WIRELESS ACCESS POINT

• US 20120295664A1
• Filed: 10/08/2010
• Published: 11/22/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Ubiquisys Limited (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Walker, Mark, Hailey, Ian
• Granted Patent: US 9,686,370 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/561 Adding application-functional data or data for application control, e.g. adding metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/20 Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

A wireless access point may be in the form of a femtocell basestation in a cellular network. In order to establish a connection into the cellular network, an identity token is required for authorisation. A remote service, accessible over a Wide Area Network such as the interne, can register with the access point. When a connected user attempts to connect to the remote service, information derived from the identity token is inserted into the data traffic. Where the identity token identifies the access point, the remote service can return location-specific information. Where the identity token identifies the connected user, the remote service can return subscriber-specific information. The access point can insert information derived directly from the identity token, or it can use the identity token to access a service identity registry, and can then insert the service identity into the data traffic.

Claims

1. A cellular basestation, configured to allow a device to connect thereto over a wireless interface,

wherein the cellular basestation is able to establish a connection to a cellular network such that the cellular network requires an identity token for authorisation, and

wherein the cellular basestation has a connection to a Wide Area Network, such that it can route data traffic from connected devices to a remote service over the Wide Area Network and,

in the event that data traffic from a connected device is intended for the remote service, the cellular basestation is adapted to insert information derived from the identity token into the data traffic, and to forward the modified data traffic to the remote service.

2. A cellular basestation as claimed in claim 1, wherein the identity token identifies the connected device.

3. A cellular basestation as claimed in claim 1, wherein the identity token identifies the cellular basestation.

4. A cellular basestation as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the identity token is stored within a SIM.

5. A cellular basestation as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the identity token comprises a certificate.

6. A cellular basestation as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein, in the event that the data traffic from the connected device is intended for the remote service, the cellular basestation is adapted to insert information derived directly from the identity token into the data traffic, and to forward the modified data traffic to the remote service.

7. A cellular basestation as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein, in the event that the data traffic from the connected device is intended for the remote service, the cellular basestation is adapted to:

obtain from a service identity registry a service identity corresponding to the identity token, and

to insert the service identity into the data traffic, and to forward the modified data traffic to the remote service.

8. A cellular basestation as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the cellular basestation includes an API, which can be used by the remote service to register itself with the cellular basestation, such that the cellular basestation will insert identities only into data traffic being routed to registered services.

9. A cellular basestation as claimed in claim 8, wherein the API included in the cellular basestation, used by the remote service to specify the service identifier, uses XMPP to transport API messages between the cellular basestation and the remote service.

10. A cellular basestation as claimed in claim 8, wherein the cellular basestation is adapted to store received registration information relating to the remote service only after authenticating the remote service.

11. A cellular basestation as claimed in claim 8, wherein the cellular basestation is adapted to store received registration information in non-volatile memory such that, in the event of a power interruption, the stored received registration information is not lost.

12. A cellular basestation as claimed in claim 11, wherein the non-volatile memory is in the cellular basestation.

13. A cellular basestation as claimed in claim 11, wherein the non-volatile memory is located remote from the cellular basestation, accessible over a network.

14. A cellular basestation as claimed in claim 8, wherein the cellular basestation is adapted, in the event of a power interruption, to signal its renewed availability to the remote service following the power interruption, such that the remote service may renew its registration information with the cellular basestation.

15. A cellular basestation as claimed in claim 14, wherein the cellular basestation is adapted to signal its renewed availability to the remote service following the power interruption using XMPP.

16. A cellular basestation as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 wherein, when the data traffic from the connected device is an HTTP request, the cellular basestation is adapted to inspect the HTTP header and modify the HTTP header by inserting the information derived from the identity token as a Cookie into the HTTP header.

17. A cellular basestation as claimed in claim 16, wherein, at registration with the cellular basestation, remote services identify themselves by URLs, and when the cellular basestation inspects the HTTP header it only modifies the HTTP header if the Host entry in the header matches a URL in stored registration information.

18. A cellular basestation as claimed in claim 16, wherein, at registration with the cellular basestation, remote services identify themselves by URLs, and when the cellular basestation inspects the HTTP header it only modifies the HTTP header if the concatenation of the Host entry with the Request URI entry in the HTTP header matches a URL in stored registration information.

19. A cellular basestation as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein, in the event that data traffic from a connected device is intended for the remote service, the cellular basestation is adapted to insert information derived from the identity token into an application layer of the data traffic, and to forward the modified data traffic to the remote service.