Patent ID: 8159966

Claim:
A method of operating a wireless communication system that includes a plurality of packet payload inspection systems, the method comprising: in the wireless communication system, receiving a registration request from a wireless communication device, and in response, selecting one of the packet payload inspection systems for the wireless communication device based on a location of the wireless communication device and transferring Quality-of-Service data for the wireless communication device to the selected packet payload inspection system, wherein the QoS data indicates QoS levels for a plurality of communication applications that are distinguished from one another by service type and service provider; and in the selected packet payload inspection system, receiving the QoS data for the wireless communication device, receiving communication packets for the wireless communication device, inspecting payloads of the communication packets to identify one of the communication applications by the service type and the service provider, selecting one of the QoS levels for communication packets based on the received QoS data and the identified communication application, and applying the selected QoS level to the communication packets.