Method and apparatus for communicating between a network workstation and an internet
First Claim
1. A method for connecting a plurality of PC LAN workstations, interconnected via a socket server, to an internet, said method comprising the steps of:
- a. in a workstation,(1) generating a WINSOCK application request for TCP/IP services;
(2) encapsulating the WINSOCK request in a message;
(3) conveying the encapsulated message via a LAN transport to the socket server;
b. in the socket server,(1) receiving the encapsulated message from the LAN transport;
(2) extracting the WINSOCK request from the encapsulated message;
(3) submitting the WINSOCK request to a TCP/IP stack;
(4) processing the WINSOCK request by the TCP/IP stack; and
(5) returning the processed WINSOCK request to the workstation via a reverse of steps A(1), A(2), A(3), B(1), and B(2).
14 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for connecting a plurality of LAN workstations to the internet via an on-line server/interface that does not require a PC operating system dedicated to the server. The server operates in TCP/IP protocol for communication over the Internet. Only a single connection to the Internet is required in order to permit the entire LAN to operate simultaneously on the Internet. Specifically, only a single phone line is required to simultaneously serve all LAN workstations. The system is equally well suited to connect via a telephone line connection to an Internet providers'"'"'s slip or PPP or via an Ethernet connection to a router or direct connection by any available means. The system does not disturb the native LAN protocol, while communicating via the internet protocol such as, by way of example, TCP/IP. The LAN is provided with a complete internet protocol service, supporting functions not generally available in the dedicated stacks previously provided for individual PCs.
136 Citations
39 Claims
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1. A method for connecting a plurality of PC LAN workstations, interconnected via a socket server, to an internet, said method comprising the steps of:
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a. in a workstation, (1) generating a WINSOCK application request for TCP/IP services; (2) encapsulating the WINSOCK request in a message; (3) conveying the encapsulated message via a LAN transport to the socket server; b. in the socket server, (1) receiving the encapsulated message from the LAN transport; (2) extracting the WINSOCK request from the encapsulated message; (3) submitting the WINSOCK request to a TCP/IP stack; (4) processing the WINSOCK request by the TCP/IP stack; and (5) returning the processed WINSOCK request to the workstation via a reverse of steps A(1), A(2), A(3), B(1), and B(2). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for communicating between a network and an internet, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving, from a network workstation, an unprocessed request for services encapsulated in a message; extracting the request from the message; submitting the request to a TCP/IP stack; processing the request by the TCP/IP stack; and forwarding a TCP/IP request corresponding to the request for WINSOCK services to the internet. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An apparatus for communicating between a network and an internet, the apparatus comprising:
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a TCP/IP stack; an interface, coupled to the TCP/IP stack, to receive, from a network workstation, an unprocessed request for WINSOCK services encapsulated in a message, to extract the request from the message, and to submit the request to the TCP/IP stack; and wherein the TCP/IP stack is to process the request and forward a TCP/IP request corresponding to the request for WINSOCK services to the internet. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A system comprising:
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a workstation including a first interface to receive an unprocessed request for WINSOCK services, to encapsulate the unprocessed request in a message, and to transmit the message on a network; a server including a TCP/IP stack, a second interface, coupled to the TCP/IP stack, to receive the message from the workstation, to extract the request from the message, and to submit the request to the TCP/IP stack, wherein the TCP/IP stack is to process the request and forward a TCP/IP request corresponding to the request for WINSOCK services to an internet. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions, designed to be executed by a processor, for implementing a function to:
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receive, from a network workstation, an unprocessed request for WINSOCK services encapsulated in a message; extract the request from the message; submit the request to a TCP/IP stack; process the request by the TCP/IP stack; and forward a TCP/IP request corresponding to the request for WINSOCK services to an internet. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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Specification