Patent ID: 8200840

Claim:
A method for providing a rule based engine in a routing operating system executing on a router in a network, the router having a plurality of ports and switch circuitry to deliver packets received on a port to one or more other ports, comprising: displaying a plurality of predefined events supported by said routing operating system executing on said router, wherein the plurality of predefined events relate to sessions established by subscribers to access a network through said router; receiving a selection of a predefined event from the plurality of predefined events in said routing operating system executing on said router; displaying a plurality of predefined actions that are determined to be supported for said predefined event by said routing operating system executing on said router, said predefined actions to control treatment of sessions established by subscribers to access said network through said router that are managed by the routing operating system executing on said router; receiving a selection of a predefined action from the plurality of predefined actions for said predefined event in said routing operating system executing on said router, wherein said predefined action is performed responsive to detection of said predefined event; associating said predefined event with a scope selected from a plurality of scopes, said scope indicating a place where said predefined event must be detected, each of the plurality of scopes having a priority, wherein a particular rule having a predefined event associated with a higher-priority scope will override a particular rule having a predefined event associated with a lower-priority scope; and storing said predefined event and said predefined action as a rule in said routing operating system executing on said router.