Policy management of electronic devices
A system and method for the management of a device, including the establishment and enforcement of policies/rules associated with feature or functions that may be performed with the device. Modern devices are capable of many things, including making and receiving calls, exchanging data, playing games and music, sending and receiving email, accessing web sites, and paying for goods and services. Depending on who is using the device, such as a child, student, or an employee, there may be a need or desire to regulate how that device can be used and to determine who will pay for what goods or services. In addition to providing all of the features associated with a device, service providers need to be able to establish and enforce rules (policies) regulating how and when that device can be used and who will pay for a good or service requested by the user of the device.
1. A system for managing one or more devices, comprising:
a plurality of policy deciders including a plurality of rules specifying desired behaviors associated with a plurality of functions of the one or more devices, the plurality of policy deciders being operable to determine in real-time whether to accept or deny requests to perform one or more of the functions based on the plurality of rules; and
a plurality of enforcers associated with the plurality of functions, the plurality of enforcers configured to receive decisions from the plurality of policy deciders and enforce the decisions by taking one or more actions that are consistent with the decisions and that are based on device types associated the one or more devices.
2. A system for managing a device, comprising:
a switch or node configured to receive a request to or from the device to perform one or more functions associated with the device;
a plurality of policy deciders storing a plurality of policies that control the one or more functions associated with the device, the policy deciders configured to accept or deny the request and provide a real-time decision to accept or deny the request based on the plurality of policies; and
a plurality of policy enforcers configured to enforce the decision by the plurality of policy deciders by transmitting one or more actions consistent with the decision to the switch or node.
3. A system for managing a communication device used by a user, comprising:
an administrator wallet for electronically storing one or more units of value, the administrator wallet being associated with an administrator and with a plan configured to enable a voice or data function of the communication device, the plan being shared with the user;
a user wallet for electronically storing one or more units of value, the user wallet being associated with the user and with the plan; and
a function manager for managing at least the voice or data function to be performed by the communication device, the function manager having a global rule that specifies in real-time whether the voice or data function is permitted, the function manager having one or more local rules that specify in real-time whether a charge of credits associated with the voice or data function will be charged to the user wallet or to the administrator wallet.
4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of user interface layers operable to be accessible by the plurality of policy deciders, the plurality of user interface layers configured to interface to the plurality of functions of the one or more devices.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of enforcers are configured to enforce decisions associated with a respective one of the plurality of functions.
6. The system of claim 2 , further comprising a plurality of user interface layers operable to be accessible by the plurality of policy deciders, the plurality of user interface layers configured to interface to the plurality of functions of the device.
7. The system of claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of policy enforcers are configured to enforce decisions associated with a respective one of the plurality of one or more functions.