PATENT DOCUMENT

Abstract:
Internet protocol (IP) data service providers may provide several services over a single communications channel and/or circuit. For example, the provider may deliver public services such as Wi-Fi, content, gaming, etc. as well as business-critical “back-office” services such as credit card processing, VoIP, streaming video, video conferencing, etc. Some applications can very demanding from a quality of service standpoint, whereas other applications are unwanted or unauthorized on the network such as worms, viruses, denial of service attacks and/or certain types of peer-to-peer file sharing applications. Applications sharing the communication channel may be classified into one or more application classifications. The available bandwidth over the communications channel and/or circuit may then be managed via a prioritization system that can be parameterized based on the available bandwidth and/or the desired application behavior for given characterized applications. Many of the above unwanted applications can be suppressed, after being classified.

Full Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM 
       [0001]    This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/917,004, filed May 9, 2007, titled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING APPLICATION CATEGORIZATION AND QUALITY OF SERVICE IN A NETWORK WITH MULTIPLE USERS” the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    This invention is in the field of Internet access, more specifically, Internet access with two or more of users wherein the quality of service on the network is managed via a network traffic classification system and various quality of service methods and systems. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Several Internet service providers (ISPs) provide services at public venues such as hotels, airports, restaurants (so-called “hot-spots”). ISPs may also provide distributed access in metropolitan area networks or other venues. The site may have two or more of portable computing devices as well as back office devices connected to the network, each with one or more network-enabled applications running on each device. Some applications require a high quality of service (QoS), but in the current state of the art, only minimal quality of service is available for the customer. If any quality of service is available, it is usually categorized as “free” shared bandwidth over a small amount of bandwidth versus premium bandwidth that can be purchased (also shared). For example, some hotels offer free network access at 128 kbps, then allow customers to pay for access to the remainder of a T-1 or other broadband access (1.54 mbps). Whereas this allows for some segregation and prioritization of applications, it is insufficient to provide for the bandwidth for many types of applications. Furthermore, there is no protection from unwanted application types such as worms, viruses, and/or certain types of peer-to-peer file sharing applications. 
         [0006]    High-speed Internet access (HSIA) is a necessity for many business travelers. HSIA uses a broadband connection, typically defined in telecommunication terminology as anything greater than 200 kbps (200 kilobits/second). However, most customers are used to having much more than that available at their home or office. Often a home user will have a DSL connection or a cable modem with more than 1 mbps (1 megabit per second) downstream and greater than 0.5 mbps upstream. Note that in the home environment, this bandwidth is usually used by a single person rather than being shared between many users. As the user travels to hotels, airports, or hotspots, they expect a fast connection while on the road. 
         [0007]    Early in the deployment of HSIA into hotels (e.g., back in 2000/2001), a single T-1 (1.5 Mbps) was typically provisioned for a hotel. Because the number of guests actually using the HSIA was small (e.g., less than 1% take rate in 2001), the circuit was underutilized with plenty of capacity for more users. However, as the number of users has increased over the years (e.g., now averaging 20% and in some locations greater than 75% of occupied rooms), the demand for more bandwidth has increased. In addition to the increase in the number of guests using the system, the types of applications have also become more bandwidth intensive. Certainly e-mail is one of the most common applications, and is typically low bandwidth, but it is now fairly common to have 10-20 megabyte file attachments in e-mail. Moreover, on-line video such as YouTube, MySpace, as well as news and sports clips are very bandwidth intensive. Thus, a T-1 in a large hotel can become saturated with business traffic and larger hotels may have to upgrade to multi-T-1 or other higher-bandwidth connectivity solutions to keep up guest demands. 
         [0008]    Whereas the bandwidth consumption for legitimate uses of the Internet has increased rapidly over the past several years, other factors also can consume a large amount of bandwidth. One of the most aggressive classes of consumers of bandwidth is the peer-to-peer file sharing applications such as BitTorrent, LimeWire, Kazaa, Gnutella, eDonkey, etc. These applications can connect to other peers on the network and download/upload large files (multi-gigabyte files in some cases). These applications automatically adjust to consume as much bandwidth as is available. Hence, a single client running a peer-to-peer application on a hotel can chew up all of the available bandwidth at the hotel, leaving other users with inadequate bandwidth for their needs. Clearly this is an undesirable situation for the hotel guest. One way of solving this is for hoteliers to continue upgrading circuit bandwidth (e.g. multi-T1, a DS-3 or and/or a metro Ethernet connection) to keep up with the demand. The problem with that is that no matter how big the pipe is, it can be consumed by the peer-to-peer applications. 
         [0009]    In addition to peer-to-peer applications, other factors can also affect bandwidth. Malware (e.g., worms, viruses, Trojan horses, etc.) can spread and consume a large amount of bandwidth on a property. Thus a malware suppression system is needed to prevent these from negatively impacting users. 
         [0010]    Whereas there are several companies that provide “bandwidth shaping”, “traffic shaping”, and/or “packet shaping” technologies, there is a need to provide a system that allows customers to purchase a particular amount of bandwidth for a particular application. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    The preferred embodiments will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a network communication system, according to various embodiments; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a network communication system, according to various embodiments; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of various applications that may be executed on various computing devices, according to various embodiments; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram of data, according to various embodiments; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5A  illustrates a flowchart diagram of a method, according to various embodiments; 
           [0017]      FIG. 5B  illustrates a flowchart diagram of a method, according to various embodiments; 
           [0018]      FIG. 6A  illustrates a flowchart diagram of a method, according to various embodiments; 
           [0019]      FIG. 6B  illustrates a flowchart diagram of a method, according to various embodiments; 
           [0020]      FIG. 7  illustrates a flowchart diagram of a method that may be used in providing various qualities of services, according to various embodiments; 
           [0021]      FIG. 8  illustrates a flowchart diagram of a method that may be used in providing various qualities of services, according to various embodiments; 
           [0022]      FIG. 9  illustrates a flowchart diagram of a method that may be used in providing various qualities of services, according to various embodiments; 
           [0023]      FIG. 10  illustrates a flowchart diagram of a method that may be used in providing various qualities of services, according to various embodiments; 
           [0024]      FIG. 11  illustrates a flowchart diagram of a method, according to various embodiments; 
           [0025]      FIG. 12  illustrates a flowchart diagram of a method, according to various embodiments; and 
           [0026]      FIG. 13  is a block diagram of a network communication system, according to various embodiments. 
       
    
    
