Packet-Based Usage Tracking for Wireless Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Emerging wireless networks route all services as packet data, making it difficult to accurately track voice calls and SMS messages as data usage, which complicates deducting units from subscribers' plans, as current methods rely on switch feedback that is no longer applicable.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a packet-based usage tracking system that includes software modules in wireless devices and mobile virtual network operator clouds to identify and track wireless services by adding service identifiers to data packets and accumulating usage information, using a wireless service identifier database to differentiate between types of services.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If all wireless services are routed as packet data through a single switch, then network convergence and protocol unification are achieved, but the ability to accurately differentiate and track voice calls and SMS messages is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the unified packet data stream by inserting service identifiers into packet headers that indicate whether each packet belongs to voice service, SMS service, or data service. This segmentation allows the single switch to handle all services while maintaining the ability to differentiate and track each service type separately through the inserted identifiers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces service identifiers as intermediary elements inserted into packet headers. These identifiers act as mediators that carry service type information through the unified packet-switched network, enabling the tracking system to distinguish between different service types without requiring separate physical networks or switches.
2Measurement precision
If service identifiers are inserted into packet headers, then usage differentiation is enabled, but packet processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The service identifier insertion is performed in advance at the point of service access, before packets enter the core network. This preliminary action ensures that tracking information is already embedded in packets when they reach the single switch, eliminating the need for complex real-time analysis and reducing processing complexity downstream.
3Reliability
If traditional switch feedback methods are used, then usage tracking works for separate service networks, but it fails in unified packet-switched networks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal tracking mechanism that works across all service types (voice, SMS, data) within the unified packet-switched network. By using service identifiers embedded in packet headers, the system provides multi-functional capability to track different service types through a single mechanism, making the tracking system adaptable to the unified network architecture while maintaining reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for tracking usage of a wireless device includes monitoring, at a tracking device connected to and different from a wireless network, information regarding a first data packet sent from a wireless device to the wireless network, wherein the information regarding the first data packet includes an identifier of the wireless device, an identifier of a first type of wireless service, and an amount of data included in the first data packet.