WO2003079210A1 - Differentiated connectivity in a pay-per-use public data access system - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention provides methods and apparatus for offering tiered application services for access to network services on a pay-per-use basis in public access networks. Using personal devices (108), the user can access different tiers of application services on demand (103, 104), without the need of any preexisting association, e.g., subscription, with the service provider of the wireless access system (111). Such on-demand access is obtained by providing a variety of personal identifiers, such as a credit card number or frequent flier identification. Moreover, the service offering allows a user through a personal device to modify, enhance or degrade the currently established tier of application services during the lifetime of the user's association with the access network. A network-level enforcement mechanism at access points within the access network ensures user access only to application services within the application service tier that they have paid for, and denies service accesses not within that tier.

Description

DIFFERENTIATED CONNECTIVITY IN A PAY-PER USE PUBLIC DATA ACCESS SYSTEM

PRIORITY

This application claims priority from US application, filed March 8, 2002, and assigned Serial Number 60/363,327, having the same title.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed to the field of computer network connectivity. It is more particularly directed to Internet access via a publicly accessible networking infrastructure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention is concerned with mechanisms by that users, using their own personal devices such as notebook computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs), access packet-based networking services, that are offered by service providers at public locations such as airports, malls, hotels, etc. Such public-access service providers may offer a variety of wireline or wireless technologies by that people connect their personal devices to the network and its associated services. With the advent of new wireless technology standards for local and personal area networks (wireless LANs and wireless PANs, respectively), we are witnessing a rapid increase in the number of offerings of public services, especially of the type considered in this invention. For example, public wireless access may be provided through wireless LAN technologies, such as those based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, or wireless PAN technologies, such as the Bluetooth wireless technology.

Typically, packet-based, data service offerings require users to first pre-register, e.g,. subscribe, to a data service provider, like an Internet Service Provider (ISP), thereby establishing a long "paying" relation with the provider. Such a process is usually accomplished in an off-line manner, with the provider-subscriber relationship established and activated before the user can gain access to such public services. Such a subscriber relationship includes the definition of a user profile, that specifies the range of services that the individual user is authorized to access. An ISP typically provides a local or even toll-free telephone number that permits access to the same ISP at an additional incremental cost (in addition to the subscription fee) from many geographically remote locations. However, for access to data services via a wireless public offering, this mechanism has a serious shortcoming: if users approach a public access infrastructure that is operated by a provider different from those with which they have already established subscriptions, they will be denied access unless they subscribe with this new provider as well. Such a restriction defeats the premise of a public access infrastructure, which would ideally like to serve (and make money from) as many users as possible at all times.

Furthermore, the current schemes for public access to network services, that typically employ wireless technologies, define a single tier of service. For example, a typical service is the mere access to the World- Wide- Web (or simply "the Web"). Such a definition of services does not consider scenarios where users can access certain premium services on demand through their own devices. There exist no mechanisms that allow users to chose one or more such premium services on-the-fly at any time, without requiring a pre-established relation to such services. Even if the service offering did have multiple tiers (or groups of services), users would have to select their desired tier of service ahead of time. Furthermore, the selected service tier remains unchanged for the duration that a user accesses services provided by the service provider. In other words, current service offerings via public access infrastructures do not provide users different and dynamically adjustable (or on-demand) tiers of service. Such service offerings would also need mechanisms to dynamically adjust the payment policies for users based on their selected set of services. In addition, for the above offerings to be accomplished in real time, it should

A possible solution in providing tiered services on demand is by installing a special code in a client (i.e., user's) device. This special code would affect the communications protocol stack, and necessitate the use of a new specific protocol. Every packet generated by these client devices needs to be modified using this extra and special code. Of course, the network elements inside these networks, must run a complementary part of the new specific protocol in order to be able to read these modified packets. It would be advantageous to have methods in which this change in the protocol stack is not required. The methods should be able to use existing [TCP/IP] standards so as not to require a new protocol to be implemented by client devices, not to require that a client device needs to modify each and every transmission it makes, and not to require that the devices in the network need to modify their communication protocols stacks to understand a newly designed protocol.

The last point is noted as there are alternative approaches for deploying public wireless services. For example, one system proposes use of specialized software to be embedded on personal devices to facilitate accessing the public services by modifying each and every data packet transmitted by these devices.

It would be advantageous to have a system that does not mandate making any changes on a personal device for accessing the wireless network, and does not require any modification on the data packets transmitted by these devices to achieve its various. The previously described system is dependent upon specific features of the operating platforms (either the server or the client versions of it). This creates an operational assumption of a communications and computing homogeneity for the devices engaged in supporting the network. It would be better to have a system applicable on unmodified devices and communication protocols, which can be applied in a non-homogeneous computing and communications environment by devices that use established, open communications standards, like the TCP/IP suite of Internet protocols, that are already supported by the overwhelming majority of personal (IP capable) devices running on different types of operating systems. The personal devices should be built on a software and hardware platform that is independent of the software and hardware platform that the network support devices with which the personal device interacts for its configuration. Regarding billing, the aforementioned systems don't allow for dynamic reassignment of billing policies in the middle of an ongoing session.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is thus an aspect of this invention to allow providers of public network services to offer different tiers of application service to users of those application services. The users employ their own personal devices, to which no special modifications have been made to accommodate the teachings of this invention, in order to negotiate and dynamically adjust their desired tier of application service on a per-use basis, as well as during an ongoing use. Another aspect of the this invention is an enforcement mechanism that is applicable in the communications infrastructure supporting such public service offerings. The enforcement mechanism is applicable to elements internal to the infrastructure, such as a router device, or at its edge, such as a wireless access point. The enforcement mechanism ensures that individual users are able to access only those application services that are within the application service tier that they have selected and denies access to all application services that do not fall within that tier. In some embodiments, the enforcement mechanism is further supplemented with means to alert users when they attempt to access a particular application service that does not fall within their current selected tier, and with means by which users, again using their own devices, may renegotiate new desired application service tiers on-the-fly so that they can access new application services if desired.

