EXHIBIT 4

Case 2:23-cv-00444-JRG Document 1-5 Filed 09/27/23 Page 1 of 8 PageID #: 82
USOO8307063B2 

(12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 8,307,063 B2 

Moran et al. (45) Date of Patent: Nov. 6, 2012 

(54) METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING 6,308,209 B1 * 10/2001 Lecheler ....................... TO9,224 6,324, 184 B1 11, 2001 H tal. DATA TRAFFIC ASSOCATED WITH A USER 6,615,271 B1 ck 9, 2003 E. al. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 709,232 

ONANETWORK 

(75) Inventors: Paul J. Moran, Hemel Hempstead (GB); 

Christopher R. Linzell, St. Albans (GB) 

(73) Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development 

Company, L.P., Houston, TX (US) 

(*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this 

patent is extended or adjusted under 35 

U.S.C. 154(b) by 1350 days. 

(21) Appl. No.: 10/179,496 

(22) Filed: Jun. 25, 2002 

(65) Prior Publication Data 

US 2003/O163581 A1 Aug. 28, 2003 

(30) Foreign Application Priority Data 

Feb. 25, 2002 (GB) ................................... O2O4317.2 

(51) Int. Cl. 

G06F 5/73 (2006.01) 

(52) U.S. C. ......... 709/224; 709/217; 709/225; 709/232 

(58) Field of Classification Search .................. 709/224, 

709/223, 226, 203, 225, 229, 232 

See application file for complete search history. 

(56) References Cited 

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 

6,091,709 A * 7/2000 Harrison et al. .............. 370,235 

6.243,359 B1* 6/2001 Roy et al. ...................... 370,230 

6,269,394 B1* 7/2001 Kenner et al. ................. 709/217 

6,920,110 B2 * 7/2005 Roberts et al. ..... 370,235 

7,106,756 B1* 9/2006 Donovan et al. ... ... 370/468 

2001/0052003 A1* 12/2001 Seki et al. .......... TO9,219 

2002/0070846 A1* 6/2002 Bastian et al. ......... 340,592 

2002/0085529 A1* 7/2002 Koromyslichenko ......... 370/338 

2002/0101826 A1* 8/2002 Giacopelli et al. ..... 370.252 

2002/0129.143 A1* 9, 2002 McKinnon et al. 709,225 

2002/0129377 A1* 9, 2002 Cloonan et al. .... T25,111 

2003/0046171 A1 3/2003 Whale ............................. 705/26 

2003/0105863 A1* 6/2003 Hegli et al. ........ 709,225 

2003/01 17986 A1* 6/2003 Thermond et al. . 370,338 

2003/0135639 A1* 7/2003 Mareka et al. ............... 709,232 

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 

EP 1054529 11, 2000 

EP 1 225 743 T 2002 

GB 2280 574 2, 1995 

* cited by examiner 

Primary Examiner — Barbara Burgess 

(57) ABSTRACT 

A method and processing device for controlling the commu 

nication of data associated with a user on a network 1 is 

described, in which the communication of data to and from a 

user is controlled according to user profile information. In a 

preferred embodiment, the user profile information is main 

tained in a database 9 accessible to processing devices 5 

providing access to the network 1, and includes a volume 

allowance for a predetermined time period, a maximum trans 

mission rate and current usage information for the user. Each 

time a user connects to the network 1, the method determines 

whether the user is within the volume allowance, and if so, 

permits access to the network 1. The communication of data 

is controlled according to the maximum transmission rate. 

The method may be implemented in software. 

