Abstract:
In various embodiments, one or more methods and/or systems described may provide probing and/or data replication capabilities for monitoring a user&#39;s computing device and the data the user&#39;s computing device transmits and/or receives to and/or from one or more networks. In some embodiments, an authorization signal may be intercepted, where the authorization signal may convey information about the user and/or the user&#39;s computing device, and a probe to replicate data to and/or from the user&#39;s computing device may be initiated. In various embodiments, the replicated data may be communicated to a mediation computing device, where one or more analyses may be performed.

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM 
       [0001]    This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/981,260, filed Oct. 19, 2007, titled “PROBE INSERTION FOR NAT IP ADDRESSES,” the contents of which is incorporated herein by referenced in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention is in the field of Internet access and, more specifically, the present invention pertains to the field of Internet access where network address translation is used in providing Internet access. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    The COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANCE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT (CALEA) presents many challenges for networking companies. One challenge to conformance with CALEA is that many networks utilize Internet protocol (IP) addresses with network address translation (NAT), e.g., using one or more private addresses such as those in accordance with RFC 1918 and/or one or more static IP address of respective one or more computing devices. Probes for detecting and duplicating the traffic stream are located in centralized network routers and only are aware of the wide area network (WAN) IP address, not IP address where NAT was used. CALEA states that there can be no mixed streams of information, meaning if two or more users are at a site with network address translated (NATed) IP addresses that get translated to the same WAN IP address, any probe looking at the WAN IP address will detect the traffic for all NATed users and cannot differentiate and/or isolate different user data streams to different users&#39; computing devices. This problem can be seen in the example of a network architecture using NATed addressing in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0006]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , an exemplary prior art network communication system (NCS)  50  includes one or more portable computing devices (PCDS)  20 A- 20 C coupled to a network  15  (e.g., a local area network) that is coupled to a routing computer  10 , and routing computer  10  is coupled to an Internet  25 . Various computing devices, such as portable computing device (PCD)  20 D and servers  35 A and  35 B, are coupled to Internet  25 , as well. A mediation computing device (MCD)  30  can be coupled to Internet  25  or can be coupled to other networks (mediation server  30  coupling not shown). A probe  40 A can be disposed between routing computer  10  and Internet  25 . Probe  40 A can replicated data passing between routing computer  10  and Internet  25  and transmit the replicated data  45 A to mediation server  30 . However, if one or more of PCDs  20 A- 20 C are communicating with Internet  25  (e.g., to another computing device coupled to Internet  25 ) using a NAT, then it may be difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish and/or isolate any data stream from and/or to a specific PCD of PCDs  20 A- 20 C, since all the data streams involved with NAT would appear to be from and/or to routing computer  10 . Moreover, a probe  40 B placed somewhere in Internet  25  can replicate data passing between routing computer  10  and one or more computing devices coupled to Internet  25  and transmit the replicated data  45 B to MCD  30 . However, this configuration suffers from the same problems associated with probe  40 A and replicated data  45 A. 
         [0007]    Accordingly, there is a need for one or more systems and/or methods to isolate data from and/or to one or more computing devices where NAT is used. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    The preferred embodiments will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a network communication system, according to various embodiments; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a network communication system, according to various embodiments; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4A  is a block diagram of a network communication system, according to various embodiments; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4B  is a block diagram of a network communication system, according to various embodiments; 
           [0013]      FIG. 5A  is a block diagram of probes, according to various embodiments; 
           [0014]      FIG. 5B  is a block diagram of probes, according to various embodiments; 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart diagram of a method, according to various embodiments; 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  is a flowchart diagram of a method, according to various embodiments; 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  is a flowchart diagram of a method, according to various embodiments; 
           [0018]      FIGS. 9A and 9B  are a flowchart diagram of a method, according to various embodiments; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 10  is a flowchart diagram of a method, according to various embodiments. 
       
    
    
