Efficient policy enforcement using network tokens for services—user-plane approach

An application server, comprising:

• means for sending, by the application server, a request to initiate a first application service with a device;
• means for obtaining, in response to sending the request to initiate the first application service, a network token, wherein the network token is:
• associated with a first data flow of a set of one or more data flows,
• associated with the first application service, and
• sent to the device via one or more user-plane messages;
• and
• means for sending the network token with one or more downlink packets sent from the application server to the device in the user-plane,
• wherein the network token is derived by a gateway device of a core network.

An application server, comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• a processor, wherein the memory and the processor are configured to:
• send, by the application server, a request to initiate a first application service with a device;
• obtain, in response to sending the request to initiate the first application service, a network token, wherein the network token is:
• associated with a first data flow of a set of one or more data flows,
• associated with the first application service, and
• sent to the device via one or more user-plane messages;
• and
• send the network token with one or more downlink packets sent from the application server to the device in the user-plane,
• wherein the network token is derived by a gateway device of a core network.