System and method for establishing peer to peer connections between PCS and smart phones using networks with obstacles

• US 20060294213A1
• Filed: 06/22/2005
• Published: 12/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Conversant Wireless Licensing S.à.r.l. (f/k/a Core Wireless Licensing S.a.r.l.) (MOSAID Technologies Inc. (f/k/a Conversant Intellectual Property Management))
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Saridakis, Titos
• Granted Patent: US 8,874,691 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2578 without involvement of the NAT server
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/029 Firewall traversal, e.g. tunnelling or, creating pinholes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54

Abstract

A method of circumventing network obstacles to provide a peer-to-peer communication channel between peers utilizing hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) includes communicating a HTTP request from a peer device to a relay through a network including an obstacle where the HTTP request is intended for another peer device. The method further includes communicating a HTTP response from the relay to the peer device and establishing a communication channel between the peer device and the another peer device via the relay. The communication channel permits the peer device and the another peer device to send and receive data.

Claims

1. A method of circumventing network obstacles to provide a peer-to-peer communication channel between peers utilizing hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), the method comprising:

communicating a HTTP request from a peer device to a relay through a network including an obstacle, wherein the HTTP request is intended for another peer device;

communicating a HTTP response from the relay to the peer device; and

establishing a communication channel between the peer device and the another peer device via the relay, the communication channel permitting the peer device and the another peer device to send and receive data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the HTTP response comprises peer specific signaling.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the peer device comprises software running on a mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the HTTP request comprises data intended for another peer device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the HTTP request comprises configuration information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the peer device comprises a smart phone.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the obstacle comprises a firewall.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the obstacle comprises a network address translation (NAT) server.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the HTTP request comprises a indication that the peer device is listening for connections.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the relay does not buffer data communicated from the first peer.

11. A system for circumventing network obstacles to provide a peer-to-peer communication channel between peers, the system comprising:

a first peer device communicating with a relay via a network including an obstacle;

a second peer device communicating with the first peer device via the relay;

a server coupled to the first and second peer devices and including programmed instructions to carry out functions of the relay, the server receiving a HTTP request from the first peer device, wherein the HTTP request includes data intended for another peer device, the server further establishing a communication channel between the first peer device and the second peer device to enable sending and receiving of data.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the obstacle comprises a firewall.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the first peer device comprises a smart phone.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the HTTP request includes peer-specific signaling.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the first peer device comprises a midlet that implements an application programming interface (API).

16. A computer program product to circumvent network obstacles and provide a peer-to-peer communication channel between peers utilizing hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), the computer program product comprising:

computer code that communicates a HTTP request from a peer device to a relay through a network including an obstacle, wherein the HTTP request is intended for another peer device;

computer code that communicates a HTTP response from the relay to the peer device; and

computer code that establishes a communication channel between the peer device and the another peer device via the relay, the communication channel permitting the peer device and the another peer device to send and receive data.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the obstacle comprises a firewall.

18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the obstacle comprises a network address translation (NAT) server.

19. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the peer device comprises a smart phone.

20. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the peer device comprises a computer.