Granted Patent B2

US 9,253,101 · App. 13/653,737 · Granted Feb 2, 2016

Abstract

Claims (46)

1. A method for metering usage, on a group of lines subject to a group user agreement, of data processing capacity of a network, the method comprising:

receiving usage reports from respective lines of the group of lines;

maintaining a usage total, over the group of lines, of usage that has been reported by the respective lines of the group of lines;

maintaining an outstanding total, over the group of lines, of outstanding usage quotas that have been granted to the respective lines of the group of lines, the outstanding usage quota of a respective line being one or more data quotas granted to the respective line of the group of lines but not reported as being used by the respective line;

detecting at least one violation event based on a comparison between the usage total and a limit, the limit being based on one of two or more data usage milestones and an accuracy threshold, the accuracy threshold indicating an allowed discrepancy between an actual usage by the group of lines and the usage total, the at least one violation event indicating that the outstanding total violates the limit;

upon detecting the at least one violation event, automatically selecting one or more lines of the group of lines for quota reallocation; and

automatically transmitting an instruction to one or more processors serving the one or more lines selected, but to no processor serving any other line of the group of lines, that causes a new quota to be negotiated for the one or more lines selected.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein

the at least one violation event occurs at one of the two or more data usage milestones,

the automatically selecting selects the one or more lines of the group of lines when the usage total is between two of the two or more data usage milestones, and

the automatically transmitting transmits the instruction to the one or more processors when the usage total is between the two of the two or more data usage milestones.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

sending session parameter information to processors serving all lines of the group of lines at least at one of the two or more data usage milestones, wherein the session parameter information includes updated values of usage quotas for the respective lines of the group of lines.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein

the metering is performed in accordance with the DIAMETER authentication, authorization, and accounting protocol, and

at least one of the usage reports received from the respective lines of the group of lines is derived from CCR messages, as specified in the DIAMETER protocol.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the instruction is a message that includes parameters which, when read by the one or more processors serving the one or more lines selected, cause the one or more lines selected to issue RAR messages as specified in the DIAMETER protocol.

6. A method for metering usage, on a group of lines subject to a group user agreement, of data processing capacity of a network, the method comprising:

receiving usage reports from respective lines of the group of lines;

maintaining a usage total, over the group of lines, of usage that has been reported by the respective lines of the group of lines;

maintaining an outstanding total, over the group of lines, of outstanding usage quotas that have been granted to the respective lines of the group of lines, the outstanding usage quota of a respective line being one or more data quotas granted to the respective line of the group of lines but not reported as being used by the respective line;

detecting at least one violation event based on a comparison between the usage total and a limit, the limit being based on one of two or more data usage milestones and an accuracy threshold, the accuracy threshold indicating an allowed discrepancy between an actual usage by the group of lines and the usage total, the at least one violation event indicating that the outstanding total violates the limit;

evaluating a consumption rate of at least one of the respective lines of the groups of lines from the usage reports and time measurements;

classifying the at least one of the respective lines of the group of lines as dormant when the corresponding consumption rate drops below a first threshold;

upon detecting the at least one violation event, automatically transmitting an instruction to a processor serving the at least one of the respective lines of the group of lines classified as dormant, the instruction causing a special quota to be allocated to the at least one of the respective lines of the group of lines classified as dormant, the special quota being smaller than a previously allocated quota to the at least one of the respective lines of the group of lines.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the special quota is a smallest line quota defined on a specified range of total group usage values.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the special quota is allocated via an exchange of CCR and CCA messages according to the DIAMETER authentication, authorization, and accounting protocol.

9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

upon the at least one line of the group of lines being classified as dormant, reclassifying the at least one line of the group of lines as an active line when the consumption rate rises above a second threshold.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the consumption rate based on which the at least one line of the group of lines is classified as dormant is averaged over a longer period of time compared to the consumption rate based on which the at least one line of the group of lines is reclassified as the active line.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first threshold is different from the second threshold.

12. An apparatus for metering usage, on a group of lines subject to a group user agreement, of data processing capacity of a network, the apparatus comprising a processor and an associated memory, wherein the processor is configured to,

receive usage reports from respective lines of the group of lines;

maintain a usage total, over the group of lines, of usage that has been reported by the respective lines of the group of lines;

maintain an outstanding total, over the group of lines, of outstanding usage quotas that have been granted to the respective lines of the group of lines, the outstanding usage quota of a respective line being one or more data quotas granted to the respective line of the group of lines but not reported as being used by the respective line;

detect at least one violation event based on a comparison between the usage total and a limit, the limit being based on one of two or more data usage milestones and an accuracy threshold, the accuracy threshold indicating an allowed discrepancy between an actual usage by the group of lines and the usage total, the at least one violation event indicating that the outstanding total violates the limit;

upon the processor detecting the at least one violation event, automatically select one or more lines of the group of lines for quota reallocation; and

automatically transmit an instruction to one or more processors serving the one or more lines selected, but to no processor serving any other line of the group of lines, that causes a new quota to be negotiated for the one or more lines selected.

13. An apparatus configured to meter usage, on a group of lines subject to a group user agreement, of data processing capacity of a network, the apparatus comprising a processor and an associated memory, wherein the processor is configured to,

receive usage reports from respective lines of the group of lines;

maintain a usage total, over the group of lines, of usage that has been reported by the respective lines of the group of lines;

maintain an outstanding total, over the group of lines, of outstanding usage quotas that have been granted to the respective lines of the group of lines, the outstanding usage quota of a respective line being one or more data quotas granted to the respective line of the group of lines but not reported as being used by the respective line;

detect at least one violation event based on a comparison between the outstanding usage total and a limit, the limit being based on one of two or more data usage milestones and an accuracy threshold, the accuracy threshold indicating an allowed discrepancy between an actual usage by the group of lines and the usage total, the at least one violation event indicating that the outstanding total violates the limit;

evaluate a consumption rate of at least one of the respective lines of the group of lines from the usage reports and time measurements;

classify the at least one of the respective lines of the group of lines as dormant when the corresponding consumption rate drops below a first threshold; and

upon detecting the at least one violation event, automatically transmit an instruction to a processor serving the at least one of the respective lines of the group of lines classified as dormant, the instruction causing a special quota to be allocated to the at least one of the respective lines of the group of lines classified as dormant, the special quota being smaller than a previously allocated quota to the at least one of the respective lines of the group of lines.

Assignments (13)