16 Claims, 2 Drawing Sheets 

SNMP 

MANAGEMENT 

STATIO 

 

 

 

 

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U.S. Patent Nov. 6, 2012 Sheet 1 of 2 US 8,307,063 B2 

NN 7 

15 

3' - as N ReMENT 9 

3' s STATION 

3 

1-1 

3s 3 

3s 1 11 3 3 

3s 73 

3 3 

3 3. 3s 

11 -3 

3s 

3 3' 3 

3s = 3 3 

23 

3 3 33– 73 

3' 3 N3 Fig. 7 N N 

15 

 

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U.S. Patent Nov. 6, 2012 

START 

DETERMINE USERD 1OO 

OF NEW USER ON 

NETWORK 

SEND REQUEST TO 110 

DATABASE FOR USER 

INFORMATION 

RECEIVE USER 120 

INFORMATION FROM 

DATABASE 

130 

IS 

CURRENT VOLUME 

FORTIME PERIODe MAX 

VOLUMEFOR 

USER 

YES 

NO 

140 

DISCONNECTUSER 

Sheet 2 of 2 

Fig.2 

US 8,307,063 B2 

CONTROL DATA 150 

TRANSMISSION RATE 

ACCORDING TO 

USER INFORMATION 

MONITORVOLUME 

OF USER TRAFFIC 

STORE MONITORED 

VOLUME FOR 

CURRENT SESSION 

AFTER 

PREDETERMINED 

TIME INTERYAL 

DETERMINE NEW 

CURRENT VOLUME 

FORTIME PERIOD 

SEND NEW CURRENT 

VOLUME 

TODATABASE 

190 

SNEW 

CURRENT VOLUME 

FORTIME PERIODe MAX 

VOLUMEFOR 

USER 

NO HASCURRENT TIME 

PERIOD EXPRED2 

RESETMONTORED 

VOLUME FOR 

CURRENT SESSION 

 

 

 

 

 

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US 8,307,063 B2 

1. 

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING 

DATA TRAFFIC ASSOCATED WITHAUSER 

ONANETWORK 

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 

1. Field of the Invention 

The present invention relates to the management and con 

trol of traffic on a data communications network. 

2. Description of the Related Art 

The use of data communications networks in public and 

semi-public environments, such as in universities, allows sig 

nificant number of users access to the network simulta 

neously. The simultaneous access to the network by large 

numbers of user can generate Substantial Volumes of data 

traffic, leading to congestion on the network. This congestion 

can have an adverse effect on the speed of data communica 

tion. For example, use of network bandwidth by members of 

the public may have a detrimental effect on the speed of 

access to the network by users requiring access to the network 

in the course of their employment. 

In addition, users may be able to use different workstations 

(for instance at different physical locations), or connect to 

different network access points (for instance by means of a 

laptop at different docking stations or at different wireless 

network access points), for network access. Accordingly, 

techniques which attempt to restrict the bandwidth for a par 

ticular network access point (which may be a network port for 

a wired network or a wireless access point for a wireless 

network) may not entirely address this problem. 

It would be desirable to manage the volume of data traffic 

generated on the network, and the rate at which such traffic 

may be communicated across the network, in a manner which 

takes into account the user, and in particular the status of the 

user, as specified by the network administrator. 

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 

According to a first aspect, the present invention provides 

a method for controlling the communication of data associ 

ated with a user on a network, the method controlling the 

communication of data according to user profile information. 

Preferably, the user profile information includes a volume 

allowance for the user, the Volume allowance relating to a 

predefined time period. 

In a preferred embodiment, the volume of data traffic asso 

ciated with a user is monitored, and the volume of data traffic 

associated with a user for a current time period stored for use 

in controlling data communication. 

Preferably the user profile information and the volume of 

data traffic associated with a user are stored in a database 

accessible to devices providing access to the network, the 

devices controlling the communication of data. 

Preferably, the step of controlling the communication of 

data also includes controlling the rate of data communication 

based on the user profile information. 

According to a second aspect, the present invention pro 

vides a computer readable medium including a computer 

program for carrying out the method of the first aspect of the 

present invention. 

According to a third aspect, the present invention provides 

a processing device associated with a device providing access 

to a network, the processing device configured to control the 

communication of data associated with a user on the network 

according to user profile information. 

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The processing device of the present invention may be 

separate from, or integrated within, a device providing access 

to a network Such as a port of a network Switch or a wireless 

access point. 