Yet another aspect of this invention is an enforcement mechanism, with the same objectives as aforementioned, which is applicable beyond the communications elements of the infrastructure (e.g., the routers and the wireless access points), such as the devices and software that operate at protocol layers higher than those used in the communications infrastructure. With such an enforcement mechanism, filter servers can be used over the communication infrastructure to restrict, say, Web traffic from users to reach only Web services belonging to the tier of application service they have selected.

A further aspect of the present invention is to enable users to access dynamically selectable tiered application services offered at public places using their own devices on a "pay-per-use" basis, using various means of "on-the-spot" payment, such as credit card information, frequent flier information, a temporary identification information such as a hotel room number, and so on, without requiring a preexisting subscription with the service provider of the data offering.

It is an additional aspect of this invention to utilize payment policies that charge users relative to the service they have selected and accessed using their own devices. Generally, these payment policies are based on various criteria including the degree of user activity in terms of the amount of traffic transferred to and/or from the user, or the duration for which a selected tier of application service is provided (the session time). Furthermore the charging policies may dynamically change in mid-session allowing a user upgrade or modify his or her tier of service and payment policy.

Other aspects and a better understanding of the invention may be realized by referring to the detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon further consideration of the following detailed description of the invention when read in conjunction with the drawing figures, in which:

Fig. 1 shows an example architecture of a system for providing wireless network access, along with the actions executed by a user and the system for providing a desired tier of application service.

Fig. 2 shows an example of three major functional steps used in accordance with this invention to allow individual users to specify and obtain access to authorized application services. The three steps are:

a) registration, which lets users specify their choice among the available application services,

b) control notification, which lets the specific enforcement devices know the appropriate access profile for a specific user and

c) enforcement, which allows the appropriate network devices to police individual packets, connections or sessions related to a specific user's device to ensure that they always correspond to authorized application services.

Fig. 3 shows steps taken by registration-related entities (especially the user device and the registration server) during a user's registration process, and includes mechanisms on the network side to verify a user's credentials, and to accept the user's choice among the available tiers of application service.

Fig. 4 shows an example of steps included in an actual enforcement process. This enforcement mechanism includes an inspection of the specific packet to verify that it conforms to the application services currently authorized for the specific user, as well as any necessary updates for accounting purposes.

Fig. 5 shows steps included in a process by which individual users can dynamically alter their chosen tier of application service.

Fig. 6 shows a process by which users terminate (de-register) their current sessions. Such de-registration is useful to ensure that the network frees up any resources that have been reserved for a specific user, and also to ensure that users are charged accurately for their own activity (especially when the users are charged on the basis of the duration of their sessions).

Fig. 9 shows an example of a precise mechanism of access control (i.e., enforcement). It describes an example implementation of such an enforcement mechanism via the use of tables in a router that list specific destinations, protocols or combination thereof, that an individual user can or cannot access.

The access control framework of Fig. 9 can also be applied to enforcement mechanisms that occur at different layers, and possibly at service-level entities.

Fig. 10 shows an analogue of Fig. 9, for a case when access control is performed via a wireless access point or a Web proxy.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides methods, apparatus and system for a user to choose between multiple tiers of application services that are made available over a public network access infrastructure. It allows users to obtain access to such differentiated tiers of application services even though they have no previously provisioned subscriber relationship with the corresponding service provider. It also allows users to dynamically select and re-select their desired tier of application services automatically, without the intervention of a service provider operator. In some embodiments, such changes also result in appropriate changes to the charging (or billing) mechanism.

In this invention, a service is defined as a destination end-point, such as: a company's Web page; a corporate server application; a corporate Lotus Notes mail server; and so on. This application level definition of a service is in contrast to network level services, such as the communications bandwidth allowed for communicating over the Internet, say 56 Kbps, or 128 Kbps, independently of what the destination of communications is.

In various embodiments of this invention, users may use their own personal data devices, such as notebook computers or personal digital assistants (PDAs). Users may temporary use other computing devices as well, such as a kiosk, the like. However, for the purpose of this invention herein those other devices are assumed to behave exactly as if they were the users' own "everyday" computing devices, without the requirement of incorporating into these devices any additional set of software or hardware components that would uniquely and exclusively empower these devices to operate according to, and their users harvest the benefits of, the teachings of this invention. The service offerings considered for an embodiment of this invention are based on ubiquitous, IP -based Internet technologies; an access technology is based on a wireless local communications technology that operates in an unlicensed radio frequency band, such as IEEE 802.1 lb wireless LAN or Bluetooth wireless PAN. Clearly, those skilled in the art could implement other embodiments of this invention without departing from the spirit and concepts of this invention. For example, they could use alternative access technologies such as infrared or Ethernet, or could use the dynamic pay-per-use arrangement as a way for subscription-based customers to occasionally access a tier of premium application services that does not fall within their default subscription profile.

