Patent ID: 9450920
Filing Date: 2016-09-20
CPC Classification: H04L

Claim Text:
1. A method for providing a User End device (UE) with access to a service provided by an Application Function (AF) via a network, the method comprising: authenticating the UE by a gateway to which the UE is attached; obtaining, by the gateway, a service flow request from the UE, wherein the gateway adds additional information to the service flow request; creating, by the gateway, a Network Address Translation (NAT) or Network Address and Port Translation (NAPT) binding for the UE; sending, by the gateway, information on the created NAT or NAPT binding to a state database (SDB), wherein the SDB is on a separate network from the network used by the AF to provide the service to the UE; sending, by the SDB, the information on the created NAT or NAPT binding, or a UE identifier corresponding to the information on the created NAT or NAPT binding, to the AF; forwarding, by the gateway, the service flow request to the AF via the network; correlating, by the AF, the service flow request with the UE based on the information on the created NAT or NAPT binding, or the UE identifier corresponding to the information on the created NAT or NAPT binding, from the SDB; and configuring, by the AF, in response to the correlating, a service flow corresponding to the service flow request with the UE for providing the service, wherein the configuring includes at least one of the following: (a) allowing the service to be set up, (b) allowing specific policies to be applied to the service, and (c) starting an accounting procedure.