Methods, apparatus, and systems manage use of shared network resources among subscribers to a data communication service. In some implementations, a first metric is computed representing a subscriber's use of the shared network resources. A second metric may also be computed that represents the amount of network congestion of the shared network resources. Data derived from the first metric and the second metric may then be presented to the subscriber. The data may be transmitted to the subscriber over a network and/or the data may be displayed to the subscriber on an electronic display.

Methods, apparatus, and systems manage use of shared network resources among subscribers to a data communication service. In some implementations, a first metric is computed representing a subscriber's use of the shared network resources. A second metric may also be computed that represents the amount of network congestion of the shared network resources. Data derived from the first metric and the second metric may then be presented to the subscriber. The data may be transmitted to the subscriber over a network and/or the data may be displayed to the subscriber on an electronic display.

Network management techniques are described. A controller device of this disclosure manages a device group of a network. The controller device includes processing circuitry in communication with the memory, the processing circuitry being configured to receive, using a programmable diagnosis service executed by the processing circuitry, a programming input, to form, using the programmable diagnosis service, based on the programming input, a resource definition graph that models interdependencies between a plurality of resources supported by the device group, to detect, using the programmable diagnosis service, an event affecting a first resource of the plurality of resources, and to identify, using the programmable diagnosis service, based on the interdependencies modeled in the resource definition graph formed based on the programming input, a root cause event that caused the event affecting the first resource, the root cause event occurring at a second resource of the plurality of resources.

In some embodiments, a local community may manage its own RAN via a simple, secure, self-service user interface in conjunction with a mobile operator. An exemplary system is disclosed, including: at least two base stations providing wireless access to one or more mobile devices and located in a community; a gateway providing a connection to a core network for the at least two base stations; a management functionality in the core network, in communication with the gateway, for authorizing management activities for the at least two base stations; and a user-facing administration module in communication with the management functionality, the user-facing administration module having: a user interface for providing management control to an administrative user in the community.

An apparatus for performing network function virtualization (NFV), comprising: a memory, a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the memory includes instructions that when executed by the processor cause the apparatus to perform the following: receive an instruction to virtualize a network device within a network, divide, according to the instruction, the network device into a plurality of network functions (NFs) used to form a virtualized network node that corresponds to the network device, launch the NFs within one or more virtual containers, and group the virtual containers together using a group identifier (ID) that corresponds to the virtualized network node, wherein each of the NFs correspond to a network function performed by the network device prior to virtualization.

Methods, apparatus, and systems manage use of shared network resources among subscribers to a data communication service. In some implementations, a first metric is computed representing a subscriber's use of the shared network resources. A second metric may also be computed that represents the amount of network congestion of the shared network resources. Data derived from the first metric and the second metric may then be presented to the subscriber. The data may be transmitted to the subscriber over a network and/or the data may be displayed to the subscriber on an electronic display.

A routing system is provided for intelligent routing of instant messages between clients connected to a data network and customer service representatives connected to the network. The system comprises at least one instant message server and at least one intermediate server connected to and addressable on the network, the intermediate server capable of routing and accessible to the instant message server. Clients connecting to the instant message server through instant message software assert a connection link advertised by the instant message server to establish bi-directional communication between the client machine and the intermediate server. In preferred application, the intermediate server interacts with the client for identification of client and client software. The client request is then routed to an appropriate customer service representative running compatible software according to enterprise rules establishing an active instant message connection between the client and the selected customer service representative.

Embodiments of the present invention adapt interconnect systems to apply automated rules and analytics to the Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (“AAA”) messages between providers that are handled by the interconnect system. The automated rules and analytics interpret or convert the administrative messages into a measure of technical performance of the visited network in relation to a corresponding home network provider. As part of this process, the system establishes a procedure that matches messages involving a device to be related and produces a data structure and corresponding data that is stored and reflects the performance or other salient data points. The structure of the data is set of extracted and calculated data that is derived from the messages and is assembled to reflect operation at the level of each administrative messaging session, involving a request to the home network provider to join a visited network.

Embodiments of the present invention adapt interconnect systems to apply automated rules and analytics to the Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (“AAA”) messages between providers that are handled by the interconnect system. The automated rules and analytics interpret or convert the administrative messages into a measure of technical performance of the visited network in relation to a corresponding home network provider. As part of this process, the system establishes a procedure that matches messages involving a device to be related and produces a data structure and corresponding data that is stored and reflects the performance or other salient data points. The structure of the data is set of extracted and calculated data that is derived from the messages and is assembled to reflect operation at the level of each administrative messaging session, involving a request to the home network provider to join a visited network.

Access point management is described. In an implementation, a method includes selecting one of a plurality of clients, in which each of the clients has a client profile which describes the client's experience with one or more of a plurality of access points. The selecting is performed based on one or more of the client profiles. A determination is made as to whether at least one of the access points utilized by the selected client should be replaced by another one of the access points. The determination includes establishing whether a difference between a connectivity score for the at least one access point and a connectivity score for the other access point exceeds an inertia value.