DEEP PACKET INSPECTION (DPI) AT AN ENDPOINT
The subject matter described herein includes methods, systems, and computer program products for performing deep packet inspection at an endpoint. According to one method, a data portion of a data packet is examined at an inspection point located at an endpoint or mobile terminal of a communications network. A user profile associated with the endpoint or mobile terminal is provided that defines one or more actions or criteria to be applied to the data packet. An action related to the data packet is performed based on the examined data portion and the user profile.
1 . A method comprising:
at an inspection point located at an endpoint or mobile terminal of a communications network:
examining a data portion of a data packet;
providing a user profile associated with the endpoint or mobile terminal that defines one or more actions or criteria to be applied to the data packet; and
performing an action related to the data packet based on the examined data portion and the user profile.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein examining a data portion of a data packet includes reassembling network traffic packets into constituting objects, decoding and/or decompressing the objects as required, and inspecting the objects at one or more of seven Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) International Organization for Standardization (ISO) layers.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein performing an action includes at least one of: using a specific hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) header in the user profile to identify the endpoint, capturing the content of the data packet, and providing a user identification to a server with each HTTP transaction that includes the HTTP header.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein performing an action includes at least one of: reporting, optimization, lawful intercept, targeted advertisements, quality of experience management, providing tiered services, and copyright enforcement.
5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising managing the user profile from a server through policies.
6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising managing the user profile at the endpoint by an end user.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the endpoint includes one of: a user equipment, mobile communications terminal, smartphone, or tablet.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein performing an action related to the data packet includes determining whether the data packet is associated with protocol non-compliance, viruses, spam, intrusions, or other pre-defined criteria.
9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising collecting performance data from the endpoint.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the collected performance data includes one or more of: HTTP Latency, HTTP Throughput, DNS Response Time, SSL Handshake Duration, and Application Timeouts.