       [0027]    While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0028]    U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/917,004, filed May 9, 2007, titled “System and method for providing application categorization and quality of service in a network with multiple users” is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety as though fully and completely set forth herein. 
         [0029]    U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/851,633 titled “Method for providing wireless services” and filed on May 21, 2004, whose inventor are David J. Vucina, Gregory G. Williams, James D. Keeler, Scott W. Martin, and Todd L. Mathis, is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety as though fully and completely set forth herein. 
         [0030]    Turning now to  FIG. 1 , a network communication system (NCS)  100  is illustrated, according to various embodiments. NCS  100  may include one or more access points (APs) such as APs  120 A- 120 D. In various embodiments, wired APs  120 C- 120 D may each communicate with one or more computing devices in a wired fashion. For example, wired access point (AP)  120 C may communicate with portable computing devices (PCDs)  110 D- 110 F in a wired fashion, and wired AP  120 D may communicate with portable computing device (PCD)  110 A in a wired fashion. In some embodiments, wireless APs  120 A- 120  may each communicate with one or more computing devices in a wireless fashion. For example, wireless AP  120 B may communicate with a PCD  110 B and/or a PCD  110 C, and wireless AP  120 A may communicate with other computing devices. Each of wireless APs  120 A- 120 B may include a wireless transceiver and may operate according to one or more wireless standards, such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16, wireless Ethernet (IEEE 802.11), Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), CDMA (code division multiple access), TDMA (time division multiple access), FDMA (frequency division multiple access), ultra wide band, digital, and/or infrared communication technologies, among others. 
         [0031]    Each of APs  120 A- 120 D may be coupled to a network  130 A. Network  130 A may be coupled to a network management device (NMD)  105 . NMD  105  may be coupled to a network  130 B. In various embodiments, NMD  105  may provide authentication, quality of service (QoS), communication traffic shaping, and/or access control from one or more computing devices (e.g., PCDs  110 A- 110 F, retail entity computing devices (RECDs)  111 A- 111 C, and back office devices (BODs)  170 A- 170 C) coupled to network  130 A through one of APs  120 A- 120 D to network  130 B. In some embodiments, NMD  105  may include an access control mechanism and/or a firewall mechanism. For example, the access control mechanism and/or the firewall mechanism may be used in conducting data communications in accordance and/or in association with providing various qualities of services and/or traffic shaping. 
         [0032]    In some embodiments, NCS  100  may include a historical pattern classifier (HPC)  180 A coupled to network  130 A and/or a HPC  180 B coupled to network  130 B. Each of HPC  180 A- 180 B may respectfully include a memory medium and/or a processor. HPC  180 A may monitor at least a portion of network traffic of network  130 A, and HPC  180 B may monitor at least a portion of network traffic of network  130 B. In various embodiments, the memory medium of HPC  180 A may store various histories of network traffic of network  130 A, and/or the memory medium of HPC  180 B may store various histories of network traffic of network  130 B. These various histories may include information regarding bandwidth utilization information, transfer amount information, time information, network utilization information, and/or various information associated with and/or corresponding to data  400 , described below with regard to  FIG. 4 . In various embodiments, at least one of HPC  180 A- 180 B may determine various computing device application classifications based on the various histories. For example, determining the various computing device application classifications may include using one or more time-series based pattern classification methods such as a neural network, a time-delay neural network, a Bayesian classifier, a learning vector quantization system and/or similar pattern recognition/classification methods, among others. In various embodiments, HPC  180 A and/or HPC  180 B may be accessed and/or queried to determine a computing device application classification. 
         [0033]    In various embodiments, network  130 A and/or network  130 B may include a wired network, a wireless network or a combination of wired and wireless networks. Network  130 A and/or network  130 B may include and/or be coupled to various types of communications networks, such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN), an Internet, a wide area network (WAN) (e.g., a private WAN, corporate WAN, etc.), a local area network (LAN). Thus, NMD  105  may be coupled to a PSTN, e.g., Ethernet cable and DSL; a cable (television) based network; a satellite-based system; and/or a fiber based network; among others. 
         [0034]    In some embodiments, network  130 A and/or network  130 B may include one or more wireless networks, e.g., based on IEEE 802.11 and/or IEEE 802.16. For instance, one or more wired and/or wireless APs  120 A- 120 D may be coupled to network  130 A in a wireless fashion. Network  130 A and/or network  130 B may include one or more DSL (digital subscriber line) and/or cable (e.g., cable television) networks and/or infrastructures. For example, network  130 A and/or network  130 B may include one or more of: cable modems, cable modem termination systems (CMTSs), satellite modems, DSL modems, digital subscriber line access multiplexers (DSLAMs), broadband remote access servers (BRASs), telecommunications circuits, and/or metropolitan area networks (MANs), among others. In various embodiments, network  130 B may form part of the Internet, or may couple to other networks, e.g., other local or wide area networks such as the Internet. 
         [0035]    In various embodiments, access to these networks may include one or more “services” these networks may provide. For example, these one or more services may include: email, world wide web, file transfer, printing, file sharing, file system sharing, remote file system, network file system (NFS), news, multicast, netbios, encryption, domain name service (DNS), routing, tunneling, chat such as Internet Remote Chat or AOL Instant Messenger, gaming, licensing, license management, digital rights management, network time, remote desktop, remote windowing, audio, database (e.g., Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, etc.), authentication, accounting, authorization, virtual local area network (VLAN) (e.g., IEEE 802.1q), virtual private network or VPN, audio, phone, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP), paging, or video, among others. In some embodiments, these one or more service may be associated with and/or correspond to one or more protocols of one or more computer and/or software applications. 
         [0036]    NCS  100  may include one or more content providers  160 A- 160 B. In some embodiments, content provider  160 A may be coupled to network  130 A. In some embodiments, content provider  160 B may be coupled to network  130 B. Content provider  160 A and/or content provider  160 B may provide content such as audio, video, text, pictures, and/or maps among others through one or more protocols. Some or all of the information from content provider  160 A and/or content provider may be pre-distributed to a local cache device  162  (such as a computer system, a computer hard drive, and/or other memory media) which may facilitate faster local access to the content and/or which may minimize delays and/or costs of transmitting the content through network  130 B. 
         [0037]    The content may be based on a retail entity and/or one or more promotions of the retail entity. For example, the content may be entertainment type content to entice customers into the retail entity locations. For example, for a fast food restaurant, such as a McDonalds, content may be provided that is geared to children, such as games based on current McDonalds promotions or themes, etc. In some embodiments, network access to this type of enticement content may be given freely to purchasing customers to entice them to visit the retail location. This type of network content may be provided in lieu of traditional “plastic toys” or other items routinely given out to children in these restaurants. 
         [0038]    In some embodiments, content provider  160 A and/or content provider  160 B may provide content that may be used by a business itself, e.g., content to train employees of the retail entity and/or provide necessary business information. In some embodiments, NMD  105  may include content provider  160 A or the content and/or functionality of content provider  160 A. A portion or all of the content may be cached on the local cache device  162 . 
         [0039]    NCS  100  may include a management information base (MIB)  150 . MIB  150  may be coupled to network  130 A. MIB  150  may be a mechanism, such as a memory, which may allow the persistent storage and management of information that may be used by network  130 A to operate. In some embodiments, MIB  150  may store a data structure, such as a table comprising a list of identification information and a corresponding list of the plurality of possible networks and/or services. The data structure may also store access information, which may include associated methods for providing data to/from the respective plurality of possible networks and/or services. The access information may include access level and/or privilege level information. The data structure may include a table having a plurality of tuples, with each tuple having the identification information. In various embodiments, the data structures that store this information may be included in each of the APs  120 A- 120 D, or may be provided in various other locations. 
         [0040]    MIB  150  may store other information, such as a directory of one or more of the elements (e.g., access points, computing devices, etc) in NCS  100 , network topology information, characteristics of individual network elements, characteristics of connection links, performance and trend statistics, and/or any information that may be of interest in operating network  130 A. For example, MIB  150  may store longitude, latitude, altitude and/or other geographic information that may be used to locate one or more access points and/or one or more geographic regions. 
         [0041]    In some embodiments, NMD  105  may be a computer system operable to include one or more of MIB  150 , network  130 A, various networking equipment, one or more APs  120 A- 120 D, and/or one more historical pattern classifiers (HPCs)  180 A- 180 B, among others. 
         [0042]    In various embodiments, a user operating a PCD (e.g., one of PCDs  110 A- 110 F) may communicate with one of the APs  120 A- 120 D to gain access to a network and its services, such as the Internet. One or more of PCDs  110 B- 110 C may have a wireless communication device, e.g., a wireless Ethernet card, for communicating with one or more of the wireless APs  120 A- 120 B. One or more of PCDs  110 A and  110 D- 110 F may have a wired communication device, e.g., an Ethernet card, for communicating with one or more of the wired APs  120 C- 120 D. In various embodiments, one or more of PCDs  110 A- 110 F may be any of various types of devices, including a computer system, such as a portable computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone (e.g., a cellular telephone, a satellite telephone, etc.), an Internet appliance, a communications device, or other wired or wireless device. PCD  110  may include various wireless or wired communication devices, such as a wireless Ethernet card, paging logic, RF (radio frequency) communication logic, a wired Ethernet card, a modem, a DSL device, an ISDN device, an ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) device, a parallel or serial port bus interface, and/or other type of communication device. 
         [0043]    In some embodiments, one or more of PCDs  110 A- 110 F may include a memory medium which stores identification information. The identification information may be a System ID (an IEEE 802.11 System ID), a processor or CPU ID, a Media Access Control (MAC) ID of a wireless or wired Ethernet device, network identification information, and/or other type of information that identifies the portable computing device. The identification information may be included in a digital certificate (e.g., an X.509 certificate), which may be stored in a web browser, in a client software, and/or in a memory medium of the portable computing device. 
         [0044]    In communicating with wireless APs  120 A- 120 B, the wireless communication may be accomplished in a number of ways. In some embodiments, one or more of PCDs  110 B- 110 C and wireless APs  120 A- 120 B may be equipped with appropriate transmitters and receivers compatible in power and frequency range (e.g., 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 3.6 GHz, 5 GHz, among others) to establish a wireless communication link. Wireless communication may also be accomplished through cellular, satellite, digital, and/or infrared communication technologies, among others. To provide user identification and/or ensure security, a portable computing device and/or wireless AP may use any of various security systems and/or methods. 
         [0045]    In communicating with wired APs  120 C- 120 D, the wired connection may be accomplished through a variety of different ports, connectors, and/or transmission mediums. For example, one or more PCDs  110 A and  110 D- 110 F may be connected through an Ethernet, universal serial bus (USB), FireWire (IEEE 1394), serial, or parallel transmission cables, among others. One or more of PCDs  110 A and  110 D- 110 F may include various communication devices for connecting to one of the wired APs  120 C- 120 D, such as wired Ethernet cards, modems, DSL adapters, ATM adapters, IDSN devices, or other communication devices. In one example, a hotel may have Ethernet connections in the restaurants, shops, meeting rooms, and/or guest rooms. In a second example, a fast-food restaurant and/or a coffee shop may have both wireless and wired connections for mobile users. A user may connect to a wired AP  120 C through the use of a laptop computer (e.g., one of PCDs  110 D- 110 F), an Ethernet network card, and a network cable. This connection may have the same impact as a connection made to a wireless AP  120 B. In other words, a user using a wired portable computing device may be able to use various network infrastructures in the same manner as a user using a wireless portable computing device. 
         [0046]    In some embodiments, one or more a back office devices (BODs)  170 A- 170 C may be coupled to network  130 A. For example, one or more of a BODs  170 A- 170 C may include a cash register, a point of sale (POS) terminal, a smart card reader, a camera, a bar code reader, a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader, a credit card reading mechanism, and/or a remote order placing device, among others. In some embodiments, the remote order placing device may allow a retail entity to remotely accept orders from customers using the remote order placing device. For example, a customer may use a “drive-thru” window and the remote order placing device at one location, and the retail entity may accept the order at another location. For instance, the retail entity may accept orders in a first city from customers using the remote order placing device in a different second city. 
         [0047]    In various embodiments, one or more of BODs  170 A- 170 C may be configured to contact a clearinghouse through one or more networks (e.g., one or more of networks  130 A- 130 B) to debit one or more credit and/or debit card accounts. One or more of BODs  170 A- 170 C may include other mechanisms to identify a customer and/or customer account information. The POS terminal may include a smart card reader. In some embodiments, a back office device (BOD) may be coupled to a network through a wired AP. For example, BOD  170 A may be coupled to network  130 A through wired AP  120 D. In various embodiments, a BOD may be coupled to a network in a wireless fashion. For example, BOD  170 C may be coupled to network  130 A through wireless AP  120 B. 