       [0020]    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 
       [0021]    U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/981,260, filed Oct. 19, 2007, titled “PROBE INSERTION FOR NAT IP ADDRESSES,” is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety as though fully and completely set forth herein. 
         [0022]    Turning now to  FIG. 2 , 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 B 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. 
         [0023]    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 A. NMD  105 A may be coupled to a routing computing device (RCD)  115 , and RCD  115  may be coupled to a network  135 . In various embodiments, NMD  105 A 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  135 . In some embodiments, NMD  105 A 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 network accesses, qualities of services, and/or traffic shaping. 
         [0024]    In various embodiments, network  130 A and/or network  135  may include a wired network, a wireless network or a combination of wired and wireless networks. Network  130 A and/or network  135  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 A 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. 
         [0025]    In some embodiments, network  130 A and/or network  135  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  135  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  135  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  135  may form part of the Internet, or may couple to other networks, e.g., other local or wide area networks such as the Internet. 
         [0026]    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 and/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, and/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. 
         [0027]    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  135 . 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  160 B 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 a network, such as network  135 . 
         [0028]    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 and/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. 
         [0029]    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 A 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 . 
         [0030]    In some embodiments, one or more 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. 
         [0031]    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 and/or  135 ) 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. 
         [0032]    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  135 . One or more of RECDs  111 A- 111 C may be “locked down” to prevent theft. 
         [0033]    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, a computer-implemented game, web pages, graphics, a digital news publication, 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. 
         [0034]    In some embodiments, NCS  100  may include a server computing device (SCD)  145  coupled to network  130 A. SCD  145  may store and/or provide various shared secrets to various computing devices coupled to network  130 A. In various embodiments, SCD  145  may communicate with various computing devices coupled to network  130 A using use one or more secure and/or encrypted methods and/or systems. For example, SCD  145  may communicate with various computing devices coupled to network  130 A using transport layer security (TLS), HTTPS (secure hypertext transfer protocol), and/or a secure socket layer (SSL), among others. 
         [0035]    In some embodiments, NCS  100  may include one or more server computing devices (SCDs)  140 A- 140 C and/or one or more PCDs  110 G- 110 H coupled to network  135 . In one example, SCD  140 A may include various authentication and/or authorization services used in providing access from network  130 A to network  135 . In a second example, one or more of SCDs  140 B- 140 C may provide content and/or other network services described herein. For instance, SCD  140 B may provide SCD  145  with one or more shared secret updates. SCD  140 B and SCD  145  may communicate in a secure fashion (e.g., using TLS, HTTPS, SSL, etc.). In another example, one or more PCDs  110 G- 110 H may exchange data associated with one or more network services described herein. In various embodiments, one or more computing devices coupled to network  130 A may be permitted to access and/or communication with computing devices coupled to network  135  after being permitted to do so. 
         [0036]    NCS  100  may include a management information base (MIB)  150 . MIB  150  may be coupled to network  130 A. In various embodiments, 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 two or more 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 two or more possible networks and/or services. The access information may include access level and/or privilege level information. The data structure may include a table of two or more tuples, with each tuple including 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. 
         [0037]    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. 
         [0038]    In some embodiments, NMD  105 A may be a computer system operable to include one or more of MIB  150 , network  130 A, SCD  145 , RCD  115 , MCDs  125 A- 125 D, various networking equipment, and/or one or more APs  120 A- 120 D, among others. 
         [0039]    In various embodiments, a user operating a computing device (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.), a wearable computing device, an Internet appliance, a communications device, or other wired or wireless device. One or more of PCDs  110 - 110 F, RECDs  111 A- 111 C, BODs  170 A- 170 C, and/or content provider  160 A 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 and/or serial port bus interface, and/or other type of communication device. 
         [0040]    In some embodiments, one or more of PCDs  110 A- 110 F, RECDs  111 A- 111 C, BODs  170 A- 170 C, and/or content provider  160 A may include a memory medium which stores identification (ID) information and/or shared secret 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 (e.g., a MAC address), network identification information, and/or other type of information that identifies the 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 computing device. In various embodiments, the shared secret information may be stored in a memory medium of the computing device and may be accessible by client software of the computing device. For example, the shared secret information may include various strings of data that may be combined with other data which may be used in determining a result of a one-way hash function. 
