Patent ID: 8983457
Filing Date: 2015-03-17
Classification: H04L,H04W

Abstract:
1. A policy control architecture for controlling policies between a cellular radio access network and a fixed access network, said policy control architecture comprising: an independent Identity Provider (IDP) comprising a processor coupled to a non-transitory memory, the IDP serving as a centralized policy controller discovery anchor point for both the cellular radio access network and the fixed access network, wherein the IDP is independent of the radio access network and the fixed access network and is configured to assign an identity to a user terminal and to generate a corresponding IDP-user terminal-entry for the user terminal before the user terminal connects to the radio access network or the fixed access network; and a plurality of network-based policy controllers, each controller comprising a processor coupled to a non-transitory memory, wherein the plurality of network-based policy controllers includes a first User Policy Controller (UPC) of the cellular radio access network that enforces policies providing priority to cellular network subscribers and a second UPC of the fixed access network that enforces equal-access policies for all users, wherein when the user terminal connects to the cellular radio access network and launches a subscribed service, the first UPC is configured to: generate a UPC-user terminal-entry including an identity (ID) of the subscribed service; and send address information of the first UPC to the independent IDP for storage in the corresponding IDP-user terminal entry; wherein when the user terminal relocates from the cellular radio access network to the fixed access network, the second UPC is configured to: utilize the identity of the user terminal to access the corresponding IDP-user terminal-entry in the independent IDP to retrieve the address of the first UPC; and obtain policy control information relating to the user terminal and the subscribed service from the first UPC.