Further preferred features and advantages of the present 

invention will be apparent from the following description and 

accompanying claims. 

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 

The present invention will now be described, by way of 

example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in 

which: 

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a part of a network according 

to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and 

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method, imple 

mented in one or more network devices providing access to 

the network of FIG.1, inaccordance with a preferred embodi 

ment of the present invention. 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED 

EMBODIMENTS 

FIG. 1 shows a part of a data communications network 1 

comprising a plurality of network devices connected together 

by media links. As is well known in the art, the network 

devices include interconnecting network devices, such as 

switches 5 and hubs, having multiple ports for the connection 

of other network devices including workstations (PCs) 3 to 

the network 1. The media links may comprise twisted pair, 

coaxial or fibre-optic cable. The illustrated network 1 also 

includes wireless network components, typical of wireless 

networks, in which the media links are wireless links and the 

interconnecting network devices, for the connection of work 

stations (PCs) 3' or the like to the network 1, comprise wire 

less access points 15. 

In accordance with the illustrated embodiment, each 

switch 5 is an SNMP (Simple Network Management Proto 

col) managed device, in which the agent defined in SNMP 

monitors data traffic passing through the ports of the device 

and stores the monitored data in accordance with SNMP. The 

skilled person will appreciate from the following description 

that the present invention is not limited to use with SNMP, but 

rather may be implemented using other standard or propri 

etary protocols, including LDAP (Lightweight Directory 

Access Protocol), COPS (Common Open Policy Service Pro 

tocol) and RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User 

Service) as discussed below. 

An SNMP management station 7 is connected to the net 

work 1 and includes an SNMP manager for communicating 

with the managed network devices 5 in accordance with the 

present invention. The management station 7 is used by the 

network administrator and includes the necessary processing 

hardware and memory for operating one or more network 

management software applications for monitoring the net 

work 1. In addition to, or as part of Such a network manage 

ment application, in accordance with the illustrated embodi 

ment of the present invention, the management station 7 

includes a database 9 for storing “user profile information'. 

As the skilled person will appreciate, it is not essential that 

the database 9 is associated with the management station 7. 

but rather the database 9 may be associated with any appro priate workstation, server or other processing device perma 

nently connected to the network 1. 

In accordance with the illustrated embodiment, database 9 

is created using any suitable conventional technique and the 

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user profile information is typically entered in the database 9 

by the network administrator for each new user, and may be 

changed as desired. 

The user profile information comprises the following infor 

mation for each user: 

User ID: 

Maximum Data Transmission Rate “MaxRate' (in Mbps); 

Maximum Data Volume “MaxVolume' (in Mbytes) per 

Time Period AccPeriod (in seconds/hours/days/ 

months); 

Start and/or Finishing Time “Start/FinishTime’ for the 

Time Period. 

In addition to the user profile information, as explained 

below, the database stores, for each user: 

Current Data Volume “ActualVolume' (in Mbytes) for the 

Current Time Period “AccPeriod (in seconds/hours/ days/weeks). 

Accordingly, each user has a data Volume allowance, rep 

resented by MaxVolume” for a certain time period “AccPe 

riod’, the time period starting/finishing at the “Start/Finish 

Time'. For example, a high status user may have an allowance 

of 2000 Mbytes per day (the Start Time for each time period 

being 00.01 hours every day). A low status user may have an 

allowance of 200 Mbytes per week (the Start Time for each 

time period being 00.01 every Monday). 

To control the volume of data traffic generated by a user, as 

described in detail below, the database 9 maintains a record of 

the volume of data traffic generated by a user in the Current 

Time Period, as the “ActualVolume', in order to ensure that a user does not exceed his or her volume allowance “MaxVol 

ume' in the time period. 

Moreover, the data transmission rate has an upper limit for 

each user, represented by “MaxRate'. Thus, a high status user 

may have a maximum transmission rate of 1000 Mbps, 

whereas a low status user may be limited to transmission rates 

of 10 Mbps, even if the network device used for network 

access is capable of higher transmission speeds. 