         [0048]    In various embodiments, NCS  100  may be geographic-based. In other words, the NCS  100  may provide information and/or services to a portable computing device (e.g., one of PCDs  110 A- 110 F) of a user based at least partly on the geographic location of the portable computing device, e.g., as indicated by one or more of APs  120 A- 120 D and/or as indicated by geographic information (e.g., GPS information, fast-food restaurant and/or coffee shop location, room identification, room number, room name, and/or room area, among others) provided from the portable computing device. In some embodiments, one or more of APs  120 A- 120 D may be arranged at known geographic locations and may provide geographic location information regarding the geographic location of the user and/or the portable computing device. In some embodiments, a computing device (e.g., one of PCDs  110 A- 110 F, RECDs  111 A- 111 C, and BODs  170 A- 170 C) may provide geographic location information of the computing device through an access point (e.g., one of APs  120 A- 120 D) to network  130 A. For example, the computing device may include GPS (Global Positioning System) equipment enabling the computing device to provide its geographic location through the access point to network  130 A. 
         [0049]    In some embodiments, a retail entity computing device (RECD) may be coupled to network  130 A. Retail entity computing devices (RECDs)  111 A- 111 B may be coupled to network  130 A in a wired fashion (e.g., through wired AP  120 D) while RECD  111 C may be coupled to network  130 A in a wireless fashion (e.g., through wireless AP  120 B). A retail entity may provide RECDs  111 A- 111 C at various locations of the retail entity. RECDs  111 A- 111 C may be used by customers of the retail entity to access content and/or network services offered at the various locations. In various embodiments, the retail entity may distribute access codes, and the access codes may be used to authenticate a user for service. For example, an access code may be used to authenticate a user for access to network  130 B. One or more of RECDs  111 A- 111 C may be “locked down” to prevent theft. 
         [0050]    The retail entity may distribute access codes to access content through one or more of RECDs  111 A- 111 C. For example, a customer of the retail entity may receive an access code and use the access code with RECD  111 B to access content from one or more of content providers  160 A- 160 B. In various examples, the content may include audio, video, maps, pictures, and/or text, among others. For instance, the content may include a movie trailer, a music video, and/or a computer-implemented game, web pages, graphics, and/or a digital magazine, among others. Some or all of the content may be cached on a local cache device  162 . The content cache may be updated, replaced, or added to based on various factors including the date of the content (e.g. digital magazines and/or digital newspapers may be updated once/day or once/week), the local demographics or local area attractions, size of the data, available bandwidth for download, and/or other scheduled mechanism for updating the cached content. 
         [0051]    In some embodiments, access codes to content may be provided to customers with a purchase of goods and/or services. For example, a customer may receive an access code to download a computer-implemented game. The computer-implemented game may be downloaded to one or more of PCDs  110 A- 110 F, for instance. The access code to download a computer-implemented game may be distributed instead of a toy or trinket that may have accompanied a purchase of a meal. The computer-implemented game may include one or more digital rights management schemes. For instance, a digital rights management scheme may provide protection against further distribution of the computer-implemented game, e.g., not allowing distribution of the computer-implemented game to another computing device after it is downloaded. A digital rights management scheme may allow the computer-implemented game to only be played at a location of the retail entity. 
         [0052]    In various embodiments, NMD  105  may service a single location. In some embodiments, NMD  105  may service two or more locations (e.g., locations  175 A- 175 C), as shown in  FIG. 2 . For instance, each of various locations  175 A- 175 C may include a portion of NCS  100 . As described herein, a geographic location may include a geographic region. For instance, locations  175 A- 175  may be referred to as geographic locations and/or geographic regions, and they may include one or more areas of one or more sizes. In one example, location  175 C may include a meeting room. In second example, location  175 A may include a retail entity location, such as a coffee shop, a sandwich shop, a McDonalds location, etc. In another example, location  175 B may include a city. More information regarding geographic location information may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,061, referenced above. 
         [0053]    In some embodiments, network  130 A may support bandwidth shaping or traffic shaping. In various embodiments, a data rate and/or packet rate may be reserved for one or more computer systems at location  175 A. For example, one or more of BODs  170 A- 170 C may be able to use a data rate 728 kilobits per second (kbps) to transmit information to network  130 B while one or more of PCDs  110 A- 110 F may only be able to use 128 kbps to transmit information to network  130 B. In some embodiments, traffic shaping may “deburst” and/or smooth traffic flows. For example, without traffic shaping, packets traversing network  130 A may be: ten packets in a first second, 0 packets in a second second, and twenty packets in a third second. With traffic shaping, the thirty packets may traverse network  130 A at ten packets per second, and more than three seconds may transpire before all thirty packets traverse network  130 A. 
         [0054]    In various embodiments, network  130 A may support IEEE 802.1p, which provides various quality of service (QoS) and/or class of service (CoS). This may enable network  130 A to enforce certain predefined quality of service metrics to any given port or virtual port included within network  130 A. For instance, using QoS, network  130 A may be operable to prioritize traffic and/or perform dynamic multicast filtering. In some embodiments, an IEEE 802.1p header may include a three-bit field for prioritization. For instance, this may allow network  130 A to group data packets into various traffic classes. For example, using a three-bit field for prioritization may establish eight levels of priority. Network  130 A may be configured with any prioritization mapping. In various embodiments, a prioritization mapping may be stored in memory coupled to network  130 A, such as MIB  150 , among others. 
         [0055]    In some embodiments, NMD  105  and/or network  130 A may prioritize network traffic based on one or more determined computer-based applications, software, and/or protocols. For example, it may be determined that one or more PCDs  110 A- 110 F is running a VoIP application, and NMD  105  and/or network  130 A may prioritize data and/or packets associated with the VoIP application to some QoS. In some embodiments, a prioritization mapping may map various applications, software, and/or protocols to various QoS metrics and/or to various prioritizations. In various embodiments, a prioritization mapping may map various compensation information and/or payment information to various QoS metrics and/or to various prioritizations. For example, at a venue (e.g., at a hotel, coffee shop, fast-food restaurant, etc.), a user of a computing device may purchase better and/or higher bandwidth and/or higher QoS, according to some metric, and the purchased QoS and/or bandwidth may be associated with and/or correspond to a geographic location of the computing device, a network identification associated with and/or corresponding to the computing device, and/or one or more applications and/or application classifications. 
         [0056]    In various embodiments, a prioritization mapping may include a three-bit number (e.g., 000 through 111 in binary or, equivalently, 0 through 7 in decimal) associated with a priority level. In one instance, network-critical traffic such as a Routing Information Protocol (RIP) (e.g., RIP version 2) and/or an Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) table updates may be given a highest priority. For example, the highest priority may be seven in the prioritization mapping. Delay-sensitive applications such as interactive video and/or voice may be associated with moderately high priority values of five or six in the prioritization mapping. Other traffic or data classes may range from streaming multimedia and/to business-critical traffic, such as traffic from a database, down to “loss eligible” traffic. The streaming multimedia and/to business-critical traffic may be associated with moderate priority values around five or four in the prioritization mapping while the loss eligible traffic may be associated with a value of zero in the prioritization mapping. For example, a zero value may be used as a default. For instance, a zero value may be invoked automatically when no other value has been set. 
         [0057]    In various embodiments, virtual local area networks (VLANs) and QoS may be used in tandem (e.g., IEEE 802.1q and IEEE 802.1p in tandem). In some embodiments, a VLAN tag may include two parts, a twelve-bit VLAN ID and a three-bit prioritization. In one example, this may allow network  130 A to support one or more priority levels for one or more VLANs. In a second example, this may allow network  130 A to support one or more priority levels within one or more VLANs. 
         [0058]    One or more of the systems described herein, such as PCDs  110 A- 110 H, APs  120 A- 120 D, BODs  170 A- 170 C, MIB  150 , content providers  160 A- 160 B, server computing devices (SCDs)  140 A- 140 C, HPCs  180 A- 180 B, and NMD  105  may include a memory medium on which computer programs and/or data according to the present invention may be stored. For example, each of the APs  120 A- 120 D, HPCs  180 A- 180 B, and/or MIB  150  may store a data structure as described above including information regarding identification information, application identification information, protocol identification information, corresponding networks, and/or access information such as associated data routing and/or QoS methods. Each of the APs  120 A- 120 D, HPCs  180 A- 180 B, and/or MIB  150  may further store a software program for accessing these data structures and using the information therein to properly provide or route data between personal computing devices and networks, and/or to selectively provide and/or route data depending on the access information and/or the QoS. In various embodiments, various of the systems and/or methods described herein may be used to “traffic shape”, “network shape”, and/or “packet shape”. 
         [0059]    The term “memory medium” and/or “computer readable medium” is intended to include various types of memory or storage, including an installation medium, e.g., a CD-ROM, or floppy disks, a random access memory or computer system memory such as DRAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, NVRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory etc., or a non-volatile memory such as a magnetic media, e.g., a hard drive, or optical storage. The memory medium may include other types of memory as well, or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the memory medium may be an article of manufacture and/or a software product. In addition, the memory medium may be located in a first computer in which the programs are executed, or may be located in a second different computer and/or hardware memory device that connects to the first computer over a network. In some embodiments, the second computer provides the program instructions to the first computer for execution. The memory medium may also be a distributed memory medium, e.g., for security reasons, where a portion of the data is stored on one memory medium and the remaining portion of the data may be stored on a different memory medium. Also, the memory medium may be one of the networks to which the current network is coupled, e.g., a SAN (Storage Area Network). 
         [0060]    In various embodiments, each of the systems described herein may take various forms, including a personal computer system, server computer system, workstation, network appliance, Internet appliance, personal digital assistant (PDA), laptop, mobile telephone, mobile multimedia device, embedded computer system, television system and/or other device. In general, the terms “computing device”, “computer”, and/or “computer system” can be broadly defined to encompass any device having a processor which executes instructions from a memory medium. 
         [0061]    The memory medium in one or more systems thus may store a software program and/or data for performing and/or enabling access and/or selective network access and/or network service. A CPU or processing unit in one or more systems executing code and data from a memory medium includes a means for executing one or more software program according to the methods or flowcharts described herein. 
         [0062]    Various embodiments further include receiving or storing instructions and/or data implemented in accordance with the present description upon a carrier medium. Suitable carrier media may include signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, and/or other forms of analog and/or digital signals, conveyed via a communication medium such as one or more networks and/or on or more wireless links. 
         [0063]    Turning now to  FIG. 3 , various applications that may be executed on various computing devices are illustrated, according to various embodiments. As shown, PCD  110 A may include and/or execute applications  300 A,  310 A,  320 A,  330 A, and/or  350 A; PCD  110 G may include and/or execute applications  300 B,  310 B,  320 B,  330 B, and/or  350 B; SCD  140 A may include and/or execute applications  300 C,  310 C,  320 C,  360 C, and/or  390 A; BOD  170 A may include and/or execute applications  360 A,  370 A,  380 A, and/or  390 B; and/or BOD  170 C may include and/or execute applications  360 B,  370 B, and/or  380 B. 
         [0064]    In various embodiments, application  300 A may communicate with application  300 B through network  130 A, NMD  105 , and network  130 B. For example, each of applications  300 A and  300 B may be and/or include a peer-to-peer (p2p) application and an application protocol and/or application protocol signature may be associated with communication between applications  300 A and  300 B. In some embodiments, one or more of applications  310 A and/or  310 B may communicate with application  310 C. For example, applications  310 A and/or  310 B may be client application and application  310 C may be a server application, and an application protocol and/or an application protocol signature may be associated with communications between any two of the applications. 
         [0065]    In some embodiments, applications  360 A and/or  360 B may communicate with application  360 C. For example, applications  360 A and/or  360 B may be a client application and application  360 C may be a server application, and an application protocol and/or an application protocol signature may be associated with communications between any two of the applications (e.g., applications  360 A and  360 B). For instance, applications  360 A- 360 C may be used to conduct business. In one example, applications  360 A- 360 B may authenticate payment information with application  360 C. In another example, applications  360 A- 360 B may place order information with application  360 C. 
         [0066]    In various embodiments, applications  300 A- 390 B may communicate with one or more other applications, and communications to and/or from these applications may include an application protocol, an application protocol signature, an application signature, and/or some detectable and/or determinable pattern. These may be used to identify and/or classify the applications. For example, applications  330 A and  340 A may include BitTorrent and Kazaa, respectively, and these applications may be classified as “p2p” applications. In some embodiments, an application layer, e.g., OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) Layer 7, may be used to classify one or more applications. Table 1, below, illustrates some examples of applications and respective classifications. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Application: 
                 Classification: 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 Quake, Doom, Half-life, among others 
                 Game 
               
