Dynamic In-Band Service Control Mechanism in Mobile Network

1. A method for forwarding a packet header within a user-plane bearer, the method comprising: parsing, via a processor, a certificate received from a service provider to obtain service imprint information associated with a mobile service; translating, via the processor, the service imprint information into a policy consistent with a service control parameter derived from the service imprint information; inserting, via the processor, the service control parameter and the policy into the packet header, wherein the service control parameter is intended to be used as an in-band signaling in controlling the mobile service; and forwarding, via the processor, the packet header within the user-plane bearer to a policy charging and enforcing function.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the policy charging and enforcing function is deployed by a gateway of a wireless communication network.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the packet header comprises a hypertext transfer protocol header.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the certificate is authenticated as being from the service provider.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the certificate comprises a X.509 certificate.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: enforcing the policy.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: caching the service imprint information.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the service control parameter in the packet header is removed by the policy charging and enforcing function.

9. A tangible computer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations for forwarding a packet header within a user-plane bearer, the operations comprising: parsing a certificate received from a service provider to obtain service imprint information associated with a mobile service; translating the service imprint information into a policy consistent with a service control parameter derived from the service imprint information; inserting the service control parameter and the policy into the packet header, wherein the service control parameter is intended to be used as an in-band signaling in controlling the mobile service; and forwarding the packet header within the user-plane bearer to a policy charging and enforcing function.

10. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the policy charging and enforcing function is deployed by a gateway of a wireless communication network.

11. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the packet header comprises a hypertext transfer protocol header.

12. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the certificate is authenticated as being from the service provider.

13. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the certificate comprises a X.509 certificate.

14. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9 , further comprising: enforcing the policy.

15. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9 , further comprising: caching the service imprint information.

16. An apparatus for forwardinq a packet header within a user-plane bearer, the apparatus comprising: a processor; and a computer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising: parsing a certificate received from a service provider to obtain service imprint information associated with a mobile service; translating the service imprint information into a policy consistent with a service control parameter derived from the service imprint information; inserting the service control parameter and the policy into the packet header, wherein the service control parameter is intended to be used as an in-band signaling in controlling the mobile service; and forwarding the packet header within the user-plane bearer to a policy charging and enforcing function.