Excluding specific application traffic from customer consumption data

摘要

Techniques disclosed herein include systems and methods for excluding specific application traffic from customer consumption-based data billing counts. This is useful for excluding traffic from consumption totals where the application traffic has been accounted for using other means, such as through billing as a separate or technically distinct service. In practice, a tablet computer (or other end user device) can run a video application that uses a high-speed data network via a cable modem. This video application may be included as part of a core video package associated with a distinct cable television service. The system then provides accurate consumption billing of customer traffic that is outside of any other managed services by creating separate logical data service flows at a Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) for excluding specific traffic counts.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
via content distribution hardware, performing operations of:
allocating use of a first data flow for transmission of data counted toward billable content delivery and a second data flow for transmission of data excluded from the billable content delivery over a shared communication link of a communication network;receiving a first stream of content, the first stream of content received from a first content distribution source, the first stream of content retrieved on behalf of a user operating a communication device, wherein the received first stream of content includes multiple data packets;examining network address information associated with the multiple data packets;based on the examining, detecting that the network address information is included in a list, the list including at least one network address of a corresponding content distribution device operated by a particular service provider, the network address information indicating that the first content distribution resource from which the multiple data packets are received is operated by the particular service provider; andtransmitting the received first stream of content over the second data flow to the communication device instead of over the first data flow to the communication device, the first stream of content excluded from the billable content delivery based at least in part that the user of the communication device subscribes to a content retrieval service provided by the particular service provider through which the user has alternate access to the first stream of content.