               
                 AOL Instant Messenger, iChat, Yahoo 
                 Messaging/Chat 
               
               
                 Messenger, and/or MSN Messenger, among 
               
               
                 others 
               
               
                 Biff, ccMail, Sendmail, Exim, LotusNotes, 
                 Email 
               
               
                 Exchange, and/or Outlook, among others 
               
               
                 Vonage and/or Skype, among others 
                 VoIP 
               
               
                 BitTorrent, Kazaa, eDonkey, Gnutella, 
                 p2p 
               
               
                 and/or Napster, among others 
               
               
                 Apache, Safari, Netscape, Internet Explorer, 
                 web 
               
               
                 Mozilla, Firefox, among others 
               
               
                 Oracle server, Oracle client, SQL server 
                 database 
               
               
                 iTunes, Quicktime, Windows Media Player, 
                 audio/video 
               
               
                 and/or YouTube, among others 
               
               
                 PCAnywhere, rlogin, telnet, VNC, and/or 
                 remote login 
               
               
                 RemoteDesktop, among others 
               
               
                 CCbill, and/or Multicard, among others 
                 credit card billing 
               
               
                 SQL Slammer, Ganda, Avron, ILOVEYOU, 
                 malware (e.g., worm, virus, Trojan horse, 
               
               
                 Code Red, and/or Nimda, among others 
                 spyware, rootkit, etc.) 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0067]    Turning now to  FIG. 4 , data is illustrated, according to various embodiments. As shown, data  400  may include one or more packets  410 A- 410 F. In various embodiments, each of packets  410 A- 410 F may include each of respective application data  420 A- 420 F, as illustrated. In some embodiments, packets  410 A- 410 F may include one or more of an Internet protocol (IP) packet, a transmission control protocol (TCP) packet, a user datagram protocol (IDP) packet, and/or a packet as described in IEEE 802, among others. 
         [0068]    Turning now to  FIG. 5A , a flowchart diagram of a method is illustrated, according to various embodiments. At  500 , a network identification (ID) may be received from a network  130 A. In various embodiments, the network ID may include one or more of access point identification information, a media access control (MAC) address, a service set identification information, a virtual local area network (VLAN) identification, a wireless communication channel identification, a physical port identification, and/or an Internet protocol (IP) address. In various embodiments, as used herein, a network ID may include an address and vice versa. For example, the network ID may include a MAC address of a PCD such as a MAC address of one of PCDs  110 A- 110 F. In another example, the network ID may include a MAC address of an access point, such as one of APS  120 A- 120 D. In some embodiments, the service set identification information may include one or more of an IEEE 802.11 service set identifier (SSID), an IEEE 802.11 extended service set identifier (ESSID), and/or an IEEE 802.11 basic service set identifier (BSSID). For example, one or more APs  120 A- 120 B may use service set identification information in communicating with one or more computing devices. In some embodiments, one or more of APs  120 A- 120 D may use various VLAN identifications. For example, AP  120 B may associate service set identification information with one or more VLAN identifications. In another example, AP  120 C may associate one or more physical ports with one or more VLAN identifications. For instance, each of PCDs  110 D- 110 E may be coupled to a respective physical port of AP  120 C, and those ports may be associated with one or more VLAN identifications. 
         [0069]    In various embodiments, a mapping, stored in one or more memory mediums described herein, may include associations of identification information and network elements (e.g., access points, etc.) and/or computing devices. For example, the mapping may include various information illustrated in Table 2. For instance, identifications (e.g., MAC addresses, VLAN identifications, physical port identifications, and/or IP addresses, etc.) of PCDs  110 A, BOD  170 A, and/or RECDs  111 A- 111 B may be associated and/or correspond with an identification (e.g., a MAC address, VLAN ID, and/or IP address, etc.) of AP  120 D. In some embodiments, an access point, such as AP  120 D, may include physical ports where computing devices and/or network elements may be coupled to the access point in a wired fashion. These physical ports may be enumerated according to some enumeration and one or more computing devices and/or network elements may be identified by a physical port to which it is coupled. In some embodiments, the mapping that includes a wireless AP may use service identification information (SID) as physical port information. For example, a SID may include one or more of an IEEE 802.11 service set identifier (SSID), an IEEE 802.11 extended service set identifier (ESSID), and/or an IEEE 802.11 basic service set identifier (BSSID), among others. In various embodiments, a wireless AP may be operable to concurrently support communicating using multiple SIDs. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
               