Figure 1 shows an architecture of a system for providing wireless network access to mobile users and their devices at wireless hot-spots in public areas such as airports. The figure also highlights steps that need to be executed by a user to obtain a desired tier of application service. The access network 101 includes routers (e.g., 106, 107) and wireless access points (WiAPs) (e.g., 110, 111). User devices, or user terminals (108), connect to this access network through a wireless connection 109 to an access point (110 in Figure 1). In addition to network-layer entities, such as access points and routers, the access network may also include network support services such as a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server 102, a DNS (Domain Name Service) server 113, and Web proxies (e.g., 112, 117). The DHCP and DNS entities are commonplace elements in most IP -based networks known to those skilled in the art, and provide various pieces of configuration information and query-resolution support to IP -based user terminals. The Web proxies are used to manage access to Web servers from user terminals. In an embodiment of this invention, the access network includes a registration server 114, which is used to interactively establish the tier of application service desired by an individual user.

As an example of the possible tiers of differentiating between tiers of application services, Figure 1 shows two application service tiers, Gold 103 and Silver 105. Each tier of application services is defined by a collection (or group) of one or more services. In the example, the Silver service tier 104 includes access to the general Internet 105 in Figure 1. The Gold service tier could include a service for providing video clips to the user terminal, in addition to all services included in the Silver service tier. These tiers of application services can exist statically, i.e., the Silver, say, application service tier may always include the same set of application services in it (or at least be updated infrequently). On the other hand, the assignment of application services in tiers can be dynamic, where the application services "assigned" into a tier may change based on various criteria. In some embodiments, services are added or subtracted based on a combination of criteria such as being based on: quality of application service considerations; on enforcing admission control; on the time of the day; applying different charging models to application services at different times, and so on.

After a user terminal 108 enters such a system and establishes a wireless link with an access point, it executes the DHCP protocol to obtain an IP address for the user terminal. This step is shown as item 116 in Figure 1. Following this step, the user terminal contacts the registration server 114 using a standard Web browser, using the standard HTTP protocol. The registration server provides, among other things, a Web-based listing on the user terminal of the various tiers of application services that are available, and their associated charges. The assignment of services into tiers may be static or dynamic based on the current availability of a service, promotional or other considerations, and so on. At this point, the user enters an identifier, e.g., a credit card number or a frequent flier number, and the desired tier of application service into the 1 browser and sends this information to the registration server. These steps are collectively shown

2 as item 115 in Figure 1. Upon a proper validation, the identifier supplied by the user is also used

3 to charge eventually the user for the desired application service tier. Upon acceptance and

4 validation of the identifier, the registration server issues a control notification to the appropriate

5 enforcement device, informing it that the corresponding user is able to access those application

6 services that fall within his/her selected service tier. The enforcement device reacts to this

7 information by placing a set of controls to regulate the user's traffic within the access network.

8 This step is shown as item 117 in Figure 1. In alternate implementations, the enforcement device

9 could be either a router (106), an access point (110) or a Web proxy (117). The control

10 mechanism would then include the placement of traffic filters at the appropriate enforcement

11 device. Different example embodiments of this control and enforcement mechanism are

12 described later.

13 Figure 2 shows three functional steps used for this invention to allow individual users to specify

14 and obtain access to authorized application services. The three steps are:

15 a) registration, which lets users specify their choice among the available application

16 services,

17 b) control notification, which lets the specific enforcement devices know the appropriate

18 access profile for a specific user and

19 c) enforcement, which allows the appropriate network devices to police individual

20 packets, connections or sessions related to a specific user's device to ensure that they 2_.1 always correspond to authorized application services.

22 Thus, Figure 2 highlights steps of this invention for providing user terminals access to various

23 tiers of application services. In particular, a user terminal 108 first goes tlirough registration 201

24 with a registration authority 202. During registration, among other things, the user terminal is

25 identified by a unique identifier. This identifier should be unique for the duration of the

26 associated sessions, i.e., until the time that the user terminal finishes its association with the

27 access network (101) and the application services available through it. Because the access

28 network can be controlled, configured and/or reconfigured on-the-fly based on application

29 service tier selections by its users, the access network (101) in Figure 1 is also identified as a controllable infrastructure in Figure 2. This identifier may be a fixed one, like the medium access (MAC) address of the communication hardware subsystem that the user terminal uses, or a temporary one as are IP addresses assigned by a DHCP server to a user terminal, or a Web cookie provided to a Web browser application running on the user terminal. By using an identifier that is not directly based on either a network interface (e.g., the MAC address), or on the specific configuration parameters provided by the access network infrastructure (e.g., the IP address), the registration mechanism allows a user terminal to maintain its association with the registration server even if its network connectivity changes (e.g., a new network interface is plugged in, or DHCP configures a new IP address). In these cases, the user terminal may share part of the responsibility for informing the registration server of any changes in its device or network specific configuration parameters.

The registration authority 202 will record this identifier, as well as the tier of application service that the user of the terminal has requested. With this knowledge, the registration authority will then condition the communication network to accommodate the new user and his/her selected tier of application service. The conditioning action includes principally of passing on this binding information between the device's identifier and the tier of application service, information via control signaling 203 to some or all of the nodes of the controllable access infrastructure. As an example, the registration authority (also called the registration server) may:

a) pass the MAC address of the user terminal, along with the tier of application service, to access points and LAN switches, or

b) pass the IP address of the user terminal, along with the tier of application service, to the network routers, or

c) pass the Web cookie/ IP address, along with the tier of application service, to a Web proxy located in the network, or d) inform an application specific server to accept or reject traffic from a specific user terminal. Using this information, the appropriate network node will block, or let pass, traffic 206 from/to the user terminal to/from those services 205. Figure 3 shows an example of individual steps in an initial interaction of a user terminal with the system. It includes functions such as obtaining an IP address (116), contacting the registration server and selecting the desired tier of application service (115), and the resulting control notification, such as updating the state of the generic control infrastructure (117 and 203). This invention embodiment uses the standard DHCP protocol for configuring individual user terminals. After a user terminal enters the system, the physical layer of its network connection is activated, and its system software is notified. As a result, the user terminal broadcasts a DHCP request on the system network (item 1 in 301). This request is processed by the machine running the DHCP server 102, which sends back a response to the user terminal (108 and item 2 in 301). The DHCP response contains the IP address assigned to the user terminal by the system, the IP address of the default node for relaying messages (the gateway IP address) and the IP address of machine running the DNS server.