The data transmission rate for a user is controlled accord 

ing to the upper limit set for the user in the database 

MaxRate. 

A method of controlling data communication, associated 

with a user, on the network 1 of FIG. 1, in accordance with a 

first preferred embodiment of the present invention will now 

be described with reference to FIG. 2. Methods according to 

other embodiments of the present invention will also be 

described, which may be implemented using protocols other 

than SNMP and in conjunction with other networks. 

FIG. 2 illustrates a method in accordance with a first pre 

ferred embodiment of the present invention. Except as other 

wise indicated below, the method of this embodiment is 

implemented in each managed network device 5, and each 

wireless access point 15, as embedded software. It will be 

appreciated that the method could be implemented in other 

forms, including hardware. 

The method begins each time a user logs on to the network 

1 using any port of any managed network device 5, and 

continues during the connection. Accordingly, the method 

typically is performed simultaneously for a plurality of dif 

ferent ports of the network device 5 and for a plurality of 

different users. 

Step 100 determines the identity of the new user (“user 

ID'). The userID can be determined using any conventional 

technique consistent with the network/network operating sys 

tem. For example, the username entered by the new user 

during the login sequence of the operating system may be 

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used. In a second preferred embodiment, described in more 

detail below, the user ID can be determined using the IEEE 

802.1X standard. 

Step 110 sends a request to the database 9 for user profile information for the user. In particular, the request is an SNMP 

request for retrieval of the “MaxRate”; “MaxVolume”; “Start/ 

FinishTime: “AccPeriod’ and “ActualVolume” for the user 

ID specified in the request, as determined at step 100. 

Step 120 receives the user profile information, requested at 

step 110, from the database 9 and may store this data in 

memory. 

Step 130 compares the ActualVolume with the MaxVol ume to determine whether the ActualVolume exceeds the 

MaxVolume. If step 130 determines that ActualVolume is 

greater than or equal to MaxVolume, the user has already 

reached his or her data volume allowance for the time period, 

and step 140 disconnects the user from the network. When 

disconnecting the user, an appropriate message, explaining 

the reason for disconnection, is preferably sent to the user for 

display, and a message is also preferably sent to the network 

management station 7 for inclusion in network management 

statistical data for use by the network administrator. 

Alternatively, if step 130 determines that ActualVolume is 

less than MaxVolume, the user is within his or her data vol 

ume allowance for the time period and access to the network 

is permitted at data rates within the user's allowance as con 

trolled in step 150. 

Step 150 determines and controls the data/transmission 

rate for the user. The data rate must be less than or equal to 

MaxRate for the user, and may be determined and controlled 

using one or more conventional techniques. 

For example, step 150 may use auto negotiation, in accor 

dance with the IEEE 802.3x standard or equivalent standards 

on other media, to determine a fastest transmission rate for the 

network equipment being employed by the user. The fastest 

rate determined by auto negotiation may then be used as the 

transmission rate provided it is less than or equal to MaxRate 

(if the fastest data rate determined by auto negotiation is 

greater than MaxRate then the transmission rate is MaxRate 

by default). 

Step 150 may alternatively, or in addition, control the data 

transmission rate using the method described in the appli 

cants co pending UK Patent Application No 003 0600.1. In 

the method described in this co pending application the flow 

of traffic though a port of a network switch is monitored and 

controlled by a token bucket system. In particular, in a full 

duplex system, two token buckets are used, one to control the 

rate of outgoing traffic and the other to control the rate of 

incoming traffic. Each token bucket is configured with a 

threshold. In the case of the token bucket controlling outgoing 

traffic, when the threshold is exceeded, the rate at which data 

is output from the transmit queue of the port is reduced, thus 

reducing the transmission rate. In the case of the token bucket 

controlling incoming data, when the threshold is exceeded the 

port transmits “pause' frames in accordance with IEEE 802.3 

Standard to reduce the rate of reception of data at the port. Accordingly, this method may be implemented in the method 

of the present invention, the thresholds of the token buckets 

being set in accordance with the user profile, and in particular 

in accordance with the MaxRate for the user. 

