Allowing differential processing of encrypted tunnels

1. A method, comprising:

receiving an outbound packet in a network device, the outbound packet having a packet header;

modifying the outbound packet, using the network device, by adding a service identifier to a cleartext portion of the packet header, wherein the service identifier identifies a particular service with which the outbound packet is involved;

identifying that the outbound packet corresponds to a boundary of a transaction involving the particular service;

adding an event delimiter to the cleartext portion of the packet header, based at least in part on the identification that the outbound packet corresponds to a boundary of the transaction involving the particular service; and

passing the outbound packet to an encryption process for packaging and transmitting across a tunnel, wherein the event delimiter and the service identifier are not encrypted allowing for exposure of the event delimiter and the service identifier to a network-based control device for differential processing of the outbound packet based on the involvement of the outbound packet with the particular service as defined by the service identifier and the event boundary, wherein differential processing includes applying service-specific charging rules to at least the outbound packet.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network-based control device uses the service identifier to enforce a policy of a service provider corresponding to the particular service.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the particular service is bounded for charging purposes by the event delimiter.

4. A method, comprising:

receiving a packet in a network device, the packet including an encrypted portion and a cleartext portion, wherein the cleartext portion is included in a packet header of the packet;

accessing a service identifier from the cleartext portion of the packet header, wherein the service identifier identifies a particular service to which the received packet is involved;

accessing an event delimiter from the cleartext portion of the packet header, the event delimiter identifying that the received packet represents a boundary of a transaction involving the particular service; and

applying service control and charging logic to the received packet corresponding to the particular service identified in the service identifier, wherein the particular service is bounded for charging purposes by the event delimiter and the service identifier is used in the routing of the received packet to a corresponding service module and further used in providing quality of service specific to the identified particular service.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the event delimiter represents a beginning or ending of a service event.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising using, by a service provider, the event delimiter to charge a predetermined rate for the service event.

7. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more processors; and

logic encoded in one or more non-transitory computer readable media for execution by the one or more processors, and when executed being operable to perform:

receiving a packet, wherein the packet is encrypted and the packet includes a packet header with a cleartext portion;

accessing a service identifier from the cleartext portion of the packet header, wherein the service identifier identifies a particular service to which the received packet is involved;

accessing an event delimiter from the cleartext portion of the packet header, the event delimiter identifying that the received packet represents a boundary of a transaction involving the particular service; and

applying service control and charging logic to the received packet corresponding to the particular service identified in the service identifier, wherein the particular service is bounded for charging purposes by the event delimiter and the service identifier is used in the routing of the received packet to a corresponding service module and further used in providing quality of service specific to the identified particular service.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the packet is received from a virtual private network (VPN) tunnel.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the event delimiter represents a beginning or ending of a service event.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein logic when executed is further operable to perform using, by a service provider, the event delimiter to charge a predetermined rate for the service event corresponding to the particular service.

11. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more processors; and

logic encoded in one or more non-transitory computer readable media for execution by the one or more processors, and when executed being operable to perform:

receiving an outbound packet in a network device, the outbound packet having a packet header;

modifying the outbound packet by adding a service identifier to a cleartext portion of the packet header, wherein the service identifier identifies a particular service with which the outbound packet is involved;

identifying that the outbound packet corresponds to a boundary of a transaction involving the particular service;

adding an event delimiter to the cleartext portion of the packet header, based at least in part on the identification that the outbound packet corresponds to a boundary of the transaction involving the particular service; and

passing the outbound packet to an encryption process for packaging and transmitting across a tunnel, wherein the event delimiter and the service identifier are not encrypted allowing for exposure of the event delimiter and the service identifier to a network-based control device for differential processing of the outbound packet based on the involvement of the outbound packet with the particular service as defined by the service identifier and the event boundary, wherein differential processing includes applying service-specific charging rules to at least the outbound packet.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the network-based control device uses the service identifier to enforce a policy of a service provider corresponding to the particular service.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the particular service is bounded for charging purposes by the event delimiter.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transaction is a particular transaction involving the particular service, the outbound packet is a particular one of a plurality of packets included in a data flow involving the particular transaction, and the method further comprises:

receiving a second outbound packet included in the data flow;

modifying the second outbound packet, using the network device, by adding the service identifier, corresponding to the particular service, to a cleartext portion of a packet header of the second outbound packet;

identifying that the second outbound packet does not correspond to a boundary of the particular transaction; and

passing the outbound packet to an encryption process for packaging and transmitting across a tunnel, wherein the service identifier is not encrypted allowing for exposure of the service identifier of the header of the second outbound packet to a network-based control device for differential processing of the second outbound packet based on the involvement of the outbound packet with the particular service as defined by the service identifier, wherein differential processing includes applying a service-specific policy to at least the second outbound packet.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the particular service is at least one of a particular instant messaging, IPsec, peer-to-peer file sharing, video streaming, and video chat service.