Claims
- 1. A method, comprising:
identifying a set of virtual private network (VPN) customers, at least one mobile access point (MAP) and at least one customer premise equipment (CPE) associated with each VPN customer, and at least one IP service gateway (IPSG) for facilitating VPN tunneling between a MAP and a CPE, wherein each MAP is geographically remote from each IPSG; and selecting a subset of IPSGs to maximize total profit resulting from provisioning a subset of VPN customers on the selected IPSGs, wherein said total profit from all the customers comprises the sum of profits from each customer (I), where for each customer profit (UI) equals weighted revenue (γVI) less cost (CI), (UI=γVI−CI), wherein said cost per customer comprises a total tunnel bandwidth cost (CIC) from said MAP to said CPE, and a cost (CIV) of provisioning an IPSG node.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein γ represents relative weight of revenue compared to total cost for customer I.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said total tunnel bandwidth cost comprises a dynamic tunnel bandwidth cost between said MAP and said provisioned IPSG, and a static tunnel bandwidth cost between said provisioned IPSG and said CPE.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein only a single tunnel is established between said provisioned IPSG and said CPE, even during instances where traffic from multiple MAPs are going through said provisioned IPSG to reach said CPE.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein in an instance said provisioned IPSG sends traffic to more than one CPE, said provision cost is counted only once.
- 6. The method of claim 1, wherein said cost per customer I is determined by
- 7. The method of claim 6, wherein said bandwidth cost (cIij) associated with sending traffic from a MAP node i to an IPSG node j comprises the product of unit bandwidth cost (aij) between said MAP node i and said IPSG node j, and a sum of traffic
- 8. The method of claim 6, wherein said bandwidth cost (dIjk) associated with sending traffic from an IPSG node j to a CPE node k comprises the product of unit bandwidth cost (elk) between said IPSG node j and said CPE node k, and a total amount of traffic
- 9. The method of claim 6, wherein said total amount of traffic
- 10. The method of claim 6, wherein said total amount of traffic
- 11. A virtual private network (VPN) system architecture, comprising:
means for identifying a set of virtual private network (VPN) customers, at least one mobile access point (MAP) and at least one customer premise equipment (CPE) associated with each VPN customer, and at least one IP service gateway. (IPSG) for facilitating VPN tunneling between a MAP and a CPE, wherein each MAP is geographically remote from each IPSG; and means for selecting a subset of IPSGs to maximize total profit resulting from provisioning a subset of VPN customers on the selected IPSGs, wherein said total profit from all the customers comprises the sum of profits from each customer (I), where for each customer profit (UI) equals weighted revenue (γVI) less cost (CI), (UI=γVI−CI), wherein said cost per customer comprises a total tunnel bandwidth cost (CIC) from said MAP to said CPE, and a cost (CIV) of provisioning an IPSG node.
- 12. The method of claim 11, wherein γ represents relative weight of revenue compared to total cost for customer I.
- 13. The method of claim 11, wherein said total tunnel bandwidth cost comprises a dynamic tunnel bandwidth cost between said MAP and said provisioned IPSG, and a static tunnel bandwidth cost between said provisioned IPSG and said CPE.
- 14. The method of claim 11, wherein only a single tunnel is established between said provisioned IPSG and said CPE, even during instances where traffic from multiple MAPs are going through said provisioned IPSG to reach said CPE.
- 15. The method of claim 11, wherein in an instance said provisioned IPSG sends traffic to more than one CPE, said provision cost is counted only once.
- 16. The method of claim 11, wherein said cost per customer I is determined by
- 17. The method of claim 16, wherein said bandwidth cost (cIij) associated with sending traffic from a MAP node i to an IPSG node j comprises the product of unit bandwidth cost (aij) between said MAP node i and said IPSG node j, and a sum of traffic
- 18. The method of claim 16, wherein said bandwidth cost (dIjk) associated with sending traffic from an IPSG node j to a CPE node k comprises the product of unit bandwidth cost (eIjk) between said IPSG node j and said CPE node k, and a total amount of traffic
- 19. The method of claim 16, wherein said total amount of traffic
- 20. The method of claim 16, wherein said total amount of traffic
- 21. The system architecture of claim 11, wherein said MAPs provide dynamic switching and routing of data connections, while said IPSGs provide VPN services.
- 22. A computer readable medium for storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method for optimally provisioning connectivity for network-based mobile virtual private network (VPN) services, comprising
identifying a set of virtual private network (VPN) customers, at least one mobile access point (MAP) and at least one customer premise equipment (CPE) associated with each VPN customer, and at least one IP service gateway (IPSG) for facilitating VPN tunneling between a MAP and a CPE, wherein each said MAP is geographically remote from each said IPSG; and selecting a subset of IPSGs to maximize total profit resulting from provisioning a subset of VPN customers on the selected IPSGs, wherein said total profit from all the customers comprises the sum of profits from each customer (I), where for each customer profit (UI) equals weighted revenue (γVI) less cost (CI) (UI=γVI−CI), wherein said cost per customer comprises a total tunnel bandwidth cost (CIC) from said MAP to said CPE, and a cost (CIV) of provisioning an IPSG node.
CROSS-REFERENCE
[0001] This patent application is a continuation-in-part of and claims priority to commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/374,940, filed Feb. 26, 2003, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10374940 |
Feb 2003 |
US |
Child |
10772080 |
Feb 2004 |
US |