CONNECTING REMOTE AND LOCAL NETWORKS USING AN IDENTIFICATION DEVICE ASSOCIATED WITH THE REMOTE NETWORK

• US 20130055363A1
• Filed: 08/23/2011
• Published: 02/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Siddhartha Dattagupta
• Inventors: DATTAGUPTA, Siddhartha, Simon, James J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,898,750 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/5
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2818 from a device located outside both the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless eletrical link G08C17/00; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with remote control systems H04M11/007
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0492 by using a location-limited connection, e.g. near-field communication or limited proximity of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/062 for key distribution, e.g. centrally by trusted party cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key distribution involving a central third party H04L9/0819
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0853 using an additional device, e.g. smartcard, SIM or a different communication terminal cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving additional secure or trusted devices H04L9/3234
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/105 Multiple levels of security

Abstract

One or more portable identification devices associated with a first smart network can be carried with a user of the first smart network to a second smart network and used to automatically identify the first smart network and allow authorized access to the smart network via the second smart network. The one or more portable identification devices are configured to automatically provision the second smart network with the information necessary for the second smart network to identify the first smart network and the authorization credentials to connect to the first smart network. In some example embodiments, the portable identification devices may be RFID tags.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

detecting the presence of a portable device associated with a remote network;

obtaining information from the portable device that identifies the remote network and allows authorized access to the remote network;

based on the obtained information, establishing a network connection with a smart network host device located within the remote network; and

enabling a user to access from a local network at least one or more devices or one or more services associated with the remote network via the established connection.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the portable device includes one or more protected data storage areas, and data within the one or more data storage areas cannot be copied or overwritten with other data.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the portable device comprises a near-field radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, a universal serial bus (USB) drive manufactured with write-protected encrypted bits, an optical disk with manufactured keys, a secure digital (SD) memory card with digital rights management (DRM) features, or a Bluetooth-enabled device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein enabling a user to access comprises causing the one or more devices or one or more services associated with the remote network to be discoverable on the local network.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtained information includes identification information for at least one client device or service associated with the remote network and an authorization credential for the at least one client device or service associated with the remote network.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing a network connection comprises setting up a secure connection to the smart network host device located within the remote network based on an authorization credential included in the obtained information and an authorization credential associated with the smart network host device located within the remote network.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting that the portable device is no longer present and, in response, terminating the network connection established with the smart network host device located within the remote network.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the portable device comprises a near-field RFID tag, and detecting that the portable device is no longer present comprises detecting that the portable device is no longer proximate a smart network host device located within the local network.

9. A computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by a processing unit, cause the processing unit to perform the steps of:

detecting the presence of a portable device associated with a remote network;

obtaining information from the portable device that identifies the remote network and allows authorized access to the remote network;

based on the obtained information, establishing a network connection with a smart network host device located within the remote network; and

enabling a user to access from a local network at least one or more devices or one or more services associated with the remote network via the established connection.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the portable device includes one or more protected data storage areas, and data within the one or more data storage areas cannot be copied or overwritten with other data.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the portable device comprises a near-field radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, a universal serial bus (USB) drive manufactured with write-protected encrypted bits, an optical disk with manufactured keys, a secure digital (SD) memory card with digital rights management (DRM) features, or a Bluetooth-enabled device.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein enabling a user to access comprises causing the one or more devices or one or more services associated with the remote network to be discoverable on the local network.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the obtained information includes identification information for at least one client device or service associated with the remote network and an authorization credential for the at least one client device or service associated with the remote network.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein establishing a network connection comprises setting up a secure connection to the smart network host device located within the remote network based on an authorization credential included in the obtained information and an authorization credential associated with the smart network host device located within the remote network.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising detecting that the portable device is no longer present and, in response, terminating the network connection established with the smart network host device located within the remote network.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the portable device comprises a near-field RFID tag, and detecting that the portable device is no longer present comprises detecting that the portable device is no longer proximate a smart network host device located within the local network.

17. A system, comprising:

a smart network host device located within a local network that is configured to;

detect the presence of a portable device associated with a remote network;

obtain information from the portable device that identifies the remote network and allows authorized access to the remote network;

based on the obtained information, establish a network connection with a smart network host device located within the remote network; and

enable a user to access from a local network at least one or more devices or one or more services associated with the remote network via the established connection.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the obtained information includes identification information for at least one client device or service associated with the remote network and an authorization credential for the at least one client device or service associated with the remote network.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein establishing a network connection comprises setting up a secure connection to the smart network host device located within the remote network based on an authorization credential included in the obtained information and an authorization credential associated with the smart network host device located within the remote network.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising detecting that the portable device is no longer present and, in response, terminating the network connection established with the smart network host device located within the remote network.