Apple Inc.

Nortel Networks Corporation

Nortel Networks Limted

Ricardo Serrano

Essam El-Beik

Hachem Moussa

Kory Keith

Ahmad Shawky Muhanna

Ahmad Muhann

Wireless gateway nodes are enabled to support mobile node services, such as content based billing, when a data treatment server is present in the system. Using one of a defined Content Flow Label (CFL), an Application Program Interface (API), and a compression protocol header, content based billing is provided such as by exchanging content and byte count information with the data treatment server.

Enhanced encapsulation mechanism using GRE protocol

The methods of the present invention enable wireless gateway nodes to support mobile node services, such as content based billing, when a data treatment server is present in the system. Using one of a defined Content Flow Label (CFL), an Application Program Interface (API), and a compression protocol header, the present invention provides content based billing by exchanging content and byte count information with the data treatment server. In one embodiment, a new compression protocol header type is defined. In a second embodiment, a content flow label with a byte count field is inserted in a Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) header. In an alternate embodiment, the wireless gateway node implements an API to transfer the content flow label and byte count information over a signaling link. In yet another embodiment, the data treatment server performs the content based billing and similar mobile node services.

Growing community of inventors

Flower Mound, TX, United States of America

Ricardo Serrano