                   
               
               
                   
                 Device MAC 
                 Device IP 
                   
                 Physical 
                 VLAN 
                 AP MAC 
                   
               
               
                 Device 
                 Addr 
                 Addr 
                 AP 
                 Port 
                 ID 
                 Addr 
                 AP IP Addr 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 PCD 
                 16:35:77:a3:f9 
                 216.12.255.101 
                 AP 
                 3 
                 0 
                 4f:ae:2b:45:11 
                 216.12.255.100 
               
               
                 110A 
                   
                   
                 120D 
               
               
                 RECD 
                 33:fa:49:a3:af 
                 216.12.255.109 
                 AP 
                 5 
                 4 
                 4f:ae:2b:45:11 
                 216.12.255.100 
               
               
                 111A 
                   
                   
                 120D 
               
               
                 RECD 
                 cd:33:88:ed:f4 
                 216.12.255.77 
                 AP 
                 6 
                 4 
                 4f:ae:2b:45:11 
                 216.12.255.100 
               
               
                 111B 
                   
                   
                 120D 
               
               
                 BOD 
                 22:35:2d:a6:a1 
                 216.12.255.188 
                 AP 
                 14  
                 7 
                 4f:ae:2b:45:11 
                 216.12.255.100 
               
               
                 170A 
                   
                   
                 120D 
               
               
                 PCD 
                 22:66:11:a6:a1 
                 216.12.100.87 
                 AP 
                 SID A 
                 0 
                 4f:ae:bb:45:cc 
                 216.12.100.5 
               
               
                 110B 
                   
                   
                 120B 
               
               
                 PCD 
                 99:ef:33:a6:a1 
                 216.12.100.85 
                 AP 
                 SID A 
                 0 
                 4f:ae:bb:45:cc 
                 216.12.100.5 
               
               
                 110C 
                   
                   
                 120B 
               
               
                 RECD 
                 fa:ef:22:6e:a7 
                 216.12.100.70 
                 AP 
                 SID B 
                 0 
                 4f:ae:bb:45:cc 
                 216.12.100.5 
               
               
                 110C 
                   
                   
                 120B 
               
               
                 BOD 
                 ab:bf:33:6a:a2 
                 216.12.100.80 
                 AP 
                 SID C 
                 7 
                 4f:ae:bb:45:cc 
                 216.12.100.5 
               
               
                 111C 
                   
                   
                 120B 
               
               
                 PCD 
                 ad:ee:12:6a:10 
                 216.12.100.50 
                 AP 
                 SID D 
                 0 
                 5a:20:32:29:b1 
                 216.12.100.6 
               
               
                 110D 
                   
                   
                 120C 
               
               
                 PCD 
                 56:fb:14:f9:13 
                 216.12.100.52 
                 AP 
                 SID E 
                 0 
                 5a:20:32:29:b1 
                 216.12.100.6 
               
               
                 110E 
                   
                   
                 120C 
               
               
                 PCD 
                 4b:aa:2c:c4:b1 
                 216.12.100.55 
                 AP 
                 SID D 
                 0 
                 5a:20:32:29:b1 
                 216.12.100.6 
               
