Managing peer-to-peer access to a device behind a firewall
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- receiving a communication from a device that is behind a firewall, the communication comprising a set of device access information to communicate with the device;
determining whether or not the device access information identifies a valid communication pathway to the device;
receiving, from a different device, a request for the device access information; and
responsive to receiving the request and responsive to determining that the communication pathway to the device is valid, communicating at least one subset of the device access information to the different device such that the different device can initiate a peer-to-peer communication session with the device.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The described arrangements and procedures provide for peer-to-peer communications with a device that is protected by a firewall. To accomplish this, a receiving device receives a communication from the firewall protected device. The communication includes device access information necessary to communicate with the firewall protected device. The receiving device determines whether the device access information identifies a valid communication pathway to the firewall protected device. The receiving device receives a request from a different device for the information needed to communicate with the firewall protected device. Responsive to receiving the request and responsive to determining that the communication pathway to the device is valid, the device access information is communicated to the different device. The different device can use the communicated device access information to initiate a peer-to-peer communication session with the firewall protected device.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving a communication from a device that is behind a firewall, the communication comprising a set of device access information to communicate with the device;
determining whether or not the device access information identifies a valid communication pathway to the device;
receiving, from a different device, a request for the device access information; and
responsive to receiving the request and responsive to determining that the communication pathway to the device is valid, communicating at least one subset of the device access information to the different device such that the different device can initiate a peer-to-peer communication session with the device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An address server comprising:
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a memory comprising a plurality of computer program modules and data, the computer program modules comprising computer-executable instructions; and
a processor operatively coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to fetch and execute the computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions comprising instructions for;
receiving a communication from a device that is behind a firewall, the communication comprising a set of information to communicate with the device;
determining whether or not the information identifies a valid communication pathway to the device;
receiving, from a different device, a request for the information; and
responsive to receiving the request, if the information identifies a valid communication pathway, communicating the information to the different device such that the different device can establish peer-to-peer communication to the device. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A system comprising:
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a first device that is behind a firewall in a private network, the first device being operatively coupled to an address server and a second device that is not in the private network, the first device being configured to periodically communicate a datagram message to the address server, the datagram message comprising device access information to communicate with the device, the address server being configured to store the device access information into a mapping table in response to receiving the datagram message, the address server being further configured to communicate at least one subset of the mapping table to a second device in response to receiving a request from the second device, the at least one subset of the mapping table enabling the second device to initiate a peer-to-peer communication session with the first device. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. Computer readable media comprising computer executable instructions for:
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receiving a communication from a protected device that is behind a firewall, the communication comprising information to communicate with the protected device;
determining whether or not the information identifies a valid communication pathway to the protected device;
receiving, from a different device that is not behind the firewall, a request for information; and
responsive to receiving the request, if the information identifies a valid communication pathway, communicating the information to the different device such that the different device can establish peer-to-peer communication to the protected device. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification