Virtual private network connection methods and systems
First Claim
1. A customer equipment communication device comprising signal forming means adapted to form a virtual private network membership signal for transmission to and use by service provider equipment, wherein the signal includes an identifier for identifying said customer equipment as a member of a predetermined virtual private network and is conditioned to cause said service provider equipment to verify that said communication device is a member of said predetermined virtual private network.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for connecting a customer equipment (CE) communication device to a virtual private network (VPN) is provided. A virtual private network membership signal is generated at the customer equipment and transmitted to service provider equipment. The signal includes an identifier which identifies the customer equipment as a member of the virtual private network. On receiving the signal, service provider equipment such as a network element verifies that the customer equipment belongs to the virtual private network based on the customer identifier and only connects the customer equipment to the VPN if the verification is successful. The membership signal may be generated by a customer identification device distributed to the customer and installed in customer equipment to be connected to a virtual private network.
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Citations
66 Claims
- 1. A customer equipment communication device comprising signal forming means adapted to form a virtual private network membership signal for transmission to and use by service provider equipment, wherein the signal includes an identifier for identifying said customer equipment as a member of a predetermined virtual private network and is conditioned to cause said service provider equipment to verify that said communication device is a member of said predetermined virtual private network.
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18. A method of requesting connection of a customer equipment communication device to a predetermined virtual private network, comprising the steps of:
forming at said customer equipment, a virtual private network membership signal for transmission to and use by service provider equipment, wherein the signal includes an identifier for identifying said customer equipment as a member of said predetermined virtual private network and is conditioned to cause said service provider equipment to verify that said communication device is a member of said predetermined virtual private network, and transmitting said signal from said customer equipment communication device to said service provider equipment. - View Dependent Claims (19, 33)
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20. A method of controlling connection of a customer communication device to a virtual private communication network comprising the steps of:
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receiving at service provider equipment a signal from a customer communication device, determining at said service provider equipment whether or not said customer communication device is a member of a predetermined virtual private communication network based on information contained in said signal, and controlling connection of said customer communication device to said virtual private network based on the result of said determination. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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34. A method of controlling connection of a customer communication device to a virtual private communication network comprising:
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monitoring at service provider equipment, receipt of a predetermined signal from a customer communication device, and controlling connection of said customer communication device to a predetermined virtual private communication network based on whether or not said predetermined signal is received at said service provider equipment within a predetermined time. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37)
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38. An apparatus for controlling connection of a customer communication device to a virtual private communication network comprising:
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means for receiving a signal from a customer communication device, determining means for determining from information in said signal whether or not said customer communication device is a member of a predetermined virtual private communication network, and controlling means for controlling connection of said customer communication device to said predetermined virtual private network based on the determination made by said determining means. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. An apparatus for controlling connection of a customer communication device to a virtual private communication network comprising:
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monitoring means for monitoring receipt of a predetermined signal from a customer communication device, and controlling means for controlling connection of said customer communication device to a predetermined virtual private communication network based on whether or not said predetermined signal is received within a predetermined time. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46)
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47. A customer identification device comprising:
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a non-volatile memory for storing a customer identifier, signal forming means for forming a signal conditioned for transmission to a virtual private network configuration section of a predetermined carrier network and for causing said configuration section to verify that said device is a member of a predetermined virtual private network, the signal containing said customer identifier, and connection means for connecting said device to a customer communication device.
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48. A method of controlling connection of customer communication equipment to a virtual private network, comprising the steps of:
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receiving at service provider equipment a predetermined customer identifier associated with a virtual private network from a customer equipment communication device, subsequently receiving another customer identifier, determining whether the other customer identifier is sufficiently similar to said predetermined customer identifier that both identifiers belong to the same customer, and controlling connection of service provider equipment based on the result of said determining step. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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- 59. Apparatus for controlling connections to one or more virtual private networks, comprising receiving means for receiving from a customer equipment communication device a predetermined customer identifier associated with a virtual private network, and for receiving subsequent to receipt of said predetermined customer identifier, another customer identifier, and verification means for verifying whether the other customer identifier is sufficiently similar to said predetermined customer identifier that both identifiers belong to the same customer, and connection control means for controlling connection of customer communication equipment to said virtual private network based on the result of the verification by said verification means.
Specification