               
                 110F 
                   
                   
                 120C 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0070]    At  510 , data associated and/or corresponding with the network ID may be received. In various embodiments, the data may include one or more packets (e.g., one or more of packets  410 D- 410 F), and the one or more packets may include application data (e.g., one or more of application data  420 D- 420 F) of an application (e.g., of an application listed in Table 1, an application of applications  300 A- 390 B, etc.). In some embodiments, the network ID may be received in the one or more packets. In various embodiments, the network ID may be determined from the mapping. For example, packets  410 D- 410 F may be received from PCD  110 A and packets  410 A- 410 C may be received from RECD  111 A, and packets  410 A- 410 F may be associated with the network ID which may include a network ID of AP  120 D, since PCD  110 A and RECD  111 A may both be mapped to AP  120 D. In some embodiments, packets may be associated and/or correspond with various network information (e.g., network element identifications, encapsulation, tunnels, etc.), through a mapping, such as the mapping described above. 
         [0071]    Next at  520 , a QoS associated with the network ID may be determined. The QoS associated with the network ID may include a transfer rate, and the transfer rate may include an upper limit and/or a lower limit. For example, an upper limit may include a maximum transfer rate of 256 kilo bits per second (kbps), and a lower limit may include a minimum transfer rate of 128 kbps, among others. In some embodiments, the QoS associated with the network ID may determine a class of service and/or be used to determine a class of service. In various embodiments, the QoS associated with the network ID may be used to prioritize data transfers and/or network traffic. For example, the QoS associated with the network ID may be different from another QoS. For instance, the QoS associated with the network ID may be a better and/or faster QoS than the other QoS, according to some metric, and/or the QoS associated with the network ID may be considered a higher priority than the other QoS. In one example, packets associated the other QoS may be dropped more often than packets associated with the QoS associated with the network ID. In another example, packets associated with the QoS associated with the network ID may be given greater bandwidth than packets associated with the other QoS. For instance, packets associated with the QoS associated with the network ID may be given a bandwidth of 256 kbps while packets associated with the other QoS may be given a bandwidth of 64 kbps. In some embodiments, the QoS associated with the network ID may include a minimum bandwidth. For example, the network ID may be associated with a back office device (e.g., one of BODs  170 A- 170 C), and NCS  100  may be operated to and/or be configured to provide at least the minimum bandwidth to the back office device. 
         [0072]    At  530 , data associated with an application (e.g., a computer application of Table 1, among others) may be received. For example, the data associated with the application may include packets  410 A- 410 C which may be received from a computing device coupled to network  130 A. In various embodiments, packets  410 A- 410 C may include application data  420 A- 420 C. In some embodiments, the application may include one of applications  300 B- 340 B. 
         [0073]    After receiving the data associated with the application, an application classification may be determined at  540 . In various embodiments, one or more of application data  420 A- 420 C may be analyzed to determine the application classification. In a first example, a pattern of the data associated with the application may be determined and may be used to determine the application classification. In a second example, a regular expression may be used to determine the application classification. For instance, a regular expression such as “*HTTP/1.1*Content-type:*text/html*” (where “*” may be used as a wildcard) may be used to determine an application classification of “web” for the application classification. 
         [0074]    In some embodiments, an application protocol may be determined and may be used to determine the application classification. In various examples, various protocols may be detected and/or determined from the data associated with the application. One or more application protocols may include simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), file transfer protocol (FTP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), secure HTTP (https), Internet printer protocol (IPP), Internet message access protocol (IMAP), network time protocol (NTP), post office protocol (POP), and/or simple network management protocol (SNMP), among others. In one example, it may be determined that the data associated with the application includes the simple mail transfer protocol, and the application classification may be determined to be “email”. In a second example, it may be determined that the data associated with the application includes the hypertext transfer protocol, and the application classification may be determined to be “web”. 
         [0075]    In various embodiments, a file protocol and/or a streaming protocol may be determined and may be used to determine the application classification. In some embodiments, an image file protocol and/or format may be detected and/or determine as a file protocol and/or streaming protocol. For example, the data associated with the application may include a file protocol and/or format according to JPEG (joint photographic experts group), PNG (portable network graphics), and/or GIF (graphics interchange format), among others. In various embodiments, a motion picture file protocol and/or streaming protocol may be determined and may be used to determine the application classification. For example, one or more of a moving picture experts group (MPEG) file protocol and/or streaming protocol may be detected and/or determined from the data associated with the application, and the application classification may be determined to be “audio/video”. 
         [0076]    In some embodiments, an application protocol signature may be determined and may be used to determine the application classification. For example, a checksum and/or hash value may be determined using at least a portion of the data associated with the application. The checksum and/or hash value may be used as an application protocol signature. In another example, a pattern of at least a portion of the data associated with the application may be detected and/or determined and may be used to determine the application classification. For instance, one or more of a neural network, a Bayesian indicator, and/or a learning vector quantization system may be used to detect and/or determine a pattern and/or an application protocol signature. In various embodiments, determining the application protocol signature may include using and/or accessing one or more of HPCs  180 A- 180 B. 
         [0077]    At  545 , it may be determined if the application classification is “malware”. If so, the method may proceed to  547  where the data associated with the application may be discarded. If not, the method may proceed to  550 . 
         [0078]    At  550 , a QoS associated with the application classification may be determined. The QoS associated with the application classification may include a transfer rate, and the transfer rate may include an upper limit and/or a lower limit. For example, an upper limit may include a maximum transfer rate of 512 kbps, and a lower limit may include a minimum transfer rate of 256 kbps, among others. In some embodiments, the QoS associated with the application classification may determine a class of service and/or be used to determine a class of service. In various embodiments, the QoS associated with the application classification may be used to prioritize data transfers and/or network traffic. 
         [0079]    At  560 , the data associated with the network ID may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to network  130 B. In some embodiments, various attributes and/or metrics associated with the QoS associated with the network ID may be used to transmit the data associated with the network ID to network  130 B. For example, the QoS associated with the network ID may include a minimum bandwidth and/or network capacity (e.g., 256 kbps), and the data associated with the network ID may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to network  130 B at a rate no less than the minimum bandwidth (e.g., 256 kbps). In other words, there can be the minimum bandwidth (e.g., 256 kbps) and/or capacity available for the data associated with the network ID to be transmitted to network  130 B regardless of other network traffic associated with network  130 A, in various embodiments. For example, data from one or more of PCDs  110 D- 110 E may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted at least at the minimum bandwidth and/or capacity regardless of other network traffic, since PCDs  110 D- 110 E can be associated with a same network ID as shown in the mapping above. In another example, data from BODs  170 A and  170 C may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted at least at the minimum bandwidth regardless of other network traffic, since BODs  170 A and  170 C can be associated with a same network ID of same VLAN identification information as shown in the mapping above. In various embodiments, permitting and/or enabling one or more back office devices a minimum available bandwidth may help a entity conduct business more efficiently and/or at an estimated and/or predicable efficiency and/or rate, since network capacity can be available for the one or more back office devices regardless of other network traffic. 
         [0080]    At  570 , the data associated with the application classification may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to network  130 B. In some embodiments, various attributes and/or metrics associated with the QoS associated with the application classification may be used to transmit the data associated with the application classification to network  130 B. In various embodiments, the data associated with the application classification may be enabled and/or permitted to be transmitted to network  130 B at a rate no greater than the upper limit of the QoS associated with the application classification. 
         [0081]    For example, the QoS associated with the application classification may include a maximum bandwidth and/or network capacity (e.g., 512 kbps), and the data associated with the application classification may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to network  130 B at a rate no greater than the maximum bandwidth (e.g., 512 kbps). In other words, there can be the bandwidth upper-limit and/or maximum capacity (e.g., 512 kbps) available for the data associated with the application classification to be transmitted to network  130 B, in various embodiments. For example, the determined application classification may include “p2p”, and data from applications classified as “p2p” (e.g., BitTorrent, Kazaa, eDonkey, Gnutella, and/or Napster, among others) may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to network  130 A at a rate no greater than the maximum bandwidth and/or network capacity (e.g., 512 kbps) of the QoS associated with the application classification. 
         [0082]    Turning now to  FIG. 5B , a flowchart diagram of a method is illustrated, according to various embodiments. Elements  500 - 560  of  FIG. 5B  are described above with reference to  FIG. 5A . As shown at  570 B, the data associated with the application classification may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to network  130 B. In some embodiments, the data associated with the application classification may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to network  130 B at a rate no less than the minimum bandwidth (e.g., 256 kbps). In other words, there will be the minimum bandwidth (e.g., 256 kbps) and/or capacity available for the data associated with the application classification to be transmitted to network  130 B regardless of other network traffic associated with network  130 A, in various embodiments. For example, the QoS associated with the application classification may include a minimum bandwidth and/or network capacity (e.g., 256 kbps), and the data associated with the application classification may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to network  130 B at a rate no less than the minimum bandwidth (e.g., 256 kbps). In other words, there can be the minimum bandwidth and/or capacity (e.g., 256 kbps) available for the data associated with the application classification to be transmitted to network  130 B regardless of other network traffic associated with network  130 A, in various embodiments. For example, the application classification may include “credit card billing”, and data from one or more applications (e.g., applications  360 A- 380 A,  390 B,  360 B- 380 B, etc.) that are included in the application classification may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted at no less than the minimum bandwidth regardless of other network traffic. In various embodiments, permitting and/or enabling one or more applications of back office devices a minimum available bandwidth may help an entity conduct business more efficiently and/or at an estimated and/or predicable efficiency and/or rate, since network capacity can be available for the one or more applications, such as for one or more applications running on one or more back office devices, regardless of other network traffic. 
         [0083]    Turning now to  FIG. 6A , a flowchart that depicts a method is illustrated, according to various embodiments. As shown, at  600 , data from network  130 A may be received, and the data may be associated with a geographic location (e.g., one of locations  175 A- 174 C). In various embodiments, the data may include one or more packets (e.g., one or more of packets  410 D- 410 F), and the one or more packets may include application data (e.g., one or more of application data  420 D- 420 F) of an application (e.g., of an application listed in Table 1, an application of applications  300 A- 390 B, etc.). 
