Regulating dataflow between a mobile device and a wireless telecommunications network

• US 7,933,221 B1
• Filed: 08/21/2008
• Issued: 04/26/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile Innovations LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Subramanyan, Badri Prasad, Pawar, Hemanth Balaji, Srinivas, Shilpa Kowdley, Upadhyay, Piyush
• Primary Examiner(s): Yao; Kwang B
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bokhari; Syed M
• Application Number:
  US12/195,815
• Time in Patent Office: 978 Days
• Field of Search: 370/253, 370/328, 370/229, 370/209, 370/401, 370/342, 370/236, 455/435.1, 709/225
• US Class Current: 370/253
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5022 by giving priorities, e.g. assigning classes of service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/026 using flow identification
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/028 by filtering

Abstract

A method and medium are provided for regulating a flow of data traffic that is communicated between a mobile device and a wireless telecommunications network. The method includes performing a data-packet-inspection process on at least a portion of the flow and applying a network policy to a specific wireless telecommunications area based on the results of the inspection. The network policy may be based on the wireless coverage area, the application, or the subscriber from which a data-packet originates. The network policy should also determine the way in which to regulate the flow of data if a policy applies to that particular flow. To enforce the policy, the value of a reverse activity bit may be set in connection with the wireless coverage area so as to regulate the flow of data as dictated by the network policy.

Claims

1. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-useable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of regulating a flow of data traffic that is communicated from a mobile device in a wireless coverage area to a wireless telecommunications network, the method comprising:

performing a packet-inspection process on a portion of the flow of data traffic that is communicated from the mobile device to the wireless telecommunications network, wherein the packet-inspection process comprises selecting a data packet from a plurality of data packets within the flow and inspecting data-packet attributes within the data packet that include a user identifier attribute that identifies a user associated with the mobile device, an application identifier attribute that identifies an application from which the data packet originates, a mobile device identifier attribute that identifies the mobile device, and a sector identifier attribute that identifies a portion of the wireless coverage area; and

based on a value of a data-packet attribute, determining whether to enforce a network policy such that if the value of the data-packet attribute is a first value, then the network policy will be enforced but if the value of the data-packet attribute is a second value, then the network policy will not be enforced, wherein enforcing the network policy includes regulating the flow of data traffic that is communicated from the mobile device to an access node of the wireless telecommunications network, wherein enforcement of the network policy includes prioritizing a flow of data traffic from a first type of application over a flow of data traffic from a second type of application, wherein the flow of data traffic from the second type application is regulated to flow at a lower rate than the flow of data traffic from the first type of application and wherein the enforcement of the network policy is implemented by setting a value of a reverse activity bit (RAB) associated with the flow of data traffic.

2. The media of claim 1, wherein the enforcement of the network policy includes rate capping at least a portion of the flow of data traffic from the mobile device in the wireless coverage area.

3. The media of claim 1, wherein the enforcement of the network policy includes limiting the amount of data transferred in at least a portion of the flow of data traffic in the wireless coverage area.

4. The media of claim 1, wherein the network policy is one of a set of network policies that are based on at least:

a sector from which the data packet originates;

an application from which the data packet originates; and

a subscriber from which the data packet originates.

5. A method for regulating a flow of data traffic from a mobile device, the method comprising:

providing a set of network policies that determine how the flow of data traffic from the mobile device to an access node of a wireless communications network is regulated, wherein the set of network policies includes prioritizing a flow of data traffic from a first type of application over a flow of data traffic from a second type of application, wherein the flow of data traffic from the second type application is regulated to flow at a lower rate than the flow of data traffic from the first type of application;

inspecting data-packet attributes within a data packet that forms a portion of the flow of data traffic from the mobile device, wherein the data-packet attributes include a sector identifier attribute that identifies a sector from which sector a data packet originates, an application identifier attribute that identifies an application from which the data packet originates, and a user identifier attribute that identifies a user associated with the mobile device;

referencing the attributes against the network policies, wherein a value of an attribute is utilized to select one of the network policies; and

based on the referencing, regulating the flow of data traffic consistent with the one of the network policies, wherein the regulation of the flow involves setting a value of a reverse activity bit (RAB) associated with the flow of data traffic.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein setting the value of the RAB is done on a sector in connection with the wireless coverage area.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein setting the value of the RAB is done in connection with a carrier in the wireless coverage area.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein setting the value of the RAB is done in connection with a base transceiver station (BTS) in the wireless coverage area.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the enforcement of the set of network policies involves rate capping at least a portion of the flow of data traffic in the wireless coverage area.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein the enforcement of the set of network policies involves limiting the amount of data transferred in at least a portion of the flow of data traffic in the wireless coverage area.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein the enforcement of the set of network policies involves prioritization of at least a portion of the flow of data traffic in the wireless coverage area.

12. The method of claim 5, wherein the attribute is one of the following:

a user identifier that identifies a user associated with a mobile device;

an application identifier that identifies an application from which the data packet originates;

a mobile device identifier that identifies a mobile device; and

a sector identifier that identifies a portion of the wireless coverage area.

13. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-useable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of regulating a flow of data traffic that is communicated from a mobile device to a wireless telecommunications network, the method comprising:

receiving the flow of data packets from the mobile device in a wireless coverage area;

inspecting attributes of each data packet in the flow, wherein a user identifier, an application identifier, a mobile device identifier, and a sector identifier are available for inspection in each data packet, each attribute having a corresponding value;

based on one or more of the corresponding values, determining whether or not to enforce a network policy that regulates a flow rate of the flow of data packets from the mobile device, wherein enforcement of the network policy includes prioritizing a flow of data traffic from a first type of application over a flow of data traffic from a second type of application, wherein the flow of data traffic from the second type application is regulated to flow at a lower rate than the flow of data traffic from the first type of application; and

enforcing the network policy by way of setting a reverse-activity-bit (RAB) value associated with the flow.

14. The media of claim 13, wherein setting the RAB value is done on a sector in connection with the wireless coverage area.

15. The media of claim 13, wherein setting the RAB value is done in connection with a carrier in the wireless coverage area.

16. The media of claim 13, wherein setting the RAB value is done in connection with a base transceiver station (BTS) in the wireless coverage area.

17. The media of claim 13, wherein the network policy is based on at least one of a sector from which a data packet originates, an application from which a data packet originates, and a subscriber from which a data packet originates.

18. The media of claim 13, wherein the enforcement of the network policy includes at least one of rate capping, limiting the amount of data transferred, and prioritization of at least a portion of the flow in the wireless coverage area.