         [0041]    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, BOD  170 C, RECD  111 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 computing device and/or wireless AP may use any of various security systems and/or methods. 
         [0042]    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, RECDs  111 A- 111 B, and BOD  170 A may be coupled through an Ethernet, universal serial bus (USB), FireWire (IEEE 1394), serial, and/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. 
         [0043]    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. 
         [0044]    In various embodiments, NCS  100  may be geographic-based. In other words, the NCS  100  may provide information and/or services to a computing device (e.g., one of PCDs  110 A- 110 F, RECDs  111 A- 111 C, RECDs  111 A- 111 C, and BODs  170 A- 170 C) based at least partly on the geographic location of the 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 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 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. 
         [0045]    In various embodiments, NMD  105 A may service a single location. In some embodiments, NMD  105 A may service two or more locations (e.g., locations  175 A- 175 C), as shown in  FIG. 3 . 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 C 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. 
         [0046]    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, and NMD  105 A 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, 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, and/or MIB  150  may further store a software program for accessing these data structures and using the information therein to properly provide and/or route data between 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 provide network access from a first network to a second network. For example, the first network may include network  130 A, and the second network may include network  135 . 
         [0047]    In some embodiments, one or more computer systems may communicate with the one or more other computer systems using use one or more secure and/or encrypted methods and/or systems. For example, PCD  110 A may communicate with the one or more computer systems (e.g., PCDs  110 B- 110 H, NMD  105 A, SCDs  145 ,  140 A- 140 C, and/or content providers  160 A- 160 B) using TLS, HTTPS, and/or a SSL, among others. 
         [0048]    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., and/or a non-volatile memory such as a magnetic media, e.g., a hard drive, and/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 and/or include 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 include one of the networks to which the current network is coupled, e.g., a SAN (Storage Area Network). 
         [0049]    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, wearable computing device, 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. 
         [0050]    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 and/or flowcharts described herein. 
         [0051]    Turning now to  FIG. 4A , NCS  100  is illustrated, according to various embodiments. NCS  100  may include networks  130 A- 130 D, network management devices (NMDs)  105 A- 105 D, and/or routing computing devices (RCDs)  115 A- 115 D. As illustrated, networks  130 A- 130 D may be coupled to respective NMDs  105 A- 105 D; NMDs  105 A- 105 D may be coupled to respective RCDs  115 A- 115 D; and RCDs  115 A- 115 D may be coupled to network  135 . In some embodiments: each network of networks  130 B- 130 D may include structures and/or functionalities as described above with reference to network  130 A; each NMD of NMDs  105 B- 105 D may include structures and/or functionalities as described above with reference to NMD  105 A; and/or each RCD of RCDs  115 B- 115 D may include structures and/or functionalities as described above with reference to RCD  115 A. 
         [0052]    In some embodiments, networks  130 A- 130 D may be configured with various subnets. As shown, network  130 A may be configured with subnets 192.168.0.0/24 and/or 216.12.254.29/29, network  130 B may be configured with a subnet 192.168.1.0/24, network  130 C may be configured with subnets 192.168.0.0/24 and/or 216.12.254.232/29, and/or network  130 D may be configured with subnets 192.168.1.0/24, 192.168.2.0/24, and/or 192.168.3.0/24. As shown and described, IP version 4 is used for illustrative and/or exemplary purposes, and in various embodiments, other network protocols and/or protocol versions may be used with the one or more systems and/or one or more methods described herein. For example, IP version 6, Ethernet protocol, token ring protocol, ARCnet protocol, fiber distributed data interface (FDDI) protocol, LocalTalk protocol, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) protocol, frame relay protocol, and/or X.25 protocol, Internet packet exchange (IPX) protocol, among others, may be used with the one or more systems and/or one or more methods described herein. 
         [0053]    In various embodiments, various subnets may be considered private subnets that include respective one or more private network addresses. For example, subnets 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, and/or 192.168.0.0/16 may be considered private subnets that include respective private addresses. Using private subnets may aid and/or be beneficial in conserving public network addresses. In some embodiments, private addresses may not be routed on a public network (e.g., the Internet). For example, routers that interact with and/or form part of a public network may filter out and/or reject packets with a source address and/or a destination address that includes a private network address. In some instances, receiving a packet, from and/or to a public network, with a source address and/or a destination address that includes a private network address may be considered a protocol error. Thus, various gateway devices perform network address translation (NAT) to change and/or map a private network address to a public network address. In performing NAT, a gateway device may change a private network address to a public network address. For example, the gateway device may change the private network address to the public network address that it uses when interacting with the public network. 