         [0084]    In some embodiments, the geographic location may be provided by a computing device (e.g., one of PCDs  110 A- 110 E, BOD  170 C, RECDs  111 A- 111 C), determined by a known geographic location of an access point (e.g., APs  120 A- 120 D), and/or determined from known geographic locations of where a computing device may couple to a network. For example, location  175 C may include a meeting room and a physical access port in the meeting room may be coupled to a physical port of AP  120 C. For instance, PCD  110 D may couple to the physical access port in the meeting room and, thus, it may be determined that PCD  110 D is at or within location  175 C, since PCD  110 D is coupled to a physical port of AP  120 C. In a second example, AP  120 B may provide network access to geographic location  175 B, and computing devices communicating with AP  120 B may considered to be at and/or within location  175 B. In another example, a computing device may provide geographic location information. For instance, the computing device may provide latitude and/or longitude information that may be used to determine a location of the computing device. 
         [0085]    Next at  610 , a QoS associated with the geographic location may be determined. The QoS associated with the geographic location may include a transfer rate, and the transfer rate may include an upper limit and/or a lower limit. For example, an upper limit may include a maximum transfer rate of 256 kilo bits per second (kbps), and a lower limit may include a minimum transfer rate of 128 kbps, among others. In some embodiments, the QoS associated with the geographic location may determine a class of service and/or be used to determine a class of service. In various embodiments, the QoS associated with the geographic location may be used to prioritize data transfers and/or network traffic. For example, the QoS associated with the geographic location may be different from another QoS. For instance, the QoS associated with the geographic location may be a better and/or faster QoS than the other QoS, according to some metric, and the QoS associated with the geographic location may be considered a higher priority than the other QoS. In one example, packets associated the other QoS may be dropped more often than packets associated with the QoS associated with the geographic location. In another example, packets associated with the QoS associated with the geographic location may be given greater bandwidth than packets associated with the other QoS. For instance, packets associated with the QoS associated with the geographic location may be given a bandwidth of 256 kbps while packets associated with the other QoS may be given a bandwidth of 64 kbps. In some embodiments, the QoS associated with the geographic location may include a minimum bandwidth. For example, the geographic location may be location  175 B and include BOD  170 C, and NCS  100  may be operated to and/or be configured to provide at least the minimum bandwidth to the BOD  170 C. 
         [0086]    At  620 , data associated with an application (e.g., a computer application of Table 1, among others) may be received. For example, the data associated with the application may include packets  410 A- 410 C which may be received from a computing device coupled to network  130 A. In various embodiments, packets  410 A- 410 C may include application data  420 A- 420 C. In some embodiments, the application may include one of applications  300 B- 340 B. 
         [0087]    After receiving the data associated with the application, an application classification may be determined at  630 . In various embodiments, one or more of application data  420 A- 420 C may be analyzed to determine the application classification. In a first example, a pattern of the data associated with the application may be determined and may be used to determine the application classification. In a second example, a regular expression may be used to may be used to determine the application classification. For instance, a regular expression such as “*HTTP/1.1*Content-type:*text/html*” (where “*” may be used as a wildcard) may be used to determine an application classification of “web” for the application classification. 
         [0088]    In some embodiments, an application protocol may be determined and may be used to determine the application classification. In various examples, various protocols may be detected and/or determined from the data associated with the application. One or more application protocols may include simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), file transfer protocol (FTP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), secure HTTP (https), Internet printer protocol (IPP), Internet message access protocol (IMAP), network time protocol (NTP), post office protocol (POP), and/or simple network management protocol (SNMP), among others. In one example, it may be determined that the data associated with the application includes the simple mail transfer protocol, and the application classification may be determined to be “email”. In a second example, it may be determined that the data associated with the application includes the hypertext transfer protocol, and the application classification may be determined to be “web”. 
         [0089]    In various embodiments, a file protocol and/or a streaming protocol may be determined and may be used to determine the application classification. In some embodiments, an image file protocol and/or format may be detected and/or determine as a file protocol and/or streaming protocol. For example, the data associated with the application may include a file protocol and/or format according to JPEG (joint photographic experts group), PNG (portable network graphics), and/or GIF (graphics interchange format), among others. In various embodiments, a motion picture file protocol and/or streaming protocol may be determined and may be used to determine the application classification. For example, one or more of a moving picture experts group (MPEG) file protocol and/or streaming protocol may be detected and/or determined from the data associated with the application, and the application classification may be determined to be “audio/video”. 
         [0090]    In some embodiments, an application protocol signature may be determined and may be used to determine the application classification. For example, a checksum and/or hash value may be determined using at least a portion of the data associated with the application. The checksum and/or hash value may be used as an application protocol signature. In another example, a pattern of at least a portion of the data associated with the application may be detected and/or determined and may be used to determine the application classification. For instance, one or more of a neural network, a Bayesian indicator, and/or a learning vector quantization system may be used to detect and/or determine a pattern and/or an application protocol signature. In various embodiments, determining the application protocol signature may include using and/or accessing one or more of HPC  180 A- 180 B. 
         [0091]    At  635 , it may be determined if the application classification is “malware”. If so, the method may proceed to  637  where the data associated with the application may be discarded. If not, the method may proceed to  640 . 
         [0092]    At  640 , a QoS associated with the application classification may be determined. The QoS associated with the application classification may include a transfer rate, and the transfer rate may include an upper limit and/or a lower limit. For example, an upper limit may include a maximum transfer rate of 512 kbps, and a lower limit may include a minimum transfer rate of 256 kbps, among others. In some embodiments, the QoS associated with the application classification may determine a class of service and/or be used to determine a class of service. In various embodiments, the QoS associated with the application classification may be used to prioritize data transfers and/or network traffic. 
         [0093]    At  650 , the data associated with the geographic location may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to network  130 B. In some embodiments, various attributes and/or metrics associated with the QoS associated with the geographic location may be used to transmit the data associated with the geographic location to network  130 B. For example, the QoS associated with the geographic location may include a minimum bandwidth and/or network capacity (e.g., 256 kbps), and the data associated with the geographic location may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to network  130 B at a rate no less than the minimum bandwidth (e.g., 256 kbps). In other words, there can be the minimum bandwidth (e.g., 256 kbps) and/or capacity available for the data associated with the geographic location to be transmitted to network  130 B regardless of other network traffic associated with network  130 A, in various embodiments. For example, data from one or more of PCDs  110 D- 110 E may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted at least at the minimum bandwidth and/or capacity regardless of other network traffic, since PCDs  110 D- 110 E can be associated with a same geographic location. 
         [0094]    At  660 A, the data associated with the application classification may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to network  130 B. In some embodiments, various attributes and/or metrics associated with the QoS associated with the application classification may be used to transmit the data associated with the application classification to network  130 B. In various embodiments, the data associated with the application classification may be enabled and/or permitted to be transmitted to network  130 B at a rate no greater than the upper limit of the QoS associated with the application classification. 
         [0095]    For example, the QoS associated with the application classification may include a maximum bandwidth and/or network capacity (e.g., 512 kbps), and the data associated with the application classification may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to network  130 B at a rate no greater than the maximum bandwidth (e.g., 512 kbps). In other words, there can be the bandwidth upper-limit and/or maximum capacity (e.g., 512 kbps) available for the data associated with the application classification to be transmitted to network  130 B, in various embodiments. For example, the determined application classification may include “p2p”, and data from applications classified as “p2p” (e.g., BitTorrent, Kazaa, eDonkey, Gnutella, and/or Napster, among others) may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to network  130 A at a rate no greater than the maximum bandwidth and/or network capacity (e.g., 512 kbps) of the QoS associated with the application classification. 
         [0096]    Turning now to  FIG. 6B , a flowchart diagram of a method is illustrated, according to various embodiments. Elements  600 - 650  of  FIG. 6B  are described above with reference to FIG.  6 A. As shown at  660 B, the data associated with the application classification may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to network  130 B. In some embodiments, the data associated with the application classification may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to network  130 B at a rate no less than the minimum bandwidth (e.g., 256 kbps). In other words, there will be the minimum bandwidth (e.g., 256 kbps) and/or capacity available for the data associated with the application classification to be transmitted to network  130 B regardless of other network traffic associated with network  130 A, in various embodiments. For example, the QoS associated with the application classification may include a minimum bandwidth and/or network capacity (e.g., 256 kbps), and the data associated with the application classification may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to network  130 B at a rate no less than the minimum bandwidth (e.g., 256 kbps). In other words, there can be the minimum bandwidth and/or capacity (e.g., 256 kbps) available for the data associated with the application classification to be transmitted to network  130 B regardless of other network traffic associated with network  130 A, in various embodiments. For example, the application classification may include “credit card billing”, and data from one or more applications (e.g., applications  360 A- 380 A,  390 B,  360 B- 380 B, etc.) that are included in the application classification may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted at least at the minimum bandwidth regardless of other network traffic. In various embodiments, permitting and/or enabling one or more applications of back office devices a minimum available bandwidth may help a entity conduct business more efficiently and/or at an estimated and/or predicable efficiency and/or rate, since network capacity can be available for the one or more applications, such as for one or more applications running on one or more back office devices, regardless of other network traffic. 
         [0097]    Turning now to  FIG. 7 , a flowchart is illustrated that depicts a method that may be used in providing various qualities of services, according to various embodiments. As shown, a first packet may be received from a first network, at  700 . The first network may include network  130 A or network  130 B. Next at  705 , the first packet may be enqueued into a queue. At  710 , a second packet may be received from the first network, and then at  715 , the second packet may be enqueued into the queue. Next at  720 , a third packet may be received from the first network, and then at  725 , the third packet may be enqueued in the queue. 
         [0098]    In various embodiments, a QoS may include and/or be associated with various attributes that may determine data flow and/or transfer rates, and these attributes determining permitted and/or enabled transmission may be based on those attributes. For example, the QoS may be used to determine a first amount of time to transpire before permitting and/or enabling a packet to be transmitted to a second network. The second network may include network  130 A or network  130 B. For instance, if the first network includes network  130 A, then the second network includes network  130 B, and if the first network includes network  130 B, then the second network includes network  130 A. 