Step 160 then monitors the volume of the traffic sent to and 

from the user, and stores in memory a monitored data Volume 

for the Current Session (“SessionVolume”), corresponding to 

the data Volume monitored since the user logged on to the 

network 1 in the Current Session at step 100. In accordance 

with conventional techniques, the monitoring of the data Vol 

ume is preferably performed in hardware. 

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After a predetermined time interval (e.g. 30 minutes), step 

170 determines the new CurrentVolume (new ActualVolume) 

for the current time period by adding the SessionVolume 

stored in memory to the ActualVolume retrieved from the 

database at step 120. 

Step 180 sends the “SessionVolume' (or alternatively the 

determined new ActualVolume) to the database 9 for updating 

the value for ActualVolume associated with the userID stored 

in the database 9. (Note, if the SessionVolume is sent, the 

database performs the calculation to determine the new Actu 

alVolume). 

Step 190 compares the new ActualVolume, determined at 

step 170, with the MaxVolume to determine whether the new 

ActualVolume exceeds the MaxVolume. 

If step 190 determines that the new ActualVolume is less 

than MaxVolume, the user is still within his or her data vol 

ume allowance for the time period and monitoring continues 

at step 160. 

Alternatively, if step 190 determines that new ActualVol 

ume is greater than or equal to MaxVolume, the user has now 

reached his or her data volume allowance for the Current 

Time Period (i.e. the time period that was current at the start 

of the session at step 100). 

However, before disconnecting the user, step 200 considers 

whether the Current Time Period has expired. This can be 

determined by considering the “Start/FinishTime’ and the 

“AccPeriod” for the user, retrieved at step 120. 

If step 200 determines that the Current Time Period has not 

expired, then step 140 disconnects the user from the network 

1. When disconnecting the user, an appropriate message, 

explaining the reason for disconnection, is preferably sent to 

the user for display, and, in accordance with the preferred embodiment, a message is also sent to the network manage 

ment station 7 indicating that the user has been disconnected 

and Current Session has ended (this latter message termed 

“end of session notification'). 

Alternatively, if step 200 determines that the Current Time 

Period has expired, then step 210 resets the monitored value 

in memory to Zero, and the ActualVolume to Zero and moni 

toring continues at step 160. 

It will be appreciated that steps 200 and 210 may be per 

formed periodically at a different stage in the program 

sequence. For instance these steps may be performed at more 

frequent periodic intervals than step 170 (e.g. every 1 to 5 

minutes) so that the monitored Volume can be reset and moni 

toring can continue as soon as a new Current Time Period for 

the user begins. Alternatively, since the network management 

station 7 may automatically reset the ActualVolume for a user 

in the database 9 as soon as a new Start/Finish Time is 

reached, and may monitor the Current Session of the user in 

response to the request at step 110, then, in the absence of an 

“end of Session' notification at Step 140, the management 

station 7 may send a request to the network port (or access 

point) to reset the monitored volume and the ActualVolume to 

Zero at the same time as resetting the ActualVolume in the 

database 9. 

It will be appreciated that when a user logs off the network 

1 at the end of a session, whether or not his or her volume 

allowance has been reached, the monitored Volume is send to 

database 9 together with an “end of session” notification. 

In addition, after step 140 disconnects the user from the 

network 1, or when the user logs off, the port of the network 

device 5 (or wireless network access point 15 or other equiva lent network access point) may reconfigure the auto negotia 

tion mechanisms or other bandwidth, data rate or data Volume 

control mechanisms to appropriate default or previously con 

figured settings until a new user logs on. 

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Whilst in the described embodiment, the step of determin 

ing whether the CurrentVolume (ActualVolume/new Current 

Volume) exceeds the user's permitted volume (MaxVolume) 

is performed in the managed network device 5 (or wireless 

network access point 15) at step 130 or step 190, it will be 

appreciated that in other embodiments this determination 

could be performed in the management station 7 or other 

processor associated with database 9. In this case, the deter 

mination of the new Current Volume at step 170 may be 

performed in the management station 7, following receipt of 

the monitored volume for the current session from the man 

aged network device 5, sent at step 180. 