         [0054]    Turning now to  FIG. 4B , NCS  100  is illustrated, according to various embodiments. As shown, NCS  100  may include the computing systems and networks as described with reference to  FIG. 4A  and may also include a private network  133  and a RCD  116 , where RCDs  115 A- 115 D may be coupled to private network  133  which may be coupled to RCD  116  which may be coupled to network  135 . 
         [0055]    In various embodiments, private network  133  may include structures and/or functionalities of networks  130 A- 130 D and/or network  135 . In some embodiments, private network  133  and/or RCD  116  may aggregate network traffic from and/or to networks  130 A- 130 D and network  135 . In one example, RCD  116  may receive network traffic which includes two or more private network addresses. These private network addresses may include the same private network address or may include different private network addresses. Private network  133  and/or RCD  116  may be configured to distinguish two different data streams (e.g., each data stream including one or more packets) even though the same private network address is used. For instance, the two different data streams may be identified by a tag (e.g., a QoS tag, a tunnel tag, a VLAN tag, etc.). 
         [0056]    In some embodiments, RCD  116  may map and/or NAT each packet from and/or to two or more private network addresses to a respective public network address. In one example, RCD  116  may receive a packet from a computing device coupled to network  130 A, and the packet of the computing device coupled to network  130 A may include a source address of 192.168.0.24. RCD  116  may perform a NAT on the packet the computing device coupled to network  130 AA by changing the source network address from 192.168.0.24 to a public network address, such as 216.12.254.100. RCD  116  may receive a packet from a computing device coupled to network  130 B, and the packet the computing device coupled to network  130 B may include a source address of 192.168.1.20. RCD  116  may perform a NAT on the packet the computing device coupled to network  130 B by changing the source network address from 192.168.1.20 to a public network address, such as 216.12.254.104. In a second example, RCD  116  may receive a packet from a computing device coupled to network  130 A, and the packet the computing device coupled to network  130 A may include a source address of 192.168.0.24. RCD  116  may perform a NAT on the packet the computing device coupled to network  130 A by changing the source network address from 192.168.0.24 to a public network address, such as 216.12.254.100. RCD  116  may receive a packet from a computing device coupled to network  130 C, and the packet the computing device coupled to network  130 AC may include a source address of 192.168.0.24. RCD  116  may perform a NAT on the packet the computing device coupled to network  130 C by changing the source network address from 192.168.0.24 to a public network address, such as 216.12.254.105. RCD  116  may distinguish the two different data streams (e.g., two different packets) by a tag. In one instance, each packet associated with each private network address of one or more private network addresses from one or more networks  130 A- 130 D may be associated with a unique tag (e.g., a QoS tag, a tunnel tag, a VLAN tag, etc.), and each unique tag may distinguish each of two or more data streams (e.g., two or more packets) and map and/or NAT these two or more data streams to two or more different public network addresses. In various embodiments, unique tags may be added and/or supplemented to two or more data streams by respective wired access points, wireless access points, and/or NMDs, among others, that may allow the data streams to be communicated to various network elements and/or various networks. 
         [0057]    In this fashion, two or more private network addresses may be mapped and/or NATed to respective two or more different public network addresses. This may aid in conserving public network addresses, since public network addresses may not need to be allocated to one or more networks (e.g., networks  130 A- 130 D), and public addresses can be dynamically allocated where they are needed and/or can be dynamically allocated for temporary periods of time when they are needed. Moreover, if more public addresses are need, e.g., by two or more networks  130 A- 130 D, then configuration and/or reconfiguration may be reduced by configuring and/or reconfiguring RCD  116  without configuring and/or reconfiguring two or more areas and/or devices of NCS  100  (e.g., two or more of networks  130 A- 130 D, two or more of NMDs  105 A- 105 D, and/or two or more of RCDs  115 A- 115 D, among others). 
         [0058]    Turning now to  FIG. 5A , a block diagram of probes is illustrated, according to various embodiments. As shown, NMD  105 A and/or RCD  115 A may permit and/or enable a bi-directional data stream  500 A to stream between network  130 A and network  135 . One or more probes  510 A- 510 F may be initiated and/or inserted to replicate one or more portions of data stream  500 A, and the one or more probes  510 A- 510 F may respectively provide replicated data streams  520 A- 520 F. In some embodiments, one or more of replicated data streams  520 A- 520 F may be communicated to one or more of MCDs  125 A- 125 D. In various embodiments, data streams  520 A- 520 F may replicate all packets associated with a network address, a tag, etc.; provide one or more replicated portions of a data stream; and/or provide supplemental data (e.g., user identification, current location, etc.). 
         [0059]    In some embodiments, data stream  500 A may include one or more packets, and each of the one or more packets may include one or more of a source address, a destination address, a VLAN tag, a tunnel tag, a quality of service tag, and/or payload data, among others. For example, the one or more packets may include one or more of an IP packet, a wireless Ethernet packet, and/or an Ethernet packet, among others. 
         [0060]    In various embodiments, a probe may replicate one or more portions of data stream  500 A based on one or more of a network address (e.g., an IP address, a MAC address, etc.) and/or a tag (e.g., a quality of service tag, a tunnel tag, a VLAN tag, etc.), among others. In some embodiments, basing replication on one of more of a network address and/or a tag may include filtering on one or more of the network address and/or the tag such that data associated with the one or more of the network address and/or the tag is replicated while other data is not replicated. 
