Flexible authentication using multiple radius AVPs

1. A method performed by an authentication server for authenticating a subscriber, the method comprising:

receiving, at the authentication server, a request message including a plurality of attributes having respective attribute names and respective attribute values;

retrieving, from a profile storage, an authentication profile object;

identifying a plurality of authentication attributes configured to be used for authentication from said authentication profile object;

constructing, by the authentication server, a subscription identifier from the authentication profile object by retrieving a subscription identifier definition;

extracting, by the authentication server, said plurality of authentication attribute values from said message based on the subscription identifier;

pre-processing, by the authentication server, one or more of said extracted attribute values using the subscription identifier definition; and

authenticating, by the authentication server, said request message based on said pre-processed extracted attribute values.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said authentication server comprises a Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) server.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said pre-processing comprises applying a regular expression to extract a sub-string from said extracted attribute value.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said preprocessing comprises modifying a letter case of said extracted attribute value.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said authentication profile object comprises a profile object associated with said subscriber.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein said authentication profile object is associated with a network element from which said request message is received.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said authenticating comprises authenticating based on a combination of said plurality of authentication attributes.

8. An authentication server for authenticating a subscriber, the authentication server comprising:

a network interface;

a memory storing instructions; and

a processor in communication with said network interface and to execute the instructions stored in said memory, the processor being configured to:

receive, via the network interface of the authentication server, a request message including a plurality of attributes having respective attribute names and respective attribute values;

retrieve an authentication profile object from the memory;

identify a plurality of authentication attributes configured to be used for authentication from said authentication profile object;

construct, by the authentication server, a subscription identifier from the authentication profile object by retrieving a subscription identifier definition;

extract, by the authentication server, said plurality of authentication attribute values from said message based on the subscription identifier;

pre-process, by the authentication server, one or more of said extracted attribute values using the subscription identifier definition; and

authenticate, by the authentication server, said request message based on said pre-processed extracted attribute values.

9. The authentication server of claim 8 , wherein said authentication server comprises a Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) server.

10. The authentication server of claim 8 , wherein said pre-processing comprises applying a regular expression to extract a sub-string from said extracted attribute value.

11. The authentication server of claim 8 , wherein said preprocessing comprises modifying a letter case of said extracted attribute value.

12. The authentication server of claim 8 , wherein said authenticating comprises authenticating based on a combination of said plurality of authentication attributes.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with instructions for execution by an authentication server for authenticating a subscriber, the non-transitory computer readable medium that when executed performs instructions for:

receiving, at the authentication server, a request message including a plurality of attributes having respective attribute names and respective attribute values;

retrieving, from a profile storage, an authentication profile object;

identifying a plurality of authentication attributes configured to be used to use for authentication from said authentication profile object;

constructing, by the authentication server, a subscription identifier from the authentication profile object by retrieving a subscription identifier definition;

extracting, by the authentication server, said plurality of authentication attribute values from said message based on the subscription identifier;

pre-processing, by the authentication server, one or more of said extracted attribute values using the subscription identifier definition; and

authenticating, by the authentication server, said request message based on said pre-processed extracted attribute values.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein said pre-processing comprises applying a regular expression to extract a sub-string from said extracted attribute value.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein said pre-processing comprises modifying the letter case of said extracted attribute value.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein said authentication profile object comprises a profile object associated with said subscriber.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein said authentication profile object is associated with a network element from which said request message is received.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein said authenticating comprises authenticating based on a combination of said plurality of authentication attributes.