Patent ID: 8185127

Claim:
A method for allocating usage of network resources in a communication network, the method comprising: establishing a quality of service profile assigned to a user account having a first wireless device and a second wireless device associated therewith, wherein the quality of service profile indicates a total amount of data throughput on the communication network available for both the first wireless device and the second wireless device and wherein the quality of service profile comprises a priority criteria indicating a higher priority for the second wireless device than for the first wireless device; receiving a first usage request for access to the communication network transmitted from the first wireless device associated with the user account, registering the first wireless device on the communication network, and allowing the first wireless device to access the communication network in response to the first usage request; allocating a first amount of data throughput of the total amount of data throughput on the communication network to the first wireless device based upon the quality of service profile; receiving a second usage request for access to the communication network transmitted from the second wireless device associated with the user account, registering the second wireless device on the communication network, and allowing the second wireless device to access the communication network in response to the second usage request; and allocating more than a remaining amount of data throughput of the total amount of data throughput on the communication network to the second wireless device by reducing the first amount of data throughput allocated to the first wireless device based on the priority criteria indicating the higher priority for the second wireless device than for the first wireless device.