         [0061]    In one example, probe  510 A may replicate one or more packets of data stream  500 A based on an IP address. In one instance, one or more of probes  510 A and/or probe  510 D may replicate one or more packets of data stream  500 A that are associated with a private IP address, such as 192.168.0.24. In another instance, one or more of probes  510 A and/or probe  510 D may replicate one or more packets of data stream  500 A that are associated with a public IP address, such as 216.12.254.252. In a second example, one or more of probes  510 A and/or probe  510 D may replicate one or more packets of data stream  500 A that are associated with a MAC address (e.g., 00:0d:a3:88:be:fe, among others). 
         [0062]    In another example, one or more of probes  510 B and/or  510 E may replicate one or more packets of data stream  500 A that are associated with a tag. In one instance, the one or more packets may be associated with a QoS tag (e.g., an IEEE 802.1p tag). In some embodiments, the QoS tag may be used to identify specific one or more packets from and/or to a specific computing device. In various embodiments, the QoS tag does not reduce a QoS. In one example, one or more of a wireless access point, a wired access point, and/or a NMD may set and/or supplement the specific one or more packets from and/or to the specific computing device with a tag. For instance, NMD  105 A may perform NAT on the one or more packets and set and/or supplement the one or more packets with a QoS tag so that probe  510 E may identify and/or replicate the one or more packets. In another instance, a wireless access point or a wired access point may set and/or supplement the one or more packets with a QoS tag so that probe  510 E may identify and replicate the one or more packets even if NMD  105 A performs NAT on the one or more packets. 
         [0063]    In various embodiments, NMDs  105 B- 105 D and/or respective RCDs  115 B- 115 D may include structures and/or functionalities with reference to NMD  105 A and/or RCD  115 A described above. 
         [0064]    Turning now to  FIG. 5B , a block diagram of probes is illustrated, according to various embodiments. As shown, NMD  105 A and/or RCD  115 A may permit and/or enable a bi-directional data stream  500 A to stream between network  130 A and private network  133 ; NMD  105 B and/or RCD  115 B may permit and/or enable a bi-directional data stream  500 B to stream between network  130 B and private network  133 ; NMD  105 C and/or RCD  115 C may permit and/or enable a bi-directional data stream  500 C to stream between network  130 C and private network  133 ; and/or NMD  105 D and/or RCD  115 D may permit and/or enable a bi-directional data stream  500 D to stream between network  130 D and private network  133 . In some embodiments, private network  133  and/or RCD  116  may aggregate one or more data streams  500 A- 500 D into a bi-directional data stream  505 , and RCD  116  may permit and/or enable bi-directional data stream  505  to stream between private network  133  and network  135 . 
         [0065]    In various embodiments, one or more probes  510 G- 510 I may be initiated and/or inserted to replicate one or more portions of data stream  505 , and the one or more probes  510 G- 510 I may respectively provide replicated data streams  520 G- 520 I. In some embodiments, one or more of replicated data streams  520 G- 520 I may be communicated to one or more of MCDs  125 A- 125 D. In various embodiments, data streams  520 G- 520 I may replicate all packets associated with a network address, a tag, etc.; provide one or more replicated portions of a data stream; and/or provide supplemental data (e.g., user identification, current location, etc.). 
         [0066]    In some embodiments, data stream  505  may include one or more packets, and each of the one or more packets may include one or more of a source address, a destination address, a VLAN tag, a tunnel tag, a quality of service tag, and/or payload data, among others. For example, the one or more packets may include one or more of an IP packet, a wireless Ethernet packet, and/or an Ethernet packet, among others. 
         [0067]    In various embodiments, a probe (e.g., one of probes  510 G- 510 I) may replicate one or more portions of data stream  505  based on one or more of a network address (e.g., an IP address, a MAC address, etc.) and/or a tag (e.g., a quality of service tag, a tunnel tag, a VLAN tag, etc.), among others. In some embodiments, basing replication on one of more of a network address and/or a tag may include filtering on one or more of the network address and/or the tag such that data associated with the one or more of the network address and/or the tag is replicated while other data is not replicated. 
         [0068]    In one example, probe  510 G may replicate one or more packets of data stream  505  based on a network address (e.g., an IP address). In one instance, probe  510 G may replicate one or more packets of data stream  505  that are associated with a private IP address, such as 192.168.0.24. In another instance, probe  510 G may replicate one or more packets of data stream  505  that are associated with a public IP address, such as 216.12.254.252. In a second example, probe  510 G may replicate one or more packets of data stream  505  that are associated with a MAC address (e.g., 00:0d:a3:88:be:fe, among others). 
         [0069]    In another example, probe  510 H may replicate one or more packets of data stream  505  that are associated with a tag. In one instance, the one or more packets may be associated with a QoS tag (e.g., an IEEE 802.1p tag). In some embodiments, the QoS tag may be used to identify specific one or more packets from and/or to a specific computing device. In various embodiments, the QoS tag does not reduce a QoS. In one example, one or more of a wireless access point, a wired access point, and/or a NMD (e.g., on of NMDs  105 A- 105 D) may set and/or supplement the specific one or more packets from and/or to the specific computing device with a QoS tag. For instance, NMD  105 A may perform NAT on the one or more packets and set and/or supplement the one or more packets with a QoS tag so that probe  510 H may identify and/or replicate the one or more packets associated with the tag. In another instance, a wireless access point or a wired access point may set and/or supplement the one or more packets with a QoS tag so that probe  510 H may identify and replicate the one or more packets even if NMD  105 A performs NAT on the one or more packets. 
