TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure is directed to adding intelligence to internet protocol (IP) addresses by encoding subscriber attributes into those IP addresses.

BACKGROUND

IP addresses are typically assigned randomly. To some extent, IP addresses are mapped to geographic regions for convenience and for ease of adding IP subnets for additional customers to aid in firewall settings. Geographical IP address also are useful for trouble shooting larger outages. However, beyond some geographic constraints, which are admittedly not ubiquitous, there is currently very little, if anything, in the IP address that further identifies or provides more detail about the customer.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are looking for ways to learn more about their Internet customers, including demographics, locations, data usage, sites visited, and other relevant data. ISPs are increasingly using big data analytics to ascertain additional customer information; however, such analytics can be expensive to implement and thereafter mine and classify the data.

Thus, there is a need for ISPs to be able to quickly and accurately obtain additional relevant information about their customers.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed to a method including obtaining subscriber attributes from a subscriber, encoding the subscriber attributes into a unique internet protocol (IP) address and assigning the unique encoded IP address to the subscriber. In an aspect, the subscriber attributes are entered into an IP address assignment system by a customer service representative or are entered into an IP address assignment system by the subscriber. The subscriber attributes may be determined in part based on data obtained from external sources. The method may further include receiving a request for DNS service from the subscriber and returning a website based on the unique encoded IP address and the request. In an aspect, the unique encoded IP address is indicative of a preferred language of a subscriber and the website returned matches the preferred language. The method may further include receiving a search request from the subscriber and wherein search results are returned based in part on the unique encoded IP address and wherein the unique encoded IP address is indicative of an income level of the subscriber and the search results returned are associated with the income level.

The method may also include assigning a second unique encoded IP address to a second subscriber wherein the unique encoded IP address and the second unique encoded IP address share common attributes associated with the first subscriber and the second subscriber and wherein the unique encoded IP address includes other attributes associated with the first subscriber and the second unique encoded IP address includes other attributes associated with the second subscriber. The unique encoded IP address may be modified when the subscriber accesses the internet using a mobile network. In an aspect, the encoded IP address to a data repository and the method further includes collecting historical data associated with the unique encoded IP address and wherein data analytics are performed on a combination of the historical data and the unique encoded IP address.

The disclosure is also directed to an apparatus including an input-output interface, a processor coupled to the input-output interface wherein the processor is further coupled to a memory the memory having stored thereon executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to effectuate operations including obtaining general subscriber attributes from a first subscriber, obtaining individual subscriber attributes from the first subscriber, encoding the general subscriber attributes and the individual subscriber attributes into a unique encoded internet protocol (IP) address, and assigning the unique encoded IP protocol address to the subscriber. The operations may further include modifying the unique encoded IP address when the subscriber accesses the internet using a mobile network. The unique encoded IP address may include system level attributes associated with the mobile network and the unique encoded IP address changes if the system level attributes associated with the mobile network changes.

In an aspect, the operations may further include obtaining individual second subscriber attributes from a second subscriber, encoding the general subscriber attributes and the individual second subscriber attributes into a second unique encoded an IP address, and assigning the second unique encoded IP protocol address to the second subscriber. The operations may further include modifying the second unique encoded IP address when the second subscriber accesses the internet using a mobile network wherein the unique encoded IP address includes system level attributes associated with the mobile network. In an aspect, the operations may further include accessing the internet wherein the unique encoded IP address is used when the first subscriber accesses the internet and the second unique encoded address is used when the second subscriber accesses the internet.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to limitations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure.

