DISCOVERING A SERVER DEVICE, BY A NON-DLNA DEVICE, WITHIN A HOME NETWORK

• US 20130054829A1
• Filed: 08/22/2011
• Published: 02/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: MATHEWS, Robin M., Talbert, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 9,203,704 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/238
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2809 indicating that an appliance service is present in a home automation network monitoring functionality H04L43/0817; discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services, H04L67/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4625 Single bridge functionality, e.g. connection of two networks over a single bridge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies

Abstract

A router is configured to receive a message from a server device, store information about the server device based on the message, and receive a request from a client device. The request includes an address associated with the server device. The local router is further configured to map the address to the information and transmitting a response to the client device. The response indicates the mapping of the address to the information. The local router, the server device, and the client device are within a single local area network (LAN). The information allows the client device to detect a presence of the server device without the request being transmitted external to the LAN.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a router, a message from a server device;

storing, by the router, information about the server device based on the message;

receiving, by the router, a request from a client device,

where the router, the server device, and the client device are within a single local area network (LAN), and

where the request comprises an address associated with the server device;

mapping, by the local router, the address to the information; and

transmitting, by the local router, a response to the client device,

where the response indicates the mapping of the address to the information, and

where the information allows the client device to detect a presence of the server device without the request being transmitted external to the LAN.

2. The method of claim 1, where the message is based on a Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP).

3. The method of claim 1,

where the message comprises an Internet protocol (IP) address of the server device, and

where the information is the IP address.

4. The method of claim 1, where the client device does not have Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) capabilities.

5. The method of claim 1, where the request is a Domain Name System (DNS) request.

6. The method of claim 1, where mapping the address to the information comprises:

determining whether the address matches a proxy name associated with local servers within the LAN,

retrieving one or more IP addresses associated with the local servers when the address matches the proxy name, where the IP addresses comprise an IP address of the server device, and

including the IP addresses in the response.

7. The method of claim 1, where receiving the request from the client device comprises at least one of:

intercepting the request, or

trapping the request in a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) port number fifty-three of the local router.

8. A router located within a home network with a client device and a server device,

the router comprising:

a memory to store a first address of the server device; and

a processor to;

intercept a request from the client device,

determine whether the request includes a second address associated with servers within the home network, where the servers include the server device,

map the second address to the first address when the request includes the second address,

generate a response to the request,

where the response includes the mapping of the second address to the first address in a response,

where the response is generated without sending information, associated with the request, to a network external to the home network, and

transmit the response to the client device.

9. The router of claim 8, where, when intercepting the request, the processor is further to:

trap the request in a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) port number fifty-three of the local router.

10. The router of claim 8, where the request is a Domain Name System (DNS) request and the response is a DNS response.

11. The router of claim 8, where, before intercepting the request, the processor is further to:

receive a message, based on a Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP), from the server device, where the message comprises the first address, and

store the first address in the memory.

12. The router of claim 11, where the processor is further to:

receive a second message, based on the SSDP, from a second server device, where the second message comprises a third address of the second server device,

store the third address in the memory as information about the second server device, and

include the third address in the response.

13. The router of claim 8, where the client device does not have Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) capabilities.

14. The router of claim 8, where the server device provides a service to the client device.

15. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions executable by one or more processors of a router to perform a method, the method comprising:

receiving a message from a server device;

storing information about the server device based on the message;

intercepting a Domain Name System (DNS) request from a client device, where the DNS request comprises a first address, where the router, the server device, and the client device, are located within a single local area network (LAN);

determining that the first address is associated with the server device based on the information; and

transmitting, to the client device, a second address of the server device, where the second address allows the client device to detect a presence of the server device without the DNS request being transmitted external to the LAN.

16. The media of claim 15,

where the first address comprises a Uniform Resource Locator (URL),

where the information comprises the second address, and

where the second address comprises an IP address.

17. The media of claim 15, where the message is based on a Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP).

18. The media of claim 15, where the client device does not have Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) capabilities.

19. The media of claim 15, where the LAN is a single home network

20. The media of claim 19, where the method further comprises:

receiving a second DNS request from the client device, where the second DNS request comprises a URL; and

transmitting the second DNS request outside of the single home network when the URL is not associated with any server within the single home network.