Patents by Inventor Tanja Hess

Tanja Hess has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Method and apparatus providing prepaid billing for network services using explicit service authorization in an access server
    Patent number: 7720960
    Abstract: A method is disclosed for authorizing a prepaid network service in a data network. A network end station issues a request for a prepaid network service. At a network node, such as a router serving as a gateway for selecting services, a determination is made about whether a user associated with the end station is authorized to access the prepaid network service. Network traffic from the end station is forwarded to a service provider only when the user is authorized to use the prepaid network service. Specific embodiments provide message flows among a mobile station, gateway support node, router, and authentication server that support providing prepaid services in a packet-switched network for mobile communication. In certain embodiments, a connection is held open for an end station while a prepaid quota value is refreshed at a portal, thereby reducing overhead and precluding the need to repeat user logon steps.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2010
    Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Richard Manfred Pruss, Matthew Lawrence King, John Fitzgerald, Tanja Hess, Mark Grayson, David Hovey, Marco Cesare Centemeri, Amit Phadnis, Navneet Agarwal, Vinodh Kumar Ravindranath, Kotha Subba Rama Chandra Murty, Tirumali Seetharam Ajai
  • Method and apparatus providing prepaid billing for network services using explicit service authorization in an access server
    Publication number: 20040193513
    Abstract: A method is disclosed for authorizing a prepaid network service in a data network. A network end station issues a request for a prepaid network service. At a network node, such as a router serving as a gateway for selecting services, a determination is made about whether a user associated with the end station is authorized to access the prepaid network service. Network traffic from the end station is forwarded to a service provider only when the user is authorized to use the prepaid network service. Specific embodiments provide message flows among a mobile station, gateway support node, router, and authentication server that support providing prepaid services in a packet-switched network for mobile communication. In certain embodiments, a connection is held open for an end station while a prepaid quota value is refreshed at a portal, thereby reducing overhead and precluding the need to repeat user logon steps.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2003
    Publication date: September 30, 2004
    Inventors: Richard Manfred Pruss, Matthew Lawrence King, John Fitzgerald, Tanja Hess, Mark Grayson, David Hovey, Marco Cesare Centemeri, Amit Phadnis, Navneet Agarwal, Vinodh Kumar Ravindranath, Kotha Subba Rama Chandra Murty, Tirumali Seetharam Ajai