Patent ID: 7769860

Claim:
A method, comprising: retrieving, via a server device, definitions pertaining to a plurality of policy rules for a subscriber; based on the retrieved definitions, defining, via the server device, a plurality of policy points in a network for the subscriber; determining, via the server device, a plurality of packet treatments, each of the plurality of packet treatments being associated with one of the plurality of policy points, and the each of the plurality of packet treatments being one or more of the plurality of policy rules to be applied to the subscriber at the associated one of the plurality of policy points; and outputting, via the server device, information corresponding to the plurality of packet treatments, wherein the one of said plurality of policy points includes an interface that receives traffic in a direction, and wherein the determining the plurality of packet treatments includes: obtaining a list including at least one of the plurality of policy rules, the list defined for the direction of the interface; sorting the list based on a precedence associated with each of the at least one of the plurality of policy rules; and for each one of the at least one of the plurality of policy rules in the list: determining whether a condition associated with the one of the at least one of the plurality of policy rules in the list is satisfied and eclipsed by received traffic, and adding the one of the at least one of the plurality of policy rules in the list to one of a first sub-list, a second sub-list, or a third sub-list, where when the associated condition is satisfied by the received traffic, the one of the at least one of the plurality of policy rules in the list is added to the first sub-list, when the associated condition for the associated condition is not satisfied by the received traffic, the one of the at least one of the plurality of policy rules in the list is added to the second sub-list, and when the associated condition is eclipsed by the received traffic, the one of the at least one of the plurality of policy rules in the list is added to the third sub-list.