         [0099]    At  730 , the first amount of time may transpire. Next at  735 , the first packet may be dequeued, and at  740 , the first packet may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to the second network. Next at  750 , a second amount of time may transpire. The second amount of time may be the same as the first amount of time, or the second amount of time may be different than the first amount of time. In some embodiments, a determination of the second amount of time may be based on the QoS and/or traffic conditions of the first network and/or the second network. Next at  755 , the second packet may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to the second network. At  760 , a third amount of time may transpire. The third amount of time may be the same as the first amount of time and/or the second amount of time, or the third amount of time may be different than the first amount of time and/or the second amount of time. In some embodiments, a determination of the third amount of time may be based on the QoS and/or traffic conditions of the first network and/or the second network. Next at  765 , the third packet may be dequeued, and at  770 , the third packet may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to the second network. In some embodiments, the method and/or portions of the method may repeat. 
         [0100]    In various embodiments, the queue may include a priority queue. For example, the packets may be associated with various priorities, and each of the packets may be dequeued based on its priority. Moreover, the amounts of time transpiring may be based on each packet&#39;s priority in the priority queue. Accordingly, various of the method elements may be executed in various orders according to various priorities and/or various qualities of services. 
         [0101]    Turning now to  FIG. 8 , a flowchart is illustrated that depicts a method that may be used in providing various qualities of services, according to various embodiments. At  800 , one or more packets may be received from a first network. The first network may include network  130 A or network  130 B. Next at  810 , the one or more packets may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to a second network. The second network may include network  130 A or network  130 B. For instance, if the first network includes network  130 A, then the second network includes network  130 B, and if the first network includes network  130 B, then the second network includes network  130 A. At  820 , another one or more packets may be received from the first network, and then at  830 , the other one or more packets may be discarded. In some embodiments, conducting communications in accordance and/or association with a QoS may include discarding one or more packets. Next at  840 , a duplicate of the other one or more packets may be received from the first network, and then at  850 , the duplicate of the other one or more packets may be permitted and/or enabled to be transmitted to the second network. In various embodiments, the method and/or portions of the method may repeat. 
         [0102]    Turning now to  FIG. 9 , a flowchart is illustrated that depicts a method that may be used in providing various qualities of services, according to various embodiments. At  900 , one or more packets may be received from a network. The network may include network  130 A or network  130 B. In various embodiments, the one or more packets may be associated with a network ID. Next at  910 , a pause message and/or command may be sent to the network ID. In some embodiments, sending the pause message and/or command may include sending a zero window size. For example, the zero window size may be included in an acknowledgement. At  920 , an amount of time may transpire. In various embodiments, a QoS may include and/or be associated with various attributes that may determine data flow and/or transfer rates, and these attributes determining permitted and/or enabled transmission may be based on those attributes. For example, the QoS may be used to determine the amount of time to transpire before sending a continue message and/or command to the network ID, at  930 . In some embodiments, the continue message and/or command may include a non-zero window size. For instance, the non-zero window size may be included in an acknowledgement. Next at  940 , another one or more packets from the network may be received. In various embodiments, the method and/or portions of the method may repeat. 
         [0103]    Turning now to  FIG. 10 , a flowchart is illustrated that depicts a method that may be used in providing various qualities of services, according to various embodiments. At  1000 , one or more packets may be received from a network. The network may include network  130 A or network  130 B. In various embodiments, the one or more packets may be associated with a network ID. In some embodiments, the one or more packets may include and/or be associated with a window size. For example, the window size may indicate an amount of application data that may be communicated. In various embodiments, a QoS may include and/or be associated with various attributes that may determine data flow and/or transfer rates, and these attributes determining permitted and/or enabled transmission may be based on those attributes. For example, the QoS may be used to determine a reduced window size. At  1010 , the reduced window size may be sent to the network ID. For instance, the reduced window size may be sent may be included in an acknowledgement. Next at  1020 , another one or more packets from the network may be received. 
         [0104]    Turning now to  FIG. 11 , a flowchart diagram of a method is illustrated, according to various embodiments. At  1100 , data associated with an application (e.g., a computer application of Table 1, among others) may be received. For example, the data associated with the application may include packets  410 A- 410 C. In various embodiments, packets  410 A- 410 C may include application data  420 A- 420 C. In some embodiments, an application classification may be determined using various methods and/or systems described herein, and at  1110 , it may be determined that the application classification is “malware”. Next at  1120 , the malware application data may be discarded. 
         [0105]    Turning now to  FIG. 12 , a flowchart diagram of a method is illustrated, according to various embodiments. As shown, input may be received at  1200 . In some embodiments, the input may be from a user of a computing device (e.g., one of PCDs  110 A- 110 F and RECDs  111 A- 111 C). For example, NCS  100  may be configured to provide the computing device with a first QoS. For instance, the first QoS may include a maximum communication transfer rate. The maximum communication transfer rate may include a transmission rate of 128 kbps for transmitting data and/or a reception rate of 256 kbps for receiving data. 
         [0106]    In various embodiments, the input may be from an operator (e.g., an operator of NCS  100 ) of a computing device (e.g., one of PCDs  110 A- 110 H, RECDs  111 A- 110 C, BODs  170 A- 170 C, and SCDs  140 A- 140 C). 
         [0107]    In some embodiments, the input may include a request for a second QoS. In some embodiments, one or more requests for different and/or alternate qualities of services may include authentication and/or authorization information. For example, the authentication and/or authorization information may include one or more of compensation information, credit card information, prepaid card information, username and password information, acceptance information, coupon information, network identification information, and/or access code information, among others. 
         [0108]    Next at  1210 , it may be determined that the input is accepted. In one example, the user may provide credit card information, and it may be determined that compensation may be obtained from the provided credit card information. In a second example, the user may provide acceptance information (e.g., clicking on an “ok” or “accept” button on a web page), and the user&#39;s hotel room number may be billed. In another example, the operator may use username and password information, and the username and password information may be authenticated with an authentication and/or authorization device (e.g., a server); however, username and password information is not limited only to operators. 
         [0109]    Next at  1220 , quality of service may be adjusted. For example, in the case of the user, the computing device using the first QoS may be provided the second QoS. In another example, in the case of the operator, the second QoS may be provided to one or more computing devices coupled to an access point (e.g., one or more of PCDs  110 D- 110 F coupled to AP  120 C) and/or to one or more computing devices in a geographic location (e.g., one or more of PCDs  110 C- 110 D, BOD  170 C, and RECD  111 C in location  175 B). 
         [0110]    In various embodiments, various qualities of service associated with the method illustrated, in  FIG. 12 , may be based on application classification. For example, the user may increase quality of service for a VoIP application (e.g., Vonage, Skype, etc.). In another example, the operator may increase quality of service for one or more video applications. For instance, AP  120 C may provide network services to a meeting room, and a meeting may use the one or more video applications. 
         [0111]    In some embodiments, quality of service may be adjusted to a lesser quality of service. For example, the user may adjust to a lesser quality of service after using the VoIP application. In another example, the operator may adjust all computing devices coupled to AP  120 C to a lesser quality of service. 
         [0112]    In various embodiments, a better quality of service (e.g., the second QoS) may be adjusted after a time in the future. For example, the user may reserve a minimum amount of bandwidth for an application to be used after the time in the future. For instance, the user may be traveling to a hotel and reserve bandwidth for the VoIP application. In another example, the operator may reserve bandwidth for a meeting that is to transpire in the future. For instance, the operator may reserve bandwidth for all computing devices coupled to AP  120 C and using video application data. 
         [0113]    Turning now to  FIG. 13 , NCS  100  is illustrated, according to various embodiments. As shown, NCS  100  may include a link  1300  coupled to a computing device  1310  and coupled to NMD  105 . In various embodiments, link  1300  and computing device  1310  may be disposed between NMD  105  and network  130 B. In some embodiments, link  1300  may include a communications link. In various embodiments, link  1300  may include one or more of a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a portion of a PSTN, a PSTN circuit, a cable (television) based network, a satellite-based system, and/or a fiber based network, among others. In some embodiments, link  1300  may operate at and/or below a transfer rate. In one example, link  1300  may include a T-1 circuit and be operable to perform data communications at and/or below 1.54 mega bits per second (mbps). In a second example, link  1300  may include a T-3 (or DS-3) circuit and be operable to perform data communications at and/or below 45 mbps. In another example, link  1300  may include a cable (television) based network communication connection, and the cable (television) based network communication connection may be operable to transfer data from NMD  105  at and/or below 728 kbps and transfer data to NMD  105  at and/or below 1 mpbs. In various embodiments, link  1300  may include maximum data transfer rate limits below maximum transfer rate limits of associated with network  130 A and/or network  130 B. 
         [0114]    In some embodiments, each of NMD  105  and computing device  1310  may include routing operability to interface with link  1300 . Moreover, each of NMD  105  and computing device  1310  may provide various qualities of services and/or network traffic prioritization through link  1300  based on various the methods and/or systems described herein. In various embodiments, various qualities of services and/or network traffic prioritization may be used, since link  1300  may include lesser communication transfer rates than network  130 A and/or network  130 B. 
         [0115]    It is noted that, in various embodiment, one or more of the method elements described herein may be performed in varying orders, may be performed concurrently with one or more of the other method elements, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may be performed as desired. In various embodiments, concurrently may mean simultaneously. In some embodiments, concurrently may mean apparently simultaneously according to some metric. For example, two or more method elements may be performed such that they appear to be simultaneous to a human. It is also noted that, in various embodiments, one or more of the system elements described herein may be omitted and additional system elements may be added as desired. 
         [0116]    Further modifications and alternative embodiments of various aspects of the invention may be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of this description. Accordingly, this description is to be construed as illustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the general manner of carrying out the invention. It is to be understood that the forms of the invention shown and described herein are to be taken as embodiments. Elements and materials may be substituted for those illustrated and described herein, parts and processes may be reversed, and certain features of the invention may be utilized independently, all as would be apparent to one skilled in the art after having the benefit of this description of the invention. Changes may be made in the elements described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the following claims.