Enforcement of network service level agreements
AssigneesGilat Satellite Networks Ltd., Citrix Systems, Inc.
InventorsSteven J Jackowski, Ayal Lior
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A service level agreement may be imposed by a service provider, such as an Internet service provider, that may include, e.g., a volume limitation and a bandwidth limitation. One or more limitations of the service level agreement may be enforced or modified in response to a triggering event. For example, a bandwidth limitation on a network subscriber may be enforced or modified based on how much data is consumed by the subscriber.
Claims20
A computer implemented method for regulating data consumption in a network, comprising the steps of:
- storing by a first computer an account in a computer memory for each of a plurality of users of the network, each account comprising data corresponding to at least one of an upstream network usage balance or a downstream network usage balance;
- determining at least one network usage amount for a first user in the plurality of users;
- based on the at least one determined network usage amount, comparing at least one of the upstream network usage balance or the downstream network usage balance for a first account associated with the first user to a predefined usage level;
- and
- when either the upstream network usage balance or the downstream network usage balance for the first account drops below the predefined usage level, imposing a more restrictive bandwidth on the continuing network usage of the first user.
A computer implemented method for regulating data consumption in a network, comprising the steps of:
- storing by a first computer an account in a computer memory for each of a plurality of users of the network, each account comprising data corresponding to at least one of an upstream network usage balance or a downstream network usage balance;
- determining at least one network usage amount for a first user in the plurality of users;
- based on the at least one determined network usage amount, comparing at least one of the upstream network usage balance or the downstream network usage balance for a first account associated with the first user to a predefined usage level;
- and
- when either the upstream network usage balance or the downstream network usage balance for the first account rises above the predefined usage level, imposing a less restrictive bandwidth on the continuing network usage of the first user.
An apparatus, comprising:
- at least one processor;
- and
- one or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform:
- storing an account for each of a plurality of users of a network, each account comprising data corresponding to at least one of an upstream network usage balance or a downstream network usage balance;
- determining at least one network usage amount for a first user in the plurality of users;
- based on the at least one determined network usage amount, comparing at least one of the upstream network usage balance or the downstream network usage balance for a first account associated with the first user to a predefined usage level;
- and
- when either the upstream network usage balance or the downstream network usage balance for the first account drops below the predefined usage level, imposing a more restrictive bandwidth on the continuing network usage of the first user.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.