# US 2012/0084371 A1 · Methods, systems, and computer readable media for user controlled policy sharing

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- Number: US 2012/0084371 A1
- Document ID: US20120084371A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 13/244,237
- Filed: 2011-09-23
- Published: 2012-04-05
- Earliest claimed: 2010-10-05
- Assignees: Tekelec
- Inventors: Sundaram Rajagopalan; Peter J. Marsico
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20120084371A1

## CPC

- H04L 41/5054: Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components
- H04L 41/0894: Policy-based network configuration management
- H04L 67/303: Terminal profiles
- H04M 15/66: {Policy and charging system}
- H04M 15/78: {Redistributing amount between accounts}
- H04M 15/781: {dynamically}
- H04M 15/783: {by user request}
- H04L 12/1407: {Policy-and-charging control [PCC] architecture}
- H04L 41/0896: Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities (flow or congestion control using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation, H04L47/76)
- H04L 41/5029: {Service quality level-based billing, e.g. dependent on measured service level customer is charged more or less}
- H04W 28/20: Negotiating bandwidth
- H04W 28/24: Negotiating SLA [Service Level Agreement]; Negotiating QoS [Quality of Service]
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)
- H04M: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (circuits for controlling other apparatus via a telephone cable and not involving telephone switching apparatus G08)
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)

## Abstract

According to one aspect, the subject matter described herein includes a method for user controlled policy sharing. The method includes receiving, from a first user device, a request to share with a second user device a policy attribute associated with the first user device. The method also includes generating a signaling message containing instructions to modify the policy attribute. The method further includes communicating the signaling message to a policy control function associated with the second user device.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for user controlled policy sharing, the method comprising:
receiving, from a first user device, a request to share with a second user device a policy attribute associated with the first user device;
generating a signaling message containing instructions to modify the policy attribute; and
communicating the signaling message to a policy control function associated with the second user device.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 comprising:
receiving, by the policy control function associated with the second user device, the signaling message;
generating, by the policy control function associated with the second user device, a policy control and charging (PCC) rule that modifies the policy attribute; and
communicating, by the policy control function associated with the second user device and to a policy enforcement function associated with the second user device, the PCC rule.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 comprising:
generating, by a policy control function associated with the first user device, a PCC rule that modifies the policy attribute; and
communicating, by the policy control function associated with the first user device and to a policy enforcement function associated with the first user device, the PCC rule.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3 wherein the policy control function associated with the first user device comprises at least one of a policy and charging rules function (PCRF), an application function (AF), and a resource admission control subsystem (RACS).

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4 wherein the steps are performed at a network node that includes the at least one of the PCRF, the AF, and the RACS.

### Claim 6 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2 wherein the policy enforcement function associated with the second user device comprises a policy control and enforcement function (PCEF).

### Claim 7 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2 wherein the PCC rule is configured to expire after a predetermined time period.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 comprising identifying the policy control function associated with the second user device, wherein identifying the policy control function includes querying at least one of a subscription profile repository (SPR), a subscription binding repository (SBR), and a home subscriber server (HSS).

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein the request comprises at least one of a short message service (SMS) message, a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message, an instant message, an email message, a Diameter message, an extensible markup language (XML) message, a session initiation protocol (SIP) message, and a simple object access protocol (SOAP) message.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein the policy attribute specifies at least one of a guaranteed download bit rate, a minimum download bit rate, a maximum download bit rate, a permitted service data flow (SDF), a permitted QoS class, a permitted access point name (APN), a permitted destination Internet protocol (IP) address, and a download quota.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein generating the signaling message comprises generating the signaling message in response to determining that at least one of the first user device and the second user device is permitted to share the policy attribute.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11 wherein determining that at least one of the first user device and the second user device is permitted to share the policy attribute comprises determining that at least one of the first user device and the second user device is associated with a predetermined network operator.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12 wherein determining that at least one of the first user device and the second user device is associated with a predetermined network operator comprises determining that at least one of a mobile network code (MNC) associated with the first user device and an MNC associated with the second user device is associated with the predetermined network operator.

### Claim 14

A system for user controlled policy sharing, the system comprising:
a communication interface;
a policy sharing module configured to:
receive, from a first user device and via the communication interface, a request to share with a second user device a policy attribute associated with the first user device;
generate a signaling message containing instructions to modify the policy attribute; and
communicate, via the communication interface, the signaling message to a policy control function associated with the second user device.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The system of claim 14 wherein the policy control function associated with the second user device is configured to:
receive the signaling message;
generate a policy control and charging (PCC) rule that modifies the policy attribute; and
communicate, to a policy enforcement function associated with the second user device, the PCC rule.

### Claim 16 (depends on 14)

The system of claim 14 comprising:
a policy control function associated with the first user device, the policy control function associated with the first user device being configured to:
generate a PCC rule that modifies the policy attribute; and
communicate, to a policy enforcement function associated with the first user device, the PCC rule.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The system of claim 16 wherein the policy control function associated with the first user device comprises at least one of a policy and charging rules function (PCRF) node, an application function (AF) node, and a resource admission control subsystem (RACS) node.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The system of claim 17 wherein the communication interface and the policy sharing module are components of the PCRF node, the AF node, or the RACS node.

### Claim 19 (depends on 15)

The system of claim 15 wherein the policy enforcement function associated with the second user device comprises a policy control and enforcement function (PCEF).

### Claim 20 (depends on 15)

The system of claim 15 wherein the PCC rule is configured to expire after a predetermined time period.

### Claim 21 (depends on 14)

The system of claim 14 wherein the policy sharing module is configured to identify the policy control function associated with the second user device by querying at least one of a subscription profile repository (SPR), a subscription binding repository (SBR), and a home subscriber server (HSS).

### Claim 22 (depends on 14)

The system of claim 14 wherein the request comprises at least one of a short message service (SMS) message, a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message, an instant message, an email message, a Diameter message, an extensible markup language (XML) message, a session initiation protocol (SIP) message, and a simple object access protocol (SOAP) message.

### Claim 23 (depends on 14)

The system of claim 14 wherein the policy attribute specifies at least one of a guaranteed download bit rate, a minimum download bit rate, a maximum download bit rate, a permitted service data flow (SDF), a permitted QoS class, a permitted access point name (APN), a permitted destination Internet protocol (IP) address, and a download quota.

### Claim 24 (depends on 14)

The system of claim 14 wherein the policy sharing module is configured to generate the signaling message in response to determining that at least one of the first user device and the second user device is permitted to share the policy attribute.

### Claim 25 (depends on 24)

The system of claim 24 wherein determining that at least one of the first user device and the second user device is permitted to share the policy attribute comprises determining that at least one of the first user device and the second user device is associated with a predetermined network operator.

### Claim 26 (depends on 25)

The system of claim 25 wherein determining that at least one of the first user device and the second user device is associated with a predetermined network operator comprises determining that at least one of a mobile network code (MNC) associated with the first user device and an MNC associated with the second user device is associated with the predetermined network operator.

### Claim 27

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions that when executed by a processor of a computer control the computer to perform steps comprising:
receiving, from a first user device, a request to share with a second user device a policy attribute associated with the first user device;
generating a signaling message containing instructions to modify the policy attribute; and
communicating the signaling message to a policy control function associated with the second user device.