Methods and apparatus for authenticating identity of web access from a network element
View Patent ↗A network configuration having various network elements and user equipments configured to authenticate web access requests is disclosed. Upon receipt of web addresses from various subscribers, the web addresses such as online advertisements are stored in a memory. The network traffic in the communication network is monitored in accordance with the web addresses stored in the memory. After detecting a website assess request such as a click of an online advertisement, an authentication record which authenticates the origin of the network equipment issuing the request. The authentication record is forwarded to a subscription partner via a predefined messaging mechanism.
1. A communication network configured to generate a report identifying a user equipment (“UE”), comprising:
a mobile device coupled to a communication network and configured to access and display online advertisements;
an advertising exchange server (“AES”) coupled to the communication network and configured to provide additional web pages relating to the online advertisements to the mobile device upon receipt of access requests associated with the online advertisement initiated by the mobile device;
a router configured to perform a gateway GPRS support node (“GGSN”), coupled to the mobile device and the AES for routing information between the mobile device and the AES, the router configured to obtain an International Mobile Subscriber Identification (“IMSI”) of the mobile device from web access request generated by the mobile device and a geo-location associated with the mobile device from a cell site coupled to the communication network, the router configured to create an authentication record containing the IMSI and the geo-location associated with the mobile device when an advertising access request for the online advertisements initiated by the mobile device is detected; and
a subscription partner coupled to the router and able to identify whether an ad-click is fraudulent based on IMSI information and geo-location of the mobile device in the authentication record.
2. The configuration of claim 1 , further comprising a radio tower coupled to the communication network connected to the mobile device and capable of facilitating communication between the mobile device and the communication network upon authenticating the mobile device by the authenticating module.
3. The configuration of claim 2 , further comprising a packet core gateway coupled to the communication network capable of facilitating communication between the radio tower and the communication network upon authentication of the radio tower by the authenticating module.
4. The configuration of claim 3 , wherein the mobile device is one of a smart phone, a laptop, and a tablet configured to connect to a cellular radio network for accessing the web pages relating to the one or more advertisements via one or more web applications.
5. The configuration of claim 3 , wherein the advertising exchange server is coupled to the packet core gateway and able to facilitate buying and selling online advertisements for at least one advertisement network.
6. The configuration of claim 3 , wherein the data center is able to identify the radio tower that is associated with the mobile device.
7. The configuration of claim 3 , wherein the packet core gateway stores a plurality of authentication records which provide identities of connected network devices.
8. The configuration of claim 6 , further comprising a data center configured to send a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”) request with the authentication record to the advertising exchange server upon detecting a Universal Resource Locator (“URL”) address indicating a click on the advertisement by a user of the mobile device.
9. A communication network configured to generate a report identifying a user equipment (“UE”), comprising:
a mobile device coupled to a communication network and configured to display an application with an advertisement;
an advertising exchange server (“AES”) coupled to the communication network and configured to provide additional web pages relating to one or more advertisements upon receipt of one or more advertising access requests;
a router, coupled to the mobile device and the advertising exchange server, configured to route network traffic between the mobile device and the AES via the communication network, wherein the router is able to monitor and detect an advertising request sent from the mobile device to the AES, the router configured to capture an International Mobile Subscriber Identification (“IMSI”) of the mobile device from a web access request generated by the mobile device and a geo-location associated with the mobile device from a cell site coupled to the communication network, the router configured to create an authentication record storing the IMSI, geo-location, N-tuple flow information associated with the mobile device from the network traffic carrying the advertising request; and
a subscription partner coupled to the router and able to identify whether an ad-click is fraudulent based on IMSI information and geo-location of the mobile device in the authentication record.
10. The configuration of claim 9 , wherein the authentication record includes information relating to a plurality of IMSIs, source Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses, Geo-locations, and Device Types of a plurality of cellular devices.
11. The configuration of claim 9 , wherein the router includes an authentication module configured to provide the authentication record identifying associated to the mobile device to the advertising exchange server when an advertising access request for the advertisement displayed on the mobile device is clicked.
12. The configuration of claim 9 , further comprising a radio tower coupled to the communication network connected to the mobile device and capable of facilitating communication between a user and the communication network upon authenticating the mobile device.
13. The configuration of claim 12 , further comprising a packet core gateway coupled to the communication network capable of facilitating communication between the radio tower and the communication network upon authentication of the radio tower.
14. The configuration of claim 13 , wherein the mobile device is one of a portable smart phone, a laptop, and a tablet configured to connect to a cellular radio network for accessing web pages relating to advertisements via one or more web applications.
15. The configuration of claim 13 , wherein the advertising exchange server is coupled to the packet core gateway and able to facilitate buying and selling online advertisements for at least one advertisement network.
16. The configuration of claim 13 , wherein the router is coupled to a data center and is able to identify the radio tower that is associated with the mobile device.
17. The configuration of claim 13 , wherein the packet core gateway includes a plurality of authentication records which provide identities of connected network devices.
18. The configuration of claim 16 , wherein the data center sends a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”) request with the authentication record to the advertising exchange server upon detecting a Universal Resource Locator (“URL”) address indicating a click on the advertisement by a user of the portable smart phone.
19. The configuration of claim 9 , wherein the authentication record includes information relating to source Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, Geo-location, Advertising campaign, Publisher, Device Type, and User-Agent.