A particular embodiment of the invention, has the client configuration software modified from its default behavior 302. For example when using the DHCP protocol, a system-specific option is added to the DHCP protocol, that can be done according to existing standards for adding options in DHCP, and the DHCP server and client software is extended to respectively generate and interpret, the new option. The system-specific DHCP option includes the address of the registration server. Upon processing the DHCP response, the extended DHCP client software, using this address, starts a browser directed to the registration server 304. This aforementioned embodiment of this invention represents one example embodiment of autoconfiguration of a user terminal without explicit user intervention using an extended DHCP client and server software. In another embodiment of the invention, no extensions are made to the DHCP protocol or to the DHCP client and server software 302. After the DHCP response is processed, and the network connection configured, a browser is started manually on the user terminal and the browser is directed to the registration server. The identity of the registration server may be available as a URL from the browser's set of bookmarks, or may be provided to the user through an out-of-band mechanism such as a visual notice 303 that may be printed or displayed prominently in the public place. While DHCP is the most common mechanism for initial configuration of user terminals, alternative configuration protocols can be used just as effectively. For example, the next generation of the Internet Protocol, IPv6, allows a node to autoconfigure itself without any help from the DHCP server. Also, using techniques like destination redirection, Web requests from a client devices to a destination Web may be redirected to any desired location, for 1 example, the registration server, independently to where on the Internet the browser user would

2 like to go. This invention is equally applicable to such alternative means of initial user terminal

3 configuration.

4 As part of the user interaction with the registration server, the user will then select the desired tier

5 of application service and provide the payment-related information 305. This information is then

6 sent by the registration server/authority to an appropriate, logically distinct, node for verification

7 306. If the user-supplied information is validated to be correct 307, the registration is considered

8 successful. In this case, the accounting process for this user session is initiated, and the

9 appropriate information is relayed to the generic control infrastructure element(s) via the control

10 notification messages 308. If the information is invalid 307, the user is generally offered another

11 chance to register with the system 310.

12 Once the user's choice of a specific application service tier has been successfully acknowledged

13 by the system, we can expect the user to initiate transmissions to the application services in that

14 tier. Figure 4 shows steps followed in an example process by an element of the generic access

15 controllable infrastructure, 204 in Figure 2, during such communication. After receiving a

16 packet (a request packet or any other transmission from a device) 401 , the packet is inspected to

17 determine its origin, i.e., user terminal, and the application service tier it belongs to 402. A

18 mechanism by that the packet is related to a particular user terminal and/or tier of application

19 service depends upon the precise element in the controllable access infrastructure where this

20 enforcement is carried out. This is described for the case of a router in Figure 9 and a case of the

21 wireless access point or the Web proxy in Figure 10. If the application service complies with the

22 tier of service associated with the packet origin 403, the packet is forwarded to the next hop 404

23 and, if necessary, the accounting information associated with the origin user terminal is updated

24 405, in the case that the charging policy for the particular application service so requires. If the

25 application service does not comply 403, the packet is either dropped or appropriate remedial

26 steps are taken 406. In either case, the infrastructure element stalls processing the next packet. If

27 the compliance test is failed 403, then the system may wish to take alternative remedial

28 measures.

29 In some embodiments, the enforcement node redirects the packet, and/or generates a failure

30 notification to the registration server. If the packet that failed the compliance test corresponds to 1 a Web-based request, the registration server could then respond, using the HTTP protocol, to the

2 user terminal with a notification that the user had attempted an access in violation of the user's

3 current tier of application service. This Web-based notification could provide the user with an

4 option of renegotiating the tier of application service, in order that subsequent access attempts by

5 the user would not be denied.

6 Depending on information provided by the user at registration time and the capabilities of the

7 system, another remedial action would be to send an "out-of-band" notification to the user. The

8 latter case may be desirable when the user does not currently use a Web-browser application, or

9 does not contain any specialized application to that a message can be sent by the system.

10 Out-of-band notifications may include the transmission of a message to a pager, an interactive

11 personal e-mail device, e.g., a wireless personal device, a phone call to a cellular phone, an SMS

12 (short message service) message, and so on.

13 We next describe the process by that the user can renegotiate or change their tier of application

14 service during an ongoing association with a public access network. As already explained, this

15 might be used when a user discovers that a specific desired application service is currently

16 outside the scope of that user's current tier selection. Alternatively, the user may also find, at

17 some point, the need to temporarily switch to a different tier of application service. For example,

18 the user may suddenly find a need to access a premium application service that was not covered

19 in the originally selected application service tier. Note that an application service profile is

20 sometimes created and stored for a user pointing to a preferred selection of an application service

21 tier under certain conditions or when particular properties are satisfied, e.g., based on a location

22 property. A user's service profile could facilitate the selection of the application service tier.

