The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 18, 2010
Filed:
Mar. 04, 2003
Richard Manfred Pruss, San Jose, CA (US);
Matthew Lawrence King, Eversley, GB;
John Fitzgerald, Slough, GB;
Tanja Hess, Hessen, DE;
Mark Grayson, Paris, FR;
David Hovey, Grasse, FR;
Marco Cesare Centemeri, Milan, IT;
Amit Phadnis, Karnataka, IN;
Navneet Agarwal, Karnataka, IN;
Vinodh Kumar Ravindranath, Karnataka, IN;
Kotha Subba Rama Chandra Murty, Karnataka, IN;
Tirumali Seetharam Ajai, Karnataka, IN;
Richard Manfred Pruss, San Jose, CA (US);
Matthew Lawrence King, Eversley, GB;
John Fitzgerald, Slough, GB;
Tanja Hess, Hessen, DE;
Mark Grayson, Paris, FR;
David Hovey, Grasse, FR;
Marco Cesare Centemeri, Milan, IT;
Amit Phadnis, Karnataka, IN;
Navneet Agarwal, Karnataka, IN;
Vinodh Kumar Ravindranath, Karnataka, IN;
Kotha Subba Rama Chandra Murty, Karnataka, IN;
Tirumali Seetharam Ajai, Karnataka, IN;
Cisco Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A method is disclosed for authorizing a prepaid network service in a data network. A network end station issues a request for a prepaid network service. At a network node, such as a router serving as a gateway for selecting services, a determination is made about whether a user associated with the end station is authorized to access the prepaid network service. Network traffic from the end station is forwarded to a service provider only when the user is authorized to use the prepaid network service. Specific embodiments provide message flows among a mobile station, gateway support node, router, and authentication server that support providing prepaid services in a packet-switched network for mobile communication. In certain embodiments, a connection is held open for an end station while a prepaid quota value is refreshed at a portal, thereby reducing overhead and precluding the need to repeat user logon steps. Further, unused quota amounts can be returned to the authentication server for use in association with multiple concurrent connections of the same device.