# US 8,787,875 B2 · Aggregating multiple functions into a single platform > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,787,875 B2 - Document ID: US8787875B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 13/267,913 - Filed: 2011-10-07 - Published: 2012-07-26 - Granted: 2014-07-22 - Earliest claimed: 2010-10-22 - Assignees: Affirmed Networks, Inc. - Applicants: Hassan Ahmed; Anand Krishnamurthy; Terry Durand; Tim Mortsolf; Paul Sherer; Avnish Sikka - Inventors: Hassan Ahmed; Anand Krishnamurthy; Terry Durand; Tim Mortsolf; Paul Sherer; Avnish Sikka - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8787875B2 ## CPC - H04L 12/66: Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways - H04L 43/0852: Delays - H04L 63/0245: {Filtering by information in the payload} - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for aggregating multiple functions into a single platform. A communications system includes at least one processor, at least one computer readable storage medium storing computer executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, implement components including a workflow module comprising sets of workflow instructions for processing different types of information packets, and selectable communication function modules, the workflow module coordinating processing of a received packet using selected ones of the selectable communication function modules. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A wireless communications system comprising: a workflow server residing in a mobile communications network, the workflow server including at least one network processor, and the workflow server accessible by a plurality of mobile subscribers; at least one computer readable storage medium storing computer executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one network processor in the workflow server residing in the mobile communications network, implement components comprising: a workflow module comprising sets of workflow instructions for processing different types of information packets from the plurality of mobile subscribers; a deep packet inspection module for inspecting a received packet and providing information about the packet to the workflow module; and selectable communication function modules, the workflow module coordinating processing of the received packet using selected ones of the selectable communication function modules based on the information about the packet provided by the deep packet inspection module. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the sets of workflow instructions are capable of being modified. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the components further comprise a subscriber module for inspecting the received packet and providing at least one subscriber attribute to the workflow module. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the components further comprise a network module for inspecting the received packet and providing at least one network protocol attribute to the workflow module. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the selectable communication function modules comprises a content filtering module. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the selectable communication function modules comprises a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) proxy module. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the selectable communication function modules comprises a video cache module. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the selectable communication function modules comprises a video transcoding module. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the selectable communication function modules comprises an analytics module. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the selectable communication function modules comprises a firewall module. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the selectable communication function modules comprises a fee calculator. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the selectable communication function modules comprises a policy enforcement module. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the rules for processing different types of information packets are configurable by an operator. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the information packets contain a type of information selected from the group consisting of text, audio, video, multimedia, subscriber information, mobile TV, protocol information and Internet. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein additional functional modules may be added to the selectable communication function modules by an operator. ### Claim 16 A method comprising: in a mobile communications network, receiving an information packet from a mobile communications device at an input to a workflow server residing in a mobile communications network, the workflow server being accessible by a plurality of mobile subscribers and having a network processor; and employing the network processor of the workflow server executing computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium to perform the following functions: performing a deep packet inspection on the received information packet to determine a packet type matching the received information packet accessing a workflow module comprising rules for processing different types of information packets; subsequent to performing the deep packet inspection, determining which one of selectable communication function modules is required to process the received information packet based on the packet type matching the information packet and using the rules of the workflow module; and processing the received information packet using at least one of the required selectable communication function modules. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16 wherein the processing the received packets further comprises using the workflow module to coordinate the selectable communication function modules. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17 wherein all information flows through the workflow module to the selectable communication function modules and no information flows directly between the selectable communication function modules. ### Claim 19 A mobile communications network workflow server for wireless mobile communication comprising: a mobile communications network workflow server interface receiving information packets in the mobile communications network from a first network entity, the workflow server interface being accessible by a plurality of mobile subscribers; and a computing platform residing in the mobile communications network workflow server processing the received packets, the computing platform comprising: a workflow module; a deep packet inspection module for inspecting the received packets and providing information about the packets to the workflow module; and selectable communication function modules, the workflow module coordinating processing of the received packets using selected ones of the selectable communication function modules, the selection of the selectable communication function modules being based on the information about the packets provided by the deep packet inspection module, the network interface further transmitting processed information packets to a second network entity. ### Claim 20 A system comprising: a mobile communications network workflow server for establishing communication between a first network entity and a second network entity, the mobile communications network workflow server being accessible by a plurality of mobile subscribers, the workflow server comprising: a network interface receiving information packets from a first network entity; at least one network processor; and at least one computer readable storage medium storing computer executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one network processor of the mobile communications network workflow server, implement components comprising: a workflow module comprising rules for processing different types of information packets; a deep packet inspection module for inspecting the received packets and providing information about the packets to the workflow module; and selectable communication function modules comprising: a content filtering module; a HTTP proxy module; a video cache module; a video transcoding module; an analytics module; a firewall module; a charging module; a policy enforcement module; a traffic steering module; and a latency service module; the workflow module selecting at least one selectable communication function module for processing a corresponding packet based on the information about the packet provided by the deep packet inspection module, the workflow module coordinating processing of the received packets using the corresponding selected ones of the selectable communication function modules and the network interface further transmitting processed information packets to a second network entity, thereby establishing communication between the first and second network entities.