         [0070]    In some embodiments, each of one or more private network addresses of one or more networks  130 A- 130 D may be tunneled from respective NMDs  105 A- 105 D and/or RCDs  115 A- 115 D to RCD  116 . In one example, RCD  116  may receive network traffic which includes two or more private network addresses. These private network addresses may include the same private network address or may include different private network addresses. Private network  133  and/or RCD  116  may be configured to distinguish two or more different data streams (e.g., each data stream including one or more packets) even though the same private network address is used. For instance, the two or more different data streams may be identified by respective two or more different tunnels and/or two or more different tunnel tags. In various embodiments, RCD  116  may map and/or NAT each packet from and/or to the two or more different tunnels and/or the two or more different tunnel tags to different respective public network addresses. 
         [0071]    In various embodiments, NMDs  105 B- 105 D and/or respective RCDs  115 B- 115 D may include structures and/or functionalities with reference to NMD  105 A and/or RCD  115 A described above. In some embodiments, one or more probes  510 A- 5101  may be implemented with hardware and/or one or more executable instructions executable by a processor from a memory medium in accordance with one or more systems and/or one or more methods described herein. 
         [0072]    Turning now to  FIG. 6 , a flowchart diagram of a method is illustrated, according to various embodiments. At  600 , an authentication request may be received. The authentication request may be an authentication request for network access and/or network services. For example, the authentication request may be for access of network  135 . In some embodiments, a NMD (e.g., one of NMD  105 A- 105 D) may receive the authentication request. In various embodiments, a SCD (e.g., one of SCDs  140 A- 140 C) may receive the authentication request. 
         [0073]    In some embodiments, one or more of SCDs  140 A- 140 C and/or one or more of NMDs  105 A- 105 D may include authentication, authorization, and/or accounting (or “AAA”) processes and/or services. RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service) is an example of an AAA service used by various Internet Service Providers (ISPs). (The RADIUS specification is maintained by a working group of the Internet Engineering Task Force, the main standards organization for the Internet, e.g., see RFC 2865 and RFC 2866.) In one example, a user may connect a computing device to an Internet service provider (ISP), the user&#39;s username and password may be transmitted to an AAA server (e.g., a RADIUS server) and/or to an AAA interface server (e.g., a web server). The AAA server may then check that the information is correct and authorize access to the ISP&#39;s system and/or services. Other protocols for providing an AAA framework may include DIAMETER (an extension of RADIUS), EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol), TACACS (Terminal Access Controller Access Control System), TACACS+, and/or XTACAS, 802.1x, WPA, 802.11i, among others. In various embodiments, these may also be used for applications, such as access to network service and/or IP mobility, and are intended to work in both local AAA and roaming situations. 
         [0074]    In one example, AAA processes and/or services of SCD  140 A- 140 C and/or NMDs  105 - 105 D may receive a username and a password of a user operating a computing device. The username may include a realm (e.g., “Wellcent”) that may indicate a roaming partner and/or network provider associated with an operator of one or more portions NCS  100 . 
         [0075]    In some embodiments, a computing device (e.g., one of SCDs  140 A- 140 C and/or NMDs  105 A- 105 D) may proxy one or more AAA requests to another computing device. In one example, NMD  105 A may proxy one or more AAA requests to SCD  140 A. In another example, SCD  140 A may proxy one or more AAA requests to SCD  140 B. 
         [0076]    In various embodiments, AAA processes and/or services may include receiving one or more access codes, one or more coupons, and/or one or more credit card numbers, among others. In one example, NMD  105 A may receive credit card information in the authentication request. In another example, SCD  140 A may receive credit card information in the authentication request. 
         [0077]    Next at  610 , it may be determined if the computing device is authenticated for network access and/or network services. In some embodiments, a username and/or a password may be checked against a database. For example, if the username and/or the password are valid the computing device may be authenticated. In various embodiments, a username and/or a password may be proxied to another computing device. In some embodiments, credit card information may be sent to a credit card clearing house to determine if the credit card information is authenticated and, therefore, if the computing device is authenticated for network access and/or network services. 
         [0078]    If the computing device is authenticated for network access, then the method may proceed to  620  where access is granted. If the authentication fails and/or is denied, then network access may be denied at  630 . 
         [0079]    At  640 , an authorization signal and/or message may be intercepted. In some embodiments, a computing device (e.g., one of SCDs  140 A- 140 C) may provide a NMD (e.g., one of NMDs  105 A- 105 D) with authorization information included in a signal and/or message to grant a computing device access to one or more networks and/or one or more networks services. In various embodiments, intercepting the authorization signal and/or message may include receiving one or more replicated portions of the authorization signal. For example, an AAA server (e.g., one of SCDs  140 A- 140 C) may transmit the one or more replicated portions of the authorization signal, and/or a MCD (e.g., one of MCDs  125 A- 125 D) may receive the one or more replicated portions of the authorization signal and/or message. 
         [0080]    In some embodiments, the authorization information may include one or more name-value pairs. For example, the name-value pairs may include one or more name value pairs of Table 1, below. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Name 
                 Value 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
                 NmdID 
                 524 
               