23 Although the embodiments of the invention described herein refer to a user selection of a service

24 selection, the use of service profiles for facilitating a user tier selection is not outside the spirit of

25 this invention. Figure 5 shows steps included in changing the tier of application service

26 associated with a user terminal. The user terminal contacts the registration server by directing a

27 browser to the registration server 501, requests a change of the current tier of application service

28 502, and provides all the necessary information 503 (similar to 305). If the information is valid

29 504, the change is accepted and the state of the access control 505 and accounting 506 element(s)

30 in the generic infrastructure is updated. Since the user terminal already has an existing association (and thus a unique identifier) with the access network, the process of providing the necessary information 503 may not be as detailed as the original process, 305 in Figure 3. For example, the user may not need to re-furnish personal information (e.g., credit card numbers); rather the software on the user terminal may be capable of directly furnishing the user-specific identifier (e.g., by using a Web cookie) to the registration server, thereby helping the server to relate this request for change in application service tier to an existing user-network association.

While the procedure for upgrading the service described in Figure 5 represents one embodiment of this invention, others are also possible without departing the spirit of this invention. For example, those skilled in the art may achieve similar results by having the user pointing to the desired application service and the service provider responding with the appropriate registration page for the tier of application service that includes the requested application service. This latter approach does not request a user to explicitly contact the registration server for the upgrade. However, it achieves the same end result as the embodiment shown in Figure 5.

Since the support for dynamically defined application services is an element of this invention, one should specify a mechanism by that such service associations may be terminated. For example, such a de-registration mechanism is useful for accurate billing in scenarios where the user is charged on the basis of the duration of the user-network association. Such a mechanism may also be used by a user to check current usage and billing information before making a decision regarding continuation or termination of the association. Figure 6 shows steps in a (potentially) final interaction of a user terminal with a public access network, when the user terminal effectively closes all sessions and terminates its access to the various network services. In the embodiment shown, the user terminal directs a browser to the registration server 601 and uses the standard HTTP protocol to request the termination of its session 602. As part of this request, the user terminal may include a user-specific unique identifier 602 established during the registration process, see 201 in Figure 2. The registration server then retrieves the appropriate usage statistics from the relevant enforcement devices 603 and provides the appropriate usage information 604 to the user terminal. Based on this usage information, users will then decide 605 to either confirm the termination of their association or to continue utilizing the publicly available service infrastructure. If a user decides to continue, then the termination process is suspended, and the user resumes his or her normal network access. This mechanism provides users a means to simply verify their activity history and associated charges. If a user, however, 1 decides to terminate their current association 605, the registration server will take the steps

2 needed to remove the information related the user's presence in the public access network. The

3 registration server will first issue the appropriate control notification messages 606 to the

4 enforcement device(s) to disable any further access by the user terminal. Successful execution of

5 such control messages effectively removes unnecessary access control information in the

6 enforcement devices. It also acts as a mechanism to guard against any subsequent unauthorized

7 access attempts. After sending this notification, the registration server will also remove the active

8 user-specific information (such as the unique identifier related to the user's current sessions)

9 from its internal tables, and complete the process of appropriately charging the user 607. In

0 addition to notifying the access control devices, the registration server will also inform the

1 DHCP server 608, so that the DHCP server can update its own tables and release resources

2 appropriately.

.3 Figure 7 shows another example embodiment for managing and terminating a session without the

[4 user having to explicitly act for the termination. In this embodiment the Web technology, called

[5 cookies, is used to follow the presence of a user terminal 108 in the system. Figure 7 repeats

16 pertinent portions of Figure 1 with the addition of the session database 702 that keeps records

17 703 of terminals in the system. In particular, following the assignment 116 of an IP address to the

18 user terminal by the DHCP server 102, the server informs 701 the registration server 114 that a

19 new IP address has been assigned to a user terminal. In one embodiment the registration enters

20 this IP address in a "standby" pool of IP addresses. The IP address will be removed from the

21 standby pool when the user accesses the registration server to register for a new service, continue

22 or update an existing service. In another embodiment, the registration server associates this IP 3 address with a record 703 in a user session database 702. In any case, the registration server is 4 notified of a new IP address assignment.

5 The new IP address assignment may indeed be given to an brand new user terminal, or a terminal 6 that may have an ongoing session. The latter case may occur when for various reasons, such as 7 temporary link 109 failure, user device reboot, change of the wireless access point due to 8 mobility, adjustment of the access technology from, say, wireless LAN to wired Ethernet, to 9 Bluetooth wireless technology, and so on. The user device may obtain a brand new IP address 0 that is different than the one previously used. However, the user may have selected a payment 1 policy that is still valid. For example, the user may have requested a 30 minute block of time, and the communications interruption happened between minutes 7 and 10 from this block of time. In this case, the brand new IP address should not be associated with an entirely new session but used instead to update session information related to the existing session.

In the embodiments depicted in Figure 7, and Figure 8, this is accomplished through the use of Web cookies. A Web cookie is a small piece of information that a Web server sends to a Web browser that interacts with the server. The Web browser stores the cookie locally in the user terminal running the browser. This cookie is uploaded by the browser each time the particular Web browser revisits the particular Web server. This could be used to track user visits to a particular Web site. In our case, when a user terminal revisits the registration server following the reassignment of a new IP address to it, the cookie can be provided again to the registration server and the registration can use this cookie to retrieve the session record (if one exists) for this user terminal, and update it accordingly.

