Usage based accounting for network deployment

摘要

Usage based accounting is contemplated. The usage based accounting may be beneficial in facilitating assessment of data usage for devices connected inside of a network address translator (NAT) or other type of device having limited capabilities to associated data usage with specific user devices.

主权项

1. A method of accounting data usage for a community type of wireless network where the wireless network includes a network address translator (NAT) configured to share a public address across a community of user devices, the NAT being configured to translate the public address to private addresses unique to each user device, the method comprising:
processing a NAT usage report electronically transmitted from the NAT, the NAT usage report listing at least recently active private addresses according to user ID, used port, and usage period; processing an inspector usage report electronically transmitted from an inspector, the inspector usage report listing data consumption and usage period for each used port associated with the public address; cross-referencing the NAT usage report and the inspector report to electronically generate an accounting of data usage, the accounting listing data consumption and usage period for each user ID; generating the account of data usage by: i) matching used ports and usage periods listed in the NAT usage report to used ports and usage periods listed in the inspector usage report o generate matched consumption for the matched used ports relative to the correspondingly matched usage periods; and ii) associating each matched data consumption value with a corresponding one of the user ID's listed in the NAT usage report, thereby generating the accounting of data usage for each user ID without the inspector usage report identifying the user ID's and without the inspector usage report identifying the private addresses.