Patent ID: 8824433

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, by a wireless node, policies for data offloading; identifying, by the wireless node, a user associated with a data flow to which a user device is attached; determining, by the wireless node, whether data offloading is permitted for the user based on the policies; performing, by the wireless node, data offloading when it is determined that data offloading is permitted for the user, wherein data offloading includes routing the data flow to another user device via one of a lower layer traffic aggregation device relative to the wireless node, a lower hierarchical controlling device relative to the wireless node, or a peer wireless node relative to the wireless node and without the data flow traversing any higher layer traffic aggregation device relative to the wireless node or any higher hierarchical controlling device relative to the wireless node; and routing, by the wireless node, the data flow to a higher layer traffic aggregation device relative to the wireless node or a higher hierarchical controlling device relative to the wireless node when it is determined that data offloading is not permitted for the user, and wherein the wireless node comprises one of an evolved Node-B, a Node-B, a base station, a user device gateway, or a serving gateway of a Long Term Evolution network to which the user device is attached.