In yet another embodiment, the transmission of the new IP address from the DHCP server to the registration server is omitted. It allows session data for newly initiated sessions or ongoing sessions to be handled exclusively by the registration server. This is possible because Web servers, like the registration server, apart from the cookie, can retrieve a large amount of information pertaining the user terminal, including its IP address. However, the IP address transmission in 701, or a similar address in the opposite direction, is something used to verify that the IP address used by the client device is a legitimate IP address assigned by the DHCP server.

Figure 8 shows an embodiment for the steps followed by the registration server to decide how to proceed if it receives a cookie. A cookie is referred to as valid, if it is associated with an active/ongoing session. To invalidate a cookie a number of events 807 may contribute. For example, the DHCP server may invalidate an IP address. This happens when the "lease" time associated with an IP address assigned by the DHCP server expires before the user terminal requests renewal of the lease. In the embodiment of Figure 1, the DHCP server communicates this information by transmitting a "remove IP address" message 704. The granularity of the DHCP leases dictates how accurately a pay-while-I-am-on billing policy could be; for example, if the leases are given in two-minute increments, then a user that chooses to pay based on the duration of her session will be billed for using the system for 2, or 4, or 6, and so on, minutes. A session may also be invalidated if a user has selected to pay for a block of 30 minutes and the 30 minutes have passed. In the session record 703 in Figure 1, the latter can be calculated from the session record entries describing the selection time of a payment policy (paymentSelectionTime) and/or the time covered by the selected payment policy (paymentDuration), or other pertinent data stored in the session record. The time of selecting a payment may be tight with the time that a tier of service is selected, but this is not generally a requirement. The various time intervals may be further associated with grace periods to account for the possibility that the user has temporarily disconnected. These grace periods are advantageously coordinated with the DHCP server, so that the DHCP server does not assign an already removed IP address to a new user terminal, but the registration server has not updated its session records yet.

Momentary connection interruptions can occur due to user mobility and other reasons such as: temporary link failure; user device reboot; change of the wireless access point due to mobility; adjustment of the access technology from, say, wireless LAN to wired Ethernet, to Bluetooth wireless technology; and so on. Tlirough the use of cookies, that are sometimes used as session identifiers that can persist past the connectivity interruption, users can continue accessing the selected tier of services without the need to reregister with the registration server. Using the cookie that a user terminal sends every time it access the registration server, the registration server can restore any session information that it needs ignoring the connectivity interruption caused by any number of reasons. This capability is frequently referred to as service roaming.

Figure 9 shows more details on how access control can be enforced by using a router in the access network 101 in Figure 1, or the equivalent controllable infrastructure 204 in Figure 2. In Figure 9, it is assumed that a user terminal 901 is assigned the IP address, 10.0.0.1, using the DHCP protocol; in other embodiments this and the IP addresses that follow could be different. Additionally, we assume that the service provider has defined two application service tiers, Gold and Silver, that allow the user to access the devices with IP addresses 10.1.1.2 and 10.1.2.2 respectively. (The generalization to multiple application service tiers, each with multiple lists of IP addresses and/or port numbers is straightforward to those familiar with the art.) The client then contacts the registration authority 903 via a wireless access point 902, to specify its desired tier of application services. The registration authority 903 provides 904 a Web page listing of all the available tiers of application service, and their associated charges. The user then chooses between the two tiers of application service 909 (Gold or Silver) and sends this choice back 905 1 to the registration server (along with other personal credentials). The grouping of services into

2 the various application service tiers could be incremental, in that, say, the selecting the Gold

3 service tier may enable access to all the services in the Silver service tier as well.

4 Let us assume that the user terminal has chosen the Silver tier of service. One of the nodes where

5 the access control mechanism can be enforced is the router 906. As shown in Figure 9, this

6 router-based access control scheme can be achieved by communicating a set of filtering rules

7 907, based on the IP address of the user terminal and its requested application service tier, to the

8 router. Upon reception of these filtering rules, the router stores them in its local routing table

9 908. In Figure 9, the routing table shows that IP address 10.0.0.1 (the IP address of the user 0 terminal in question) can access application services offered on TCP port 80 on destination 1 address 10.1.2.2. This corresponds to the Web server for the Silver service; accordingly, the user 2 terminal associated with IP address 10.0.0.1 can access only the Silver service.

3 The enforcement mechanism can also be performed at alternative nodes in the access network 4 infrastructure, such as the wireless access points or at a Web proxy. These alternatives are shown 5 in Figure 10, where we assume, as before, that the user terminal has the IP address 10.0.0.1. 6 Moreover, let us assume that the hardware (MAC) address of the wireless device associated with 7 the user terminal is "MAC_ADDR_1". First, as depicted on the left side of the figure, the 8 registration authority 1002 may pass a set of filtering rules 1003, 1004 to one or more wireless 9 access points (WiAPs) 1005, 1006. Since the wireless access point distinguishes terminals by the 0 MAC address, the filtering table 1007 in a wireless access point (1005 in Figure 10) will 1 typically contain the MAC address of the user terminal (in our example, this is 2 "MAC_ADDR_1") and the destination IP addresses and/or port numbers of the set of 3 permissible destination nodes. Again, the figure shows an example where the user terminal has 4 selected the Silver tier of application service 1008 (destination address 10.1.2.2).

5 The right side of Figure 10 depicts the case when access control is enforced via placement of a 6 filter at a Web proxy 1009. In this case, the registration authority 1002 passes the appropriate set 7 of filtering rules 1010 to the Web proxy. The Web proxy then updates the corresponding 8 information in its filtering table 1011. It should be understood that this is really an 9 application-layer filtering mechanism, since the Web proxy intercepts only that traffic from the 0 user terminal that is Web-based. In this case, the user terminal may be uniquely identified by either a network-layer identifier, such as the IP address (10.0.0.1 in our example) or by an application-layer identifier, such as a collection of Web cookies.

