User Identity-Based Unsolicited Traffic Controller for Wireless Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wireless communication devices face inefficiencies and resource waste due to unsolicited traffic, which traditional techniques struggle to effectively block, especially in CDMA2000 networks where IP addresses are dynamically assigned, leading to ineffective firewall rules and resource misuse.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an unsolicited traffic controller that uses user identity-based traffic control rules, persisting across changes in IP address and session, to block unsolicited traffic by determining the identity of the user and applying specific traffic control rules to prevent unwanted packets from reaching the device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a firewall is used to block unsolicited traffic, then traffic control is improved, but the firewall rules become ineffective when IP addresses change due to mobility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the identification parameter from IP address to user identity (IMSI, MSISDN, or other permanent identifiers). This parameter change allows the system to maintain accurate user identification and traffic control effectiveness even when IP addresses change dynamically due to mobility, thereby resolving the contradiction between traffic control reliability and adaptability to IP changes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an unsolicited traffic controller as an intermediary component between the network and wireless communication devices. This controller uses user identity-based rules to intercept and control unsolicited traffic, serving as a mediator that maintains effective traffic management despite IP address dynamics, thus resolving the contradiction.
2Device complexity
If IP address-based filtering is used, then traffic blocking is simplified, but it cannot prevent unsolicited traffic from stale sessions or when addresses are reused
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the filtering parameter from transient IP address to persistent user identity. This allows the system to maintain reliable unsolicited traffic blocking by associating control rules with user identities that remain constant across IP address changes, session terminations, and network reconfigurations, thereby improving blocking reliability without significantly increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by establishing user identity-based traffic control rules in advance before unsolicited traffic arrives. The unsolicited traffic controller pre-configures filtering rules based on user identities, enabling reliable blocking of unsolicited traffic from stale sessions or reused addresses before they can cause harm, thus improving reliability without requiring complex real-time analysis.
3Productivity
If dynamic IP address assignment is used, then network resource utilization is improved, but firewall rules based on static addresses become ineffective
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the address parameter from dynamic IP to persistent user identity for firewall rule association. This allows the network to maintain dynamic IP assignment for efficient resource utilization while using persistent user identities to anchor traffic control rules, ensuring firewall effectiveness remains reliable despite IP dynamics.
Solution Approach 2:
The unsolicited traffic controller acts as an intermediary that bridges dynamic IP assignment and persistent user identification. It receives packets with dynamic IP addresses, translates them to user identities, and applies appropriate traffic control rules, thereby maintaining both network productivity through dynamic addressing and firewall reliability through persistent identification.
4Device complexity
If unsolicited traffic is allowed to reach the device, then network simplicity is maintained, but battery drain and resource waste occur
Solution Approach 1:
The unsolicited traffic controller serves as an intermediary that intercepts unsolicited traffic before it reaches the wireless communication device. By implementing user identity-based filtering at the network level, the system prevents energy-wasting processing of unsolicited packets at the device, thereby reducing battery drain without significantly increasing overall network complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and removes unsolicited traffic from the data flow using user identity-based filtering. The unsolicited traffic controller identifies and extracts unwanted packets based on user identities and their solicitation status, preventing them from reaching mobile devices and thus eliminating the associated battery drain and resource waste while maintaining relatively simple network architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus and method of controlling unsolicited traffic are disclosed herein. The apparatus and method can be applied to wireless communication networks such as CDMA2000, UMTS, GPRS and the like so that traffic which is not solicited by wireless communication devices operating on those networks is not sent over the air needlessly. The present application provides techniques to block unsolicited traffic based on the identity of a user (for example based on International Mobile Station Identity (IMSI), Network Access Identifier (NAI), Mobile Station Internet Services Digital Network Number (MSISDN), Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Universal Resource Locator (url)) as opposed to techniques that are based on a session or IP address, such as a traditional firewall. In accordance to this application, user identity based techniques are applied to block unsolicited traffic whenever a user has established a data session. Further in accordance with this application, user identity based techniques are persisted across changes in IP address and/or session.