               
                   
                 MacAddress 
                 00:0d:a3:88:be:fe 
               
               
                   
                 IPAddress 
                 192.168.0.34 
               
               
                   
                 PortType 
                 Guest 
               
               
                   
                 PortLocation 
                 Room321 
               
               
                   
                 UserName 
                 Wellcent/jdoe 
               
               
                   
                 WPFlags 
                 0x320f 
               
               
                   
                 WPtag 
                 0x000b 
               
               
                   
                 WPHash 
                 0x093dd7f30cd7cd8c71d01843f1c47c1b 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0081]    The authorization information may include other information and/or other name-value pairs that are not shown in Table 1. In some embodiments, the authorization information may be communicated via RADIUS signaling. For example, the authorization information may be communicated in one or more vendor specific attributes (VSAs). In various embodiments, the authorization information may be communicated with some network protocol and/or system that allow an AAA server (e.g., one of SCDs  140 A- 140 C) to communicate with an access control computing device (e.g., one of NMDs  105 A- 105 D). In some embodiments, the authorization information may be communicated using a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) or a secure HTTP (HTTPS), among others. 
         [0082]    At  650 , the authorization information may be received. In some embodiments, a MCD (e.g., one of MCDs  125 A- 125 D) may receive the authorization information or receive one or more portions of the authorization information. 
         [0083]    At  660 , it may be determined whether or not a probe is to be initiated to monitor and/or replicate network traffic of the computing device that was granted access. In various embodiments, determining whether or not a probe is to be initiated may be based on one or more portions of the authorization information. In one example, determining whether or not a probe is to be initiated may include being based on one or more of: a user identification (e.g., UserName), a network address or network identification (e.g., MacAddress, IPAddress, etc.), a location (e.g., PortLocation), and/or one or more flags (e.g., WPFlags). 
         [0084]    In some embodiments, one or more flags may indicate that a probe is to be initiated to monitor and/or replicate network traffic of a computing device. For example, the WPFlags value of 0x320f may represent a hexadecimal value where each bit of the value may be associated with a specific flag. In various embodiments, in determining authentication, at  610 , credit card information may be sent to a clearing house for authorization, and information may be received from the clearing house. The credit card information may be flagged to indicate that use of and/or uses associated with the credit card information are of interest, and the information that may be received from the clearing house may indicate that use of and/or uses associated with the credit card information are of interest. This indication of use of and/or uses associated with the credit card information being of interest may be communicated through one or more flags in the authorization information, through one or more name-value pairs, and/or through one or more VSAs, among others. 
         [0085]    If a probe is to be initiated to monitor and/or replicate network traffic of a computing device, then the probe is initiated at  670 . Otherwise, at  680 , a probe is not initiated. 
         [0086]    Turning now to  FIG. 7 , a flowchart diagram of a method is illustrated, according to various embodiments. At  700 , a signal to probe data (e.g., one or more packets) associated with a computing device may be received. For example, the signal to probe may be received by one of NMDs  105 A- 105 D, RCDs  115 A- 115 D, or RCD  116 . At  710 , one or more identifiers may be determined to which the probe may be based. In some embodiments, the probe may be based on a tag (e.g., a tunnel tag, a QoS tag, a VLAN tag, a network address, etc.). At  720 , a probe may be initiated. In various embodiments, the initiated probe may filter one or more packets based on the determined one or more identifiers. At  730 , the probe may replicate one or more packets associated with the determined one or more identifiers. At  740 , the replicated one or more packets may be communicated to a MCD (e.g., one of MCDs  125 A- 125 D). In some embodiments, the replicated one or more packets may be communicated to the MCD according to some protocol used by the MCD. In various embodiments, computing device identification information and one or more portions of payloads of the one or more replicated packets may be communicated to the MCD according to some protocol used by the MCD. At  750 , the one or more packets associated with the determined one or more identifiers may be permitted to continue to each destination address of the one or more packets. 
         [0087]    Turning now to  FIG. 8 , a flowchart diagram of a method is illustrated, according to various embodiments. At  800 , one or more signals to probe data associated with one or more network addresses may be received. In some embodiments, the one or more network addresses may include one or more private network addresses. In various embodiments, each network address of the one or more network addresses is different from another network address of the one or more network addresses. Next at  805 , one or more tags may be respectively associated with the one or more network addresses. In some embodiments, each tag of the one or more tags may be different from another tag of the one or more tags. 
         [0088]    In various embodiments, at  810 , for each network address of the one or more network addresses, method elements  815 - 855  may be performed for the network address. At  815 , data from the network address may be received, and an associated tag of the one or more tags that corresponds to the network address may be determined at  820 . The tag associated with the network address may be supplemented and/or added to the data from the network address at  825 , and at  830 , the data from the network address and the associated tag may be transmitted to a first network. For example, the first network may include one of networks  130 A- 130 D and  133 . At  835 , the associated tag and the data from the first network address may be received. In some embodiments, one of NMDs  105 A- 105 D, RCDs  115 A- 115 D, and RCD  116  may receive the associated tag and the data from the first network address. 
         [0089]    At  840 , at least a portion of the data from the network address may be transmitted to a second network. In some embodiments, the data from the network address may include a destination address of the second network. For example, the second network may include network  135 . At  850 , a second destination may be determined, based on the associated tag. In some embodiments, the second destination may include a second network address. For example, the second network address may include an address of network  135 . For instance, the second network address may be associated with a mediation computing device (e.g., one of MCDs  125 A- 125 D). In various embodiments, the second destination may include an address of a storage device. For example, the storage device may be included in one of NMDs  105 A- 105 D, and the address of the storage device may include a hardware address. In some embodiments, the address of the storage device may be associated with a network storage device, a storage area network, and/or a network area storage, among others. In various embodiments, the second destination may include an address associated with local cache device  162 . At  855 , the at least the portion of the data from the network address may be transmitted to the second destination. 
