Patent ID: 11924190
Assignee: CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Field: Digital communication (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 14:
15. A method comprising:
associating a client device with an access network provider separate from the client device, wherein associating the client device comprises transmitting an identity of a user of the client device to the access network provider, wherein the identity enables the access network provider to receive, from an identity provider separate from the client device and the access network provider, (i) a credential associated with the identity and (ii) information identifying a network-based service to be applied to network traffic with the client device;
receiving, by the access network provider and from a service provider separate from the access network provider and that is capable of providing the network-based service, network traffic via a secure connection between the service provider and the access network provider, wherein the secure connection is established using the credential and the received information; and
determining, based on an assurance value embedded by the service provider in headers of packets of the network traffic, whether the network-based service is being provided by the service provider, wherein the assurance value is based on a first token communicated by the identity provider to the service provider and the client device;
establishing a channel from the client device to the service provider and separate from the secure connection;
transmitting characterization information of the network traffic from the client device to the service provider via the channel; and
receiving, at the client device, a response from the service provider indicating whether the characterization information is present in a cache table of the service provider.