Figure 10 shows a case when the filtering table 1011 identifies the user terminal via its IP address (10.0.0.1), and the set of permitted destinations through a set of URLs (uniform resource locators). In this particular example, we assume that the user has chosen the Silver service, that is associated with the URL http://l 0.1.2.2/silver.html. Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) are the standard way to name, discover and retrieve objects on the Web.

The embodiments of the invention discussed herein relate to using access points, routers, and Web proxies to control access to the selected application services. Those skilled in the art may use alternative network traffic control elements without departing from the spirit of this invention.

The embodiments of the invention presented thus far are based on an assumption that the public access infrastructure uses a wireless LAN to allow users to connect to the network via a wireless interface. However, the principles and methods described in this invention may be applicable to other wireline and wireless access technologies. Those skilled in the art may easily develop additional embodiments of this invention for alternative access technologies, for example, using wireline IEEE 802.3 Ethernet technology instead of the IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN technology, without departing from the spirit of this invention.

The present invention can be realized in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. A visualization tool according to the present invention can be realized in a centralized fashion in one computer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind of computer system - or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods and/or functions described herein - is suitable. A typical combination of hardware and software could be a general purpose computer system with a computer program that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that it carries out the methods described herein. The present invention can also be embedded in a computer program product, that comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and that - when loaded in a computer system - is able to carry out these methods. Computer program means or computer program in the present context include any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after conversion to another language, code or notation, and/or reproduction in a different material form.

Thus the invention includes an article of manufacture that comprises a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for causing a function described above. The computer readable program code means in the article of manufacture comprises computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect the steps of a method of this invention. Similarly, the present invention may be implemented as a computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for causing a function described above. The computer readable program code means in the computer program product comprising computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect one of more functions of this invention. Furthermore, the present invention may be implemented as a program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for causing one or more functions of this invention.

It is noted that the foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects and embodiments of the present invention. This invention may be used for many applications. Thus, although the description is made for particular arrangements, timing indications and methods, the intent and concept of the invention is suitable and applicable to other arrangements and applications. It will be clear to those skilled in the art that modifications to the disclosed embodiments can be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The described embodiments ought to be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Other beneficial results can be realized by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention in ways known to those familiar with the art.

Claims

CLAIMSHaving thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. A method comprising:

enabling a user to employ a set of standard communication protocols on a device coupled to a network to access a particular group of application services, said method including:

providing a plurality of groups of application services accessible to said device, at least one of said application services in each of said groups being useable by said device;

allowing said user to select said particular group of application services from said plurality of groups; and

automatically configuring said network dynamically based on said particular group of application services to permit access by said device to said particular group of application services via said network.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

enabling said user to make a subsequent selection of another group of application services from said plurality of groups; and

automatically reconfiguring said network dynamically based on said subsequent selection permitting access to said another group of application services by said device via said network.

3. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the network utilizes a standard TCP/IP communication protocol.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said set of standard communication protocols includes a standard IEEE 802 communication protocol.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of providing includes retrieving a list of said groups of application services from local data.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of providing includes retrieving a list of said groups of application services over said network from a group of apparatuses located remotely from said device.

7. A method as recited in claim 6, wherein the step of providing is initiated by said group of apparatuses and includes the transmission of unsolicited messages by said group of apparatuses to said device.

8. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein the content of said unsolicited messages depends on at least one property associated with said device.

9. A method as recited in claim 6, wherein the step of retrieving includes employing a Web browser application coupled to said device and a Web server coupled to said network.

10. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of providing includes dynamically creating at least one of said plurality of groups of application services from a list of possible application services.

11. A method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising mapping said plurality of groups of application services to at least one network identifier.

12. A method as recited in claim 11 , wherein said at least one network identifier includes at least one identifier taken from a group of identifiers including: IP addresses; TCP/UDP port numbers; protocol identifiers; application identifiers, and a combination of said identifiers.

13. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of automatically configuring includes setting up traffic filtering rules in said network, wherein said traffic filtering rules associate said device with said particular group of application services.

1 14. A method as recited in claim 13, wherein said traffic filtering rules are set in at least one

2 network traffic control element from a group of network traffic elements coupled to said

3 network, said group of network traffic control elements including: data access points; bridges;

4 switches; hubs; routers; gateways; proxy servers; Web servers; and any combination of these.

5 15. A method as recited in claim 14, wherein said traffic filtering rules are based on at least one

6 identifier from a group of identifiers, said group of identifiers including: user of a device; said

7 device medium access control (MAC) addresses; said plurality of groups of application services

8 medium access control (MAC) addresses; said device IP addresses; said plurality of groups of

9 application services IP addresses; said device TCP/UDP port numbers; said plurality of groups of

10 application services TCP/UDP port numbers; universal resource locators (URLs); and any

11 combination of these identifiers .

12 16. A method as recited in claim 2, further comprising charging a fee for accessing at least one of

13 said plurality of groups of application services by said device, wherein the step of charging a fee

14 includes providing alternative charging policies associated with each group of application

15 services selected by the user.