         [0090]    Turning now to  FIGS. 9A and 9B , a flowchart diagram of a method is illustrated, according to various embodiments. At  900 , a signal to replicate one or more packets from and/or to a first computing device may be received, and, at  905 , one or more packets from the first computing device may be received. In various embodiments, the first computing device may be coupled to a first network. For example, the first network may include one of networks  130 A- 130 D. In some embodiments, the one or more packets from the first computing device may include a first source address and/or a first destination address. In one example, the first source address may include a private network address, and the first destination address may include a first public network address. 
         [0091]    At  910 , one or more packets may be received from a second computing device. In some embodiments, the second computing device may be coupled to a second network. For example, the second network may include one of networks  130 A- 130 D which is not the first network. In various embodiments, the first network may be located at a first geographic location and the second network may be located at a second, different, geographic location. In some embodiments, the first network and the second network may be included in a single physical network. For example, the first network may include a first VLAN, and the second network may include a second, different, VLAN. 
         [0092]    In various embodiments, the one or more packets from the second computing device may include a second source address and/or a second destination address. In one example, the second source address may include a private network address, and the second destination address may include a second public network address or the first public network address. 
         [0093]    At  915 , the first source address of each packet of the one or more packets from the first computing device may be changed to a third source address. In some embodiments, the third source address may be changed to a public network address. For example, the third source address may be an address of network  135 . In various embodiments, this may create first changed one or more packets. At  920 , the second source address of each packet of the one or more packets from the second computing device may be changed to a fourth source address. In some embodiments, the fourth source address may be changed to a public network address. For example, the fourth source address may be an address of network  135 . In various embodiments, this may create second changed one or more packets. 
         [0094]    At  925 , the first changed packets may be replicated. In various embodiments, this may create first replicated one or more packets. Next at  930 , the first replicated packets may be permitted to be transmitted to a mediation server. For example, the mediation server may include one of MCDs  125 A- 125 D. 
         [0095]    Next at  935 , the first changed one or more packets may be permitted to be transmitted to the first destination address, and the second changed one or more packets may be permitted to be transmitted to the second destination address at  940 . 
         [0096]    At  945 , one or more packets from the public network may be received. In some embodiments, the one or more packets form the public network may include a destination address that includes the third source address. At  950 , the one or more packets from the public network may be replicated based on the destination address that includes the third source address. In various embodiments, this may create second replicated one or more packets. At  955 , the second replicated one or more packets may be permitted to be transmitted to the mediation server. 
         [0097]    At  960 , the destination address of the one or more packets from the public network may be changed to the first source address. In various embodiments, this may create third changed one or more packets. Next at  965 , the third changed one or more packets may be permitted to be transmitted to the first computing device. 
         [0098]    Turning now to  FIG. 10 , a flowchart diagram of a method is illustrated, according to various embodiments. At  1000 , a signal may be received to insert one or more probes into a bi-directional data stream. In some embodiments, the signal may be received by one of NMDs  105 A- 105 D, RCDs  115 A- 115 D, or RCD  116  from one of MCDs  125 A- 125 D. In various embodiments, the bi-directional data stream may aggregate one or more private networks, and each of the private networks may include one or more private addresses. In some embodiments, a network may be considered to be a private network because it supports one or more uses of one or more private addresses, even though it may support one or more uses of one or more public addresses, as well. 
         [0099]    At  1005 , the bi-directional data stream may be supplemented with one or more tags. In some embodiments, each tag of the one or more tags may correspond to a private network address. At  1010 , the one or more probes may be inserted into the bi-directional data stream where each of the one or more probes may be inserted between one of the one or more private networks and a public network. In one example, one or more of probes  510 A- 510 F may be inserted into bi-directional data stream  500 A and between network  130 A and network  135 . Since network  130 A may support one or more uses of one or more private addresses, it may be considered a private network, in some embodiments. In another example, one or more of probes  510 G- 510 I may be inserted into bi-directional data stream  505 . 
         [0100]    In various embodiments, at  1015 , for each probe of the one or more probes, method elements  1020 - 1035  may be performed for the probe. At  1020 , the probe may filter one or more packets of the bi-directional data stream. In some embodiments, filtering the one or more packets may include basing the filtering on a tag that corresponds to the one or more packets. For example, the tag may correspond to a private network address, and the one or more packets associated with and/or corresponding to the tag may be filtered. In various embodiments, filtering may include isolating the one or more packets associated with and/or corresponding to the tag such that other packets in the bi-directional data stream are effectively unaffected, unmarked, and/or unaltered and may traverse the bi-directional stream with little or no effect from the probe. At  1025 , the filtered one or more packets may be replicated by the probe, and the probe may transmit the replicated one or more packets to a MCD (e.g., one of MCDs  125 A- 125 D). At  1035 , the probe may permit the one or more packets to proceed traversing the bi-directional data stream. In some embodiments, filtering, replicating, and permitting the one or more filtered packets may be performed with little or no appreciation and/or realization to a user operating a computing device that is associated with the one or more filtered packets and/or the probe. 
         [0101]    It is noted that, in various embodiment, one or more of the method elements described herein and/or one or more portions of an implementation of a method element may be performed in varying orders, may be performed concurrently with one or more of the other method elements and/or one or more portions of an implementation of a method element, 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 and/or two or more portions of an implementation of a method element 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. 
         [0102]    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.