Attribution of mobile device data traffic to end-user application based on socket flows

• US 9,705,771 B2
• Filed: 07/23/2014
• Issued: 07/11/2017
• 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:
  US14/339,110
• Publication Number:
  US 20140337520A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,084 Days
• Field of Search: 709203, 709217, 709223, 709224, 4554141, 455418, 455419, 4554321, 4554323
• 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 user interface;

a non-transitory memory to store applications executable on the at least one processor, each application to be selectively launched via the user interface, and a system service callable by multiple ones of the applications via a call indicating a network resource indicator for which the system service is to manage a download of one or more files and/or a data streams from a network element on behalf of the calling application;

circuitry to exchange packets wirelessly between the mobile device and a wireless network; and

wherein the at least one processor is configured to

store in a set of one or more tables an identifier for each respective one of the applications for which the system service has opened a given network socket in order to manage a download, to identify the respective one of the applications with the given opened network socket,

store in the set of one or more tables an indication of traffic volume, respective to each opened network socket, dependent on a data usage measurement by the mobile device for packets wirelessly exchanged with the wireless network, and which are attributable to the opened network socket, and

attribute each indication of traffic volume to a respective one of the applications on behalf of which the system service manages a download, based on the stored identification between a given network socket and a respective application.

2. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein:

the applications include a first application;

the mobile device further comprises a control application registered to handle at least one specific file and/or stream type, wherein the system service passes a downloaded file and/or stream of the handled type to the control application.

3. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein the downloaded file and/or stream comprises a media file and/or stream and wherein the control application comprises an application configured to decode the media file and/or stream according to a specific coding standard.

4. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein the downloaded file and/or stream comprises a textual document file, wherein the control application comprises a text editor registered to open the textual document file, and wherein following download, the textual document file is to be passed to the text editor for opening.

5. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein the system service is adapted to receive a call from the control application to download a file and/or stream, and where the at least one system service is to responsively attribute traffic to the first application.

6. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein:

the mobile device is to register a thread for each call by one of the applications to the system service;

the at least one processor is configured to associate each opening of a network socket by the system service with a registered thread; and

the at least one processor is configured to store in the set of one or more tables an identifier unique to each thread, and is to store in the set of one or more tables an indication of traffic volume unique to each thread.

7. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the mobile device further comprises a kernel function to cause the at least one processor to create the data usage measurement and to store the indication of traffic volume in the set of one or more tables.

8. The mobile device of claim 7, wherein the unique identifier comprises an Android UID parameter, and wherein the kernel function is to cause the at least one processor to store the indication of traffic volume in a manner that is dependent on the Android UID parameter.

9. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is further to:

classify data flows associated with a call of the system service by a given one of the applications;

add a tag respective to each of the data flows to the identifier for the given one of the applications;

store each tag in the set of one or more tables in association with the identifier for the given one of the applications; and

use each tag and the identifier for the given one to separately account for each data flow.

10. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to implement a firewall, the firewall to

access the set of one or more tables to associate intended traffic with a first one of the applications;

and

filter the intended traffic in dependence on a policy associated with the first one of the applications, to thereby limit the exchange of packets by the circuitry which are associated with the first one of the applications.

11. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to generate the data usage measurements.

12. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the policy reflects a quality of service to be associated with the first one of the applications, and wherein the firewall is to regulate the exchange of packets by the circuitry, so as to implement the quality of service for the first one of the applications relative to at least one other one of the applications.

13. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the policy is dependent on whether the first one of the applications is running as a foreground application or a background application.

14. The mobile device of claim 13, wherein the filter is adapted to block traffic exchange with the wireless network and associated with the first one of the applications when the first one of the applications is running as a background application.

15. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the policy is defined independent from the first one of the applications, such that the first one of the applications is not aware of restrictions presented to traffic flow attributable to the first one of the applications which are represented by the policy.

16. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to display to a user via the interface a service usage associated with a first one of the applications, dependent on traffic volume respective to the first one of the applications.