Flexible and scalable method and apparatus for dynamic subscriber services configuration and management
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- configuring a network element to provide Internet services over a network for a plurality of Internet service subscribers including performing the following for each subscriber,receiving, by the network element, a set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes from a RADIUS server of an Internet service provider, wherein the set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes include a service name and a parameter value;
accessing, by the network element, a service profile corresponding to the service name included in the received set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes, the service profile configured to store service information not visible to the RADIUS server, the service information associated with the Internet services to be provided to subscribers, wherein the service information includes a dynamic service attribute, the dynamic service attribute associated with an expandable service parameter value;
dynamically converting, by the network element, the received set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes into a set of one or more complex internal attributes based on the stored service information, wherein the dynamically converting includes substituting the parameter value included in the set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes received from the RADIUS server into the expandable service parameter value associated with the dynamic service attribute within the service profile, the set of complex internal attributes to be stored internal to the network element and are used to configure a subscriber session on a communications link that couples the subscriber and an Internet service provider through the network element;
andapplying the set of complex internal attributes to a set of one or more components of the network element to configure the network element for the subscriber services to be provided, wherein the set of components configure the network element for the subscriber services by enforcing network policies of the communications link on a set of one or more network packet processors using the set of complex internal attributes.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus is described for configuring a network element for providing services for subscribers by dynamically generating a set of one or more internal network attributes based on a set of relatively simple attributes passed from a server.
50 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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configuring a network element to provide Internet services over a network for a plurality of Internet service subscribers including performing the following for each subscriber, receiving, by the network element, a set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes from a RADIUS server of an Internet service provider, wherein the set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes include a service name and a parameter value; accessing, by the network element, a service profile corresponding to the service name included in the received set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes, the service profile configured to store service information not visible to the RADIUS server, the service information associated with the Internet services to be provided to subscribers, wherein the service information includes a dynamic service attribute, the dynamic service attribute associated with an expandable service parameter value; dynamically converting, by the network element, the received set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes into a set of one or more complex internal attributes based on the stored service information, wherein the dynamically converting includes substituting the parameter value included in the set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes received from the RADIUS server into the expandable service parameter value associated with the dynamic service attribute within the service profile, the set of complex internal attributes to be stored internal to the network element and are used to configure a subscriber session on a communications link that couples the subscriber and an Internet service provider through the network element; and applying the set of complex internal attributes to a set of one or more components of the network element to configure the network element for the subscriber services to be provided, wherein the set of components configure the network element for the subscriber services by enforcing network policies of the communications link on a set of one or more network packet processors using the set of complex internal attributes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A non-transitory computer readable medium implemented by a network element that provides instructions, which when executed by the network element, cause the network element to perform operations, the operations comprising:
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receiving, by the network element, a set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes from a RADIUS server of an Internet service provider, wherein the set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes include a service name and a parameter value; accessing, by the network element, a service profile corresponding to the service name included in the received set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes, the service profile configured to store service information not visible to the RADIUS server, the service information associated with the Internet services to be provided to subscribers, wherein the service information includes a dynamic service attribute, the dynamic service attribute associated with an expandable service parameter value; dynamically converting, by the network element, the received set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes into a set of one or more complex internal attributes based on the stored service information, wherein the dynamically converting includes substituting the parameter value included in the set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes received from the RADIUS server into the expandable service parameter value associated with the dynamic service attribute within the service profile, the set of complex internal attributes to be stored internal to the network element and are used to configure a subscriber session on a communications link that couples the subscriber and an Internet service provider through the network element; and applying the set of complex internal attributes to a set of one or more components of the network element to configure the network element for the subscriber services to be provided, wherein the set of components configure the network element for the subscriber services by enforcing network policies of the communications link on a set of one or more network packet processors using the set of complex internal attributes. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A network element comprising:
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a communications link that couples a subscriber and an Internet service provider through the network element; a dynamic service attribute convertor including; a set of one or more service profiles, each service profile corresponding to an Internet service to be configured on the network element, the set of service profiles each to provide a placeholder to store service information associated with the service;
a service profile parser to receive a set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes from a RADIUS server wherein the set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes include a service name and a parameter value, and the service profile parser including;a profile access component to detect the set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes and to access a service profile corresponding to the service name included in detected set of substitutable service attributes and to pass the service information associated with the service to be configured within the service profile, wherein the service information includes a dynamic service attribute, the dynamic service attribute associated with an expandable service parameter value; and a service parameter expander to receive the passed service information associated with the service to be configured and to dynamically convert the received set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes into a set of one or more complex internal attributes, wherein the dynamically converting includes substituting the parameter value included in the set of substitutable subscriber-specific service attributes received from the RADIUS server into the expandable service parameter value associated with the dynamic service attribute within the service profile, the set of complex internal attributes are used to configure a subscriber session on the communications link; and a packet processor to enforce network policies of the communications link using the set of complex internal attributes. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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Specification