16 17. A method as recited in claim 16, wherein said alternative charging policies are based on at

17 least one policy from a group of alternative charging policies including:

18 time-based charging policy, where the fee depends on a duration of time said network remains

19 configured to enable access by said device to said particular group of application services;

20 time-based charging policy with a preselected amount of time;

21 time-based charging policy with an amount of time dynamically reset until said device ceases

22 accessing said particular group of application services;

23 per minute, hour, day, or monthly service subscription rates;

24 usage-based charging policy, where the amount of charging depends on the amount of traffic

25 passed through the network between said device and application services in said particular 1 groups of application services, as long as said network remains configured to enable access by

2 said device to said particular group of application services;

3 usage-based charging policy with a preselected amount of traffic; and

4 any combination of these.

5 18. A method as recited in claim 16, wherein the step of charging includes associating said fee

6 with the user of said device, and including in said step of associating the step of providing at

7 least one user identification from a group of user identifications including: credit card

8 information; frequent-flyer information; customer loyalty information; application service

9 subscription information; hotel-room information; user ID/password information; and personal

10 information embedded in a personal smart card, and a combination of said identifications.

11 19. A method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising prohibiting access to another group of

12 application services.

13 20. A method as claimed in claim 19, further comprising:

14 defining said another group of application services as prohibited services;

15 allowing said user to select at least one of said prohibited services from said plurality of

16 application services; and

17 automatically reconfiguring said network dynamically based on said particular group of

18 application services to permit access to said at least one of said prohibited services by said device

19 via said network.

20 21. A method as claimed in claim 20, further comprising charging a fee for access of said at least

21 one of said prohibited services, wherein said fee is adjusted based on user selected charging

22 policy pertaining to said at least one of said prohibited services.

1 22. A method as recited in claim 19, further comprising-sending notification to at least one of

2 said device and another device, to indicate that access to said another group of application

3 services is prohibited.

4 23. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of providing is based on at least one

5 property associated with said device.

6 24. A method comprising:

7 enabling a user device coupled to a network, said user device employing a set of standard

8 protocols, said network having: at least one network configuration service; at least one services

9 management application service; at least one network traffic control element; and at least two

10 groups of application services accessible to said user device;

11 said at least one network configuration service configuring said user device;

12 said at least one services management application service providing said user device with a

13 listing of said at least two groups of application services;

14 allowing a user of said user device to select at least one group, from said at least two groups of

15 application services; and

16 automatically configuring said at least one network traffic control element dynamically to enable

17 access only to said at least one group.

18 25. A method comprising:

19 providing a listing of a plurality of groups of application services to a user device in response to

20 said device connecting to a network;

1 sending to said device a set of identifiers representing a selection of a particular group of

22 application services from said plurality of groups of application services; and 1 employing said identifiers to instruct at least one network traffic control element to automatically

2 and dynamically configure said network in order to enable communication between said device

3 and said particular group of application services over said network.

4 26. A method comprising:

5 setting access permission for a device,

6 allowing said device to select access to selected application services from a plurality of groups of

7 available application services, said device employing a set of standard protocols and being

8 coupled to a network;

9 associating said access permission for said device with at least one identifier in order for said

10 device to access said selected application services from at least one of said plurality of groups of

11 application services; and

12 using said at least one identifier to enable said device to roam and have access to said selected

13 application services employing said established access permission.

14 27. A method as recited in claim 26, further comprising maintaining said established access

15 permission even when network coupling conditions change.

16 28. An apparatus comprising:

17 a server to allow a user to employ a set of standard communication protocols on a device coupled

18 to a network to access a particular group of application services, said server including:

19 a listing module for providing a listing of a plurality of groups of application services accessible

20 to said device, at least one of said application services in each of said groups being useable by

21 said device;

22 an enabling module to enable said user to select said particular group of application services

23 from said plurality of groups; and 1 a configuration module to automatically configure said network dynamically based on said

2 particular group of application services to permit said access by said device to said particular

3 group of application services via said network.

4 29. An apparatus as recited in claim 28, wherein said enabling module enables said user to make

5 a subsequent selection of another group of application services from said plurality of groups, and

6 wherein said configuration module automatically reconfigures said network dynamically based

7 on said subsequent selection to permit said access to said another group of application services

8 by said device via said network; and further comprising: a billing module to charge a fee for said

9 access, wherein the fee is based upon alternative charging policies associated with each group.

10 30. An article of manufacture comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable

11 program code means embodied therein for causing automatic and dynamic configuration, the

12 computer readable program code means in said article of manufacture comprising computer

13 readable program code means for causing a computer to effect the steps of claim 1.

14 31. An article of manufacture comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable

15 program code means embodied therein for causing automatic and dynamic configuration, the

16 computer readable program code means in said article of manufacture comprising computer

17 readable program code means for causing a computer to effect the steps of claim 24.

18 32. An article of manufacture comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable

19 program code means embodied therein for causing automatic and dynamic configuration, the

20 computer readable program code means in said article of manufacture comprising computer

21 readable program code means for causing a computer to effect the steps of claim 25.

22 33. An article of manufacture comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable

23 program code means embodied therein for causing application service access, the computer

24 readable program code means in said article of manufacture comprising computer readable

25 program code means for causing a computer to effect the steps of claim 26.

1 34. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer

2 readable program code means embodied therein for causing automatic and dynamic

3 configuration, the computer readable program code means in said computer program product

4 comprising computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect the

5 functions of claim 28.

6 35. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of

7 instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for automatic and dynamic

8 configuration, comprising the steps of claim 1.

9 36. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of

10 instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for automatic and dynamic

11 configuration, comprising the steps of claim 24.

12 37. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of

13 instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for automatic and dynamic

14 configuration, comprising the steps of claim 25.

15 38. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of

16 instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for causing application service

17 access, comprising the steps of claim 26.