface;

the specific level is a first specific level and is associated with the first software application;

the at least one software agent is to implement at least one service policy affecting exchange of the second portion of the traffic with the network;

the differential service is further to be effectuated by a second specific level of one of blocking, throttling or queuing the second portion of the traffic but not the first portion of the traffic; and

the at least one service policy is selectively variable by a user through data entry via the user interface, such that the user is able to selectively vary the first specific level and the second specific level to thereby vary the differential service.

13. The mobile device of claim 9, wherein the at least one software agent includes a software agent to selectively retrieve a specific service policy from the network responsive to launch of a new software application, and to update the at least one service policy dependent on the specific service policy.

14. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein:

the at least one software agent is to determine whether the first portion of the traffic is to be classified as controlled or uncontrolled, and is to determine whether the second portion of the traffic is to be classified as controlled or uncontrolled; and

dependent on whether each portion of the traffic is classified as controlled or uncontrolled, the at least one software agent is to identify and apply a specific level of one of blocking, throttling or queuing of the respective portion of the traffic.

15. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein:

the at least one software agent is to identify whether the first software application is operating in the foreground or the background; and

the at least one software agent is to implement at least one service policy affecting exchange of the first portion of the traffic dependent on whether the first software application is operating in the foreground or the background.

16. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein:

the mobile device further comprises a display device;

the at least one software agent is to cause the display of a first notification on the display device to a user of the mobile device, responsive to detection of at least one of a first predetermined volume or a first predetermined rate of the first portion of the traffic; and

the at least one software agent is to cause the display of a second notification on the display device to a user of the mobile device, responsive to detection of at least one of a second predetermined volume or a second predetermined rate of the second portion of the traffic.

17. The mobile device of claim 16, wherein:

the network is a first network;

the at least one of the second predetermined volume or the second predetermined rate is variable according to at least one service policy, the at least one service policy dependent on an access network coupling the mobile device with the first network; and

the mobile device is to detect the access network coupling the mobile device and is to responsively establish a specific value of the at least one of the second predetermined volume or the second predetermined rate.

18. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the mobile device further comprises a SIM card and wherein the at least one service policy is to be stored locally, on the SIM card.

19. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein:

the at least one software agent is to implement at least one service policy to provide a specific level of one of blocking, throttling or queuing of the portion of the traffic; and

the at least one software agent includes a software agent to retrieve an update to the at least one service policy from the network responsive to launch of the software application.

20. A mobile device, comprising:

at least one processor;

a software application and a service to each run on the at least one processor, the software application to be selectively launched by a user of the mobile device, the service to be called by the software application, the service to open a socket to transfer data at the application layer between the software application and a network;

circuitry to wirelessly exchange traffic between the service and the network representing the data; and

at least one software agent to register an association between the socket and the software application responsive to call of the service by the software application, to identify a portion of the traffic corresponding to the socket, and to attribute the portion of the traffic to the software application dependent on the association.

21. The mobile device of claim 20, wherein:

the software application is a first software application, the association is a first association, the data is first data that is to be transferred at the application layer between the first software application and a first network address, the socket is a first socket, and the portion of the traffic is a first portion of the traffic;

the mobile device further comprises a second software application to run on the at least one processor, the second software application also to be selectively launched by a user of the mobile device, the second software application also to call the service, the service to open a second socket to transfer second data at the application layer between the second software application and a second network address; and

the at least one software agent is to register a second association between the second socket and the second software application responsive to call of the service by the second software application, is to identify a second portion of the traffic corresponding to the second socket, and is to attribute the second portion of the traffic to the second software application dependent on the second association.

22. The mobile device of claim 21, wherein:

the at least one software agent comprises a software agent to measure service usage information attributable to the first software application and the second software application, respectively; and

the at least one software agent is to cause presentation to a user on a display device of the mobile device of a display dependent on the respective service usage information.

23. The mobile device of claim 21, wherein:

the at least one software agent is to implement at least one service policy affecting packet-level exchange of the first portion of the traffic;

the at least one software agent is further to provide differential service for the first portion of the traffic relative to the second portion of the traffic based on the first association and the second association respectively; and

the differential service is to be effectuated by a specific level of one of blocking, throttling or queuing of packets associated with the first portion of the traffic but not packets associated with the second portion of the traffic.

24. The mobile device of claim 23, wherein:

the mobile device further comprises a user interface;

the specific level is a first specific level and is associated with the first software application;

the at least one software agent is to implement at least one service policy affecting exchange of the second portion of the traffic with the network;

the differential service is further to be effectuated by a second specific level of one of blocking, throttling or queuing of packets associated with the second portion of the traffic but not packets associated with the first portion of the traffic; and

the at least one service policy is selectively variable by a user through data entry via the user interface, such that the user is able to selectively vary each of the first specific level and the second specific level to thereby vary the differential service.

25. The mobile device of claim 21, wherein:

the at least one software agent is to identify whether each of the first software application and the second software application is operating in the foreground or the background;

the at least one software agent is to implement at least one service policy affecting exchange of the first portion of the traffic dependent on whether the first software application is operating in the foreground or the background; and

the at least one software agent is to implement at least one service policy affecting exchange of the second portion of the traffic dependent on whether the second software application is operating in the foreground or the background.

26. The mobile device of claim 20, wherein:

the at least one software agent is to implement at least one service policy that implements a specific level of one of blocking, throttling or queuing of the portion of the traffic; and

the network is a first network, wherein the mobile device is to identify an access network used to couple the mobile device to the first network, wherein the at least one service policy is dependent on the identified access network, and wherein application of the specific level is dependent on the identified access network.

27. The mobile device of claim 26, wherein application of the specific level is dependent on identification of a roaming state of the mobile device relative to the identified access network.

28. A mobile device, comprising:

at least one processor;

a software application to run on the at least one processor and to be selectively launched by a user of the mobile device;

a media service called by the software application, the media service to exchange information at the application layer with a network;

circuitry to wirelessly couple to the network to exchange traffic between the media service and the network, the traffic representing the information; and

at least one software agent to register an association between the media service and the software application responsive to call of the media service by the software application and to identify a portion of the traffic which is attributable to the software application;

wherein

the at least one software agent comprises a software agent to measure service usage associated with the software application, and

the at least one software agent is to cause display to a user on a display of the mobile device of information dependent on the measured service usage.

29. The mobile device of claim 28, wherein the at least one software agent is to implement at least one service policy affecting exchange of the portion of the traffic with the network, wherein the network is a first network, wherein the mobile device is to identify a roaming state of the mobile device in which the mobile device is to couple the first network through a wireless network, and wherein implementation of the at least one service policy is dependent on the roaming state.

30. The mobile device of claim 28, wherein:

the at least one software agent is to implement at least one service policy affecting exchange of the portion of the traffic with the network

the at least one software agent is to identify whether the software application is operating in the foreground or the background; and

the at least one software agent is to implement at least one service policy affecting exchange of the portion of the traffic dependent on whether the software application is operating in the foreground or the background.