As previously mentioned, the present invention is not lim 

ited to use with SNMP. For instance, protocols including 

RADIUS, LDAP and COPS may be used. The method 

described in relation to FIG.2 will be adapted according to the 

implementing protocol. 

For example, in a second preferred embodiment the IEEE 

802.1X standard is used in conjunction with RADIUS. In this 

embodiment, step 100 uses the IEEE 802.1X standard 

authentication sequence to determine the identity of the new 

user. Specifically, in the authentication sequence a new user 

logging on to a network is invited to entera username (which 

is the user ID in the present invention) and password. The 

username and password is authenticated by an authentication server on the network before access is allowed. If the user is 

authenticated, in accordance with the IEEE 802.1X standard, 

the authentication server sends “attributes data” detailing the 

constraints and conditions for access to the network by the USC. 

Accordingly, in this second preferred embodiment, the 

authentication server also includes the database, which stores 

the user profile information. The user profile information is 

automatically included with the data sent to the port or wire 

less access point to which the user is connecting with the 

authentication attributes data. The additional data may be 

incorporated with the attributes data using the RADIUS pro 

tocol. It will be appreciated that in this embodiment, steps 

100, 110 and 130 of the method of FIG. 2 are replaced by the 

authentication sequence, it being unnecessary to send a sepa 

rate request for user information at step 110. 

As will be apparent from the above description, the present invention advantageously permits the dynamic allocation of 

bandwidth to a user, irrespective of the location of the user, 

upon connecting to the network, according to the profile of 

the user. Thus, high priority users may be given high Volume 

and high maximum data rate allowances in order to guarantee 

the allocation of bandwidth required. 

As the skilled person will appreciate, various modifications 

and changes may be made to the described embodiments. It is 

intended to include all Such variations, modifications and 

equivalents which fall within the spirit and scope of the 

present invention, as defined in the accompanying claims. 

The invention claimed is: 

1. A method for controlling the communication of user data 

associated, at a plurality of network Switches on a network, 

with a user on the network, the method comprising: 

in at least one of the plurality of network switches, 

accessing user profile information of the user, wherein 

the user profile information comprises at least a data 

Volume allowance for the user; 

monitoring a Volume of data used by the user over the 

network regardless of which of a plurality of devices 

the user uses to access the at least one of the plurality 

of network switches; 

controlling the communication of user data on the net 

work by permitting said communication of user data 

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7 

through the plurality of switches while the volume of 

data used by the user is within the data volume allow 

ance for the user, and 

preventing said communication of user data if the Vol 

ume of data used by the user reaches or exceeds the 

data volume allowance for the user. 

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, in which the method 

further comprises obtaining current usage information for the 

user from an external database; comparing the current usage 

information with the volume allowance for the user, and 

controlling the communication of user data according to the 

result of the comparison. 

3. A method as claimed in claim 2, in which the volume 

allowance is a data Volume for the user in a time period; the 

current usage information includes a current Volume for the 

user, the current Volume corresponding to the Volume of data 

associated with the user communicated on the network since 

the start of a current said time period, and the step of com 

paring comprises comparing the Volume allowance with the 

current volume for the user. 

4. A method as claimed in claim 3, in which, if the step of 

comparing determines that the current Volume is greater than 

or equal to the Volume allowance, the step of controlling comprises preventing data communication by the user until 

said current time period has expired. 

5. A method as claimed in claim 4, in which, if the step of 

comparing determines that the current Volume is less than the 

Volume allowance, the step of controlling comprises permit 

ting the communication of user data associated with the user 

whilst controlling a data rate. 

6. A method as claimed in claim 3, in which, if the step of 

comparing determines that the current volume is less than the 

Volume allowance, the step of controlling comprises permit 

ting the communication of user data associated with the user 

whilst controlling a data rate. 

