Patent ID: 8315170

Claim:
An apparatus for signaling information in a network environment, comprising: an access gateway operable to: establish two or more packet data protocol (PDP) links on behalf of a mobile station, each of the PDP links associated with a different gate; and communicate to a client services packet gateway (CSPG) a message associated with a gate control of a first gate of the access gateway associated with a first PDP link, the gate control of the first gate indicating to the CSPG a change in quality of service level, locale, or policy enforcement relating to the first PDP link, the message allowing the CSPG to control accounting for the first PDP link such that synchronization is achieved between accounting information and a state of the first gate associated with the first PDP link; wherein: the state of the first gate comprises whether the first gate is open or closed; and controlling the accounting for the first PDP link comprises performing, by the CSPG, one of enabling and disabling billing associated with the first PDP link by communicating with a quota server that distributes a quantity of quota to the mobile station via one or more flows.