Patent ID: 8737957
Filing Date: 2014-05-27
Classification: G06F,G06Q,H04L,H04M,H04W,Y02P

Abstract:
1. A method performed by a network system, the method comprising: obtaining, from a device-group management entity, at least a portion of a service policy applicable to a device group managed at least in part by the device-group management entity, the device-group management entity being different from a network system operator associated with the network system, the device group including a plurality of end-user devices communicatively coupled to or capable of being communicatively coupled to the network system over a wireless access network, the plurality of end-user devices including a particular end-user device, the service policy to be applied when one or more end-user devices in the device group communicate or attempt to communicate over the wireless access network, the service policy comprising: identifying data traffic over the wireless access network associated with the particular end-user device; based on the classification policy, identifying the one or more data transfers over the wireless access network associated with the particular service activity within the data traffic over the wireless access network associated with the particular end-user device; and based on the accounting policy, allocating at least a portion of a usage measure to an account, the usage measure comprising an indication of a usage of the wireless access network associated with the one or more data transfers over the wireless access network associated with the particular service activity, the account being associated with an entity that is financially responsible for at least a portion of usage of the wireless access network associated with the device group.