Patent ID: 8195125

Claim:
A method of operating an intermediate device within a network architecture, the network architecture comprising a home network and a visited network, the visited network comprising a visited switching device and the intermediate device, the home network comprising a home switching device, the visited switching device being configured to (i) receive data from a user in the visited network and (ii) transmit the data to the home switching device, the home switching device being configured to (i) record the data and (ii) authenticate and track the user based on the data, the method comprising: receiving the data from the visited switching device; recording the data; sending a request to the home switching device based on the data supplying the visited switching device with an authorization to connect the user to the visited network; receiving, from the home switching device, an authentication response to the request; storing authentication data from the authentication response; and transmitting a message based on the authentication response to the visited switching device.