System and method for network discovery and connection management

• US 20050138428A1
• Filed: 12/01/2004
• Published: 06/23/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Carefusion 303 Incorporated (Becton, Dickinson & Co)
• Original Assignee: Carefusion 303 Incorporated (Becton, Dickinson & Co)
• Inventors: Scott Reed, Michael, Batch, Richard M., Borges, Gregory A., Dern, Christopher W., McAllen, Christopher M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,788,369 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/4
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0435 wherein the sending and receiving network entities apply symmetric encryption, i.e. same key used for encryption and decryption cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for symmetric key encryption H04L9/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/123 received data contents, e.g. message integrity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

The present invention provides for a system and method of discovering whether a medical device is connected to a network, establishing secure communications between and a server and the medical device, and communicating with the medical device. Also disclosed is a method of encryption to ensure secure communications within the network between a server and medical devices connected to the network. The invention also includes a system and method for determining the location of medical devices within an institution.

Claims

1. A method for discovering whether a client device is in communication with a server over a network, comprising:

broadcasting a beacon signal from the server from a selected port over the network;

listening on the selected port for a signal generated by a client communicated over the network in response to the beacon signal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein broadcasting a beacon signal further includes encrypting a message contained in the signal.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the beacon signal broadcast over the network;

determining whether a valid beacon signal was received;

sending a response to a valid beacon signal over the network to register the client with the server.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

establishing a secure communications link between the server and client;

determining if the secure communications link has been closed;

resetting a list of connections maintained by the client;

listening for a valid beacon signal;

re-establishing the secure communications link.

5. A method for determining the status of a client device connected to a network;

operating a server connected to the network to broadcast a beacon signal over the network from a selected port of the server;

operating a client that is connected to the network to receive the beacon signal from the selected port; and

sending a response signal from the client in response to the received beacon signal over the network to the selected port for reception by the server, the response signal including a list of contact points for use by the server to open a communication session with the client.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

establishing a secure communication session between the client and the server.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein establishing a secure communication session includes encrypting information communicated between the server and the client.

8. The method of claim 7, further including decrypting information communicated between the server and the client.

9. A system for managing patient care in an institution, comprising:

a network for carrying data between devices connected to the network;

a server in communication with the network, the server having a processor programmed to broadcast a beacon signal over the network at a selected interval through a selected port of the server;

a client device in communication with the network and programmed to listen to the network for the beacon signal from the selected port and respond to the signal with a status message, the status message including information for use by the server in establishing a secure communication session with the client device;

wherein upon receiving the status message, the server uses the information contained in the status message to establish a communication session with the client device.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the client device is also programmed to determine if a beacon signal is valid and to respond to the beacon signal only if the beacon signal is valid.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the client and the server are communicate with the network through a wireless connection.