Network system with TCP/IP protocol spoofing

• US 6,161,141 A
• Filed: 12/03/1998
• Issued: 12/12/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hughes Electronics Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hughes Electronics Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Dillon, Douglas M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Zarni
• Assistant Examiner(s): Farahi, Farzaneh
• Application Number:
  US09/204,436
• Time in Patent Office: 740 Days
• Field of Search: 709/249, 709/219, 709/243, 370/356
• US Class Current: 709/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18582 Arrangements for data linking, i.e. for data framing, for error recovery, for multiple access
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18584 Arrangements for data networking, i.e. for data packet routing, for congestion control data switching networks H04L12/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18591 Arrangements for interconnecting multiple systems data switching networks H04L12/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2856 Access arrangements, e.g. Internet access asynchronous transfer mode networks H04L12/5601; broadband local area networks H04L12/2801; optical access or distribution networks H04Q11/0067; access to open networks H04L12/5691; digital subscriber line end-user equipment and bit-level processing of data on a PSTN-based network H04M11/00; home network gateways H04L12/2834; wireless access networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2898 Subscriber equipments DSL modems H04M11/062; cable modems H04L12/2801
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/5692 Selection among different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2212/00 Encapsulation of packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/15 in relation to multipoint traffic arrangements for broadcast or multicast in data networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/745 Reaction in network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/803 Application aware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/824 Applicable to portable or mobile terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/825 Involving tunnels, e.g. MPLS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/829 Topology based
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/10 of different types
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/161 Implementation details of TCP/IP or UDP/IP stack architecture; Specification of modified or new header fields
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/163 In-band adaptation of TCP data exchange; In-band control procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/168 : specially adapted for link layer protocols, e.g. asynchronous transfer mode [ATM], synchronous optical network [SONET] or point-to-point protocol [PPP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 : in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 : Network security protocols

Abstract

A system in which a personal computer sends messages into a TCP/IP network using a conventional dial-up link and downloads data from the TCP/IP network using a high-speed one-way satellite link. A preferred embodiment uses a conventional SLIP provider to connect to the TCP/IP network and uses a commercial software TCP/IP package that has a standard driver interface. A spoofing protocol compensates for the long propagation delays inherent to satellite communication.

Claims

1. A gateway for use in a TCP/IP network system, the TCP/IP network system comprising said gateway, a source computer, a destination computer, and a satellite link, said gateway comprising:

means for receiving an information packet sent from the source computer and for sending the information packet to the destination computer over the satellite link;

means for sending an ACK message to the source computer in response to receipt of the information packet, wherein the ACK message appears to the source computer to have come from the destination computer; and

means for receiving a packet containing an ACK message from the destination computer, for indicating receipt of the information packet by the destination computer, and for discarding the ACK message from the destination computer when no other data is present in the received packet.

2. A gateway for use in a TCP/IP network system, the TCP/IP network system comprising said gateway, a source computer, a destination computer, and a satellite link, said gateway comprising:

means for receiving an information packet sent from the source computer and for sending the information packet to the destination computer over the satellite link;

means for sending an ACK message to the source computer in response to receipt of the information packet, wherein the ACK message appears to the source computer to have come from the destination computer; and

editing means for receiving a packet containing an ACK message from the destination computer, for indicating receipt of the information packet by the destination computer, and for editing the ACK message and passing the edited received packet to the source computer.

3. A gateway according to claim 2, wherein said editing means includes means for editing an ACK number of the received packet and for adjusting a checksum of the received packet in accordance with the edited value.

4. A gateway for use in a TCP/IP network system, the TCP/IP network system comprising said gateway, a source computer, a destination computer, and a satellite link, said gateway comprising:

means for receiving an information packet sent from the source computer and for sending the information packet to the destination computer over the satellite link;

means for sending an ACK message to the source computer in response to receipt of the information packet, wherein the ACK message appears to the source computer to have come from the destination computer,

wherein the information packet is formatted in accordance with TCP/IP protocol.

5. A gateway for use in a TCP/IP network system, the TCP/IP network system comprising said gateway, a source computer, a destination computer, and a satellite link, said gateway comprising:

means for receiving an information packet sent from the source computer and for sending the information packet to the destination computer over the satellite link; and

means for sending an ACK message to the source computer in response to receipt of the information packet, wherein the ACK message appears in the source computer to have come from the destination computer,

wherein the ACK message is formatted in accordance with TCP/IP protocol.

6. A method for sending information packets in a TCP/IP network system, the TCP/IP network system comprising a gateway, a source computer, a destination computer, and a satellite link between the gateway and the destination computer, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving, by the gateway, of an information packet sent from the source computer;

sending the information packet received by the gateway to the destination computer over the satellite link; and

sending, by the gateway, of an ACK message to the source computer in response to receipt of the information packet by the gateway, wherein the ACK message appears to the source computer to have come from the destination computer; and

receiving a packet containing an ACK message from the destination computer, wherein the ACK message indicates receipt of the information packet by the destination computer and discarding the ACK message from the destination computer when no other data is present in the received packet.

9. A method according to claim 6, wherein the information packet is formatted in accordance with TCP/IP protocol.

10. A method according to claim 6, wherein the ACK message is formatted in accordance with TCP/IP protocol.

7. A method for sending information packets in a TCP/IP network system, the TCP/IP network system comprising a gateway, a source computer, a destination computer, and a satellite link between the gateway and the destination computer, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving, by the gateway, of an information packet sent from the source computer;

sending the information packet received by the gateway to the destination computer over the satellite link; and

sending, by the gateway, of an ACK message to the source computer in response to receipt of the information packet by the gateway, wherein the ACK message appears to the source computer to have come from the destination computer; and

receiving a packet containing an ACK message from the destination computer, wherein the ACK message indicates receipt of the information packet by the destination computer, and editing the ACK message and passing the edited received packet to the source computer.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein said editing step comprises editing an ACK number of the received packet and adjusting a checksum of the received packet in accordance with the edited value.