7. A method as claimed in claim 6, the step of controlling the data rate comprises controlling the data rate according to a maximum data rate. 

8. A method as claimed in claim 6, further comprising: monitoring, in the at least one of the plurality of network 

Switches, the Volume of data associated with the user com 

municated on the network. 

9. A method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising: periodically determining a new current Volume for the 

user, comparing the new current Volume with the Vol 

ume allowance for the user, and controlling the commu 

nication of user databased upon the comparison. 

10. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the volume 

allowance, the current Volume, the data rate, the maximum 

data rate, and the time period are stored in the external data 

base; and wherein the at least one of the plurality of network 

Switches is configured to communicate with the external data 

base. 

11. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the at least 

one of the plurality of network switches is configured to 

perform the step of monitoring, the method further compris 

ing periodically sending the monitored Volume of data for the 

user to the database for updating the current volume for the USC. 

12. A network switch associated with a device providing 

access to a user to a network, the network Switch being con 

figured to access user profile information of a user of the 

device, wherein the user profile information comprises at 

least a data Volume allowance for the user, to monitor a 

volume of data used by the user over the network regardless of 

which of a plurality of devices the user uses to access the 

network Switch, and to control the communication of data 

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associated with the user at a plurality of points on the network, 

wherein the network Switch prevents the user from accessing 

the network when the volume of data used by the user reaches or exceeds the data volume allowance for the user. 

13. A method for controlling, at a plurality of points on a 

network, the communication of user data associated with a 

user on the network, the method comprising: 

in at least one hub on the network, 

accessing user profile information of the user, wherein 

the user profile information comprises at least a data 

Volume allowance for the user; 

monitoring a Volume of data used by the user over the 

network regardless of which of a plurality of devices 

the user uses to access the at least one hub; 

controlling the communication of user data on the net 

work by permitting said communication of user data 

through the at least one hub while the volume of data 

used by the user is within the data volume allowance 

for the user, and 

preventing said communication of user data if the Vol 

ume of data used by the user reaches or exceeds the 

data Volume allowance. 

14. A method for controlling, at a plurality of points on a 

network, the communication of user data associated with a 

user on the network, the method comprising: 

in at least one wireless access point on the network, 

accessing user profile information of the user, wherein 

the user profile information comprises at least a data 

Volume allowance for the user; 

monitoring a Volume of data used by the user over the 

network regardless of which of a plurality of devices 

the user uses to access the at least one wireless access 

point; 

controlling the communication of user data at a plurality 

of points on the network by permitting said commu 

nication of user data through the at least one wireless 

access point while the volume of data used by the user 

is within a data Volume allowance for the user, and 

preventing said communication of user data if the Vol 

ume of data used by the user reaches or exceeds the 

data Volume allowance. 

15. A network hub associated with a device providing 

access to a network, the network hub being configured to 

access user profile information of a user of the device, 

wherein the user profile information comprises at least a data 

Volume allowance for the user, to monitor a volume of data 

used by the user over the network regardless of which of a 

plurality of devices the user uses to access the network hub, 

and to control the communication of data associated with the 

user at a plurality of points on the network, wherein the 

network hub prevents a user from accessing the network when 

the volume of data used by the user reaches or exceeds the 

data value allowance for the user. 

16. A wireless access point associated with a device pro viding access to a network, the wireless access point being configured to access user profile information of a user of the 

device, wherein the user profile information comprises at 

least a data Volume allowance for the user, to monitor a 

volume of data used by the user over the network regardless of 

which of a plurality of devices the user uses to access the 

wireless access point, and to control the communication of 

data associated with a user at a plurality of points on the 

network, wherein the wireless access point prevents a user 

from accessing the network when the Volume of data used by 

the user reaches or exceeds the data Volume allowance. 

Case 2:23-cv-00444-JRG Document 1-5 Filed 09/27/23 Page 8 of 8 PageID #: 89