System and method for network access without reconfiguration
DCFirst Claim
1. A method for providing connectivity to a foreign network for a device having network settings configured for communication over a home network without reconfiguring the network settings of the device, the method comprising:
- intercepting packets transmitted by the device;
selectively modifying intercepted packets which are incompatible with network settings configured for communication over the foreign network to be compatible with the network settings configured for communication over the foreign network, wherein the network settings configured for communication over the home and foreign networks include respective IP addresses, gateway addresses, subnet masks, DNS addresses, and protocol proxies; and
selectively providing network services for the device corresponding to network services available on the home network to reduce delay associated with accessing the network services from the foreign network, or to provide network services otherwise inaccessible from the foreign networks wherein selectively providing network services comprises providing a proxy service which includes resolving a domain name to an address;
wherein resolving a domain name to an address includes;
establishing a connection between the device and a configuration adapter in order for the configuration adapter to intercept packets transmitted by the device;
examining contents of the intercepted packets to identify a domain name;
resolving the domain name to an address;
establishing a connection between the configuration adapter and a computer at the address corresponding to the domain name; and
splicing the connections between the device and the configuration adapter, and between the configuration adapter and the computer, to form a single connection between the device and the computer such that the device and the computer communicate packets with each other over the single connection without the network settings of the device being reconfigured.
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Abstract
A system and method for providing connectivity to a foreign network for a device configured for communication over a home network without reconfiguring the device include intercepting packets transmitted by the device, selectively modifying intercepted packets which are incompatible with the foreign network to be compatible with network settings of the foreign network, and selectively providing network services for the device corresponding to network services available on the home network to reduce the delay associated with accessing the network services from the foreign network, or to provide network services otherwise inaccessible from the foreign network. Network services are provided by or through a configuration adapter connected to the device or to the foreign network. The configuration adapter accommodates incompatibilities resulting from proxy server requests, domain name server requests, and/or outgoing email service requests to provide transparent network access for mobile users without reconfiguration of the users computing device.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method for providing connectivity to a foreign network for a device having network settings configured for communication over a home network without reconfiguring the network settings of the device, the method comprising:
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intercepting packets transmitted by the device;
selectively modifying intercepted packets which are incompatible with network settings configured for communication over the foreign network to be compatible with the network settings configured for communication over the foreign network, wherein the network settings configured for communication over the home and foreign networks include respective IP addresses, gateway addresses, subnet masks, DNS addresses, and protocol proxies; and
selectively providing network services for the device corresponding to network services available on the home network to reduce delay associated with accessing the network services from the foreign network, or to provide network services otherwise inaccessible from the foreign networks wherein selectively providing network services comprises providing a proxy service which includes resolving a domain name to an address;
wherein resolving a domain name to an address includes;
establishing a connection between the device and a configuration adapter in order for the configuration adapter to intercept packets transmitted by the device;
examining contents of the intercepted packets to identify a domain name;
resolving the domain name to an address;
establishing a connection between the configuration adapter and a computer at the address corresponding to the domain name; and
splicing the connections between the device and the configuration adapter, and between the configuration adapter and the computer, to form a single connection between the device and the computer such that the device and the computer communicate packets with each other over the single connection without the network settings of the device being reconfigured. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. Apparatus for providing connectivity to a foreign network for a device having network settings configured for communication over a home network without reconfiguring the network settings of the device, the apparatus comprising:
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means for intercepting packets transmitted by the device;
means for selectively modifying intercepted packets which are incompatible with network settings configured for communication over the foreign network to be compatible with the network settings of configured for communication over the foreign network, wherein the network settings configured for communication over the home and foreign networks include respective IP addresses, gateway addresses, subnet masks, DNS addresses, and protocol proxies; and
means for selectively providing network services for the device corresponding to network services available on the home network to reduce delay associated with accessing the network services from the foreign network, or to provide network services otherwise inaccessible from the foreign network;
wherein the means for selectively providing network services comprises means for providing a proxy service;
wherein the means for providing a proxy service comprises means for resolving a domain name to an address;
wherein the means for resolving a domain name to an address includes;
means for establishing a connection between the device and a configuration adapter in order for the configuration adapter to intercept packets transmitted by the device;
means for examining contents of the intercepted packets to identify a domain name;
means for resolving the domain name to an address;
means for establishing a connection between the configuration adapter and a computer at the address corresponding to the domain name; and
means for splicing the connections between the device and the configuration adapter, and between the configuration adapter and the computer, to form a single connection between the device and the computer such that the device and the computer communicate packets with each other over the single connection without the network settings of the device being reconfigured. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A configuration adapter for providing connectivity to a foreign network for a device having network settings configured for communication over a home network without reconfiguring the network settings of the device, the configuration adapter comprising:
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at least one network interface for connecting to the foreign network; and
a processor in communication with the network interface, the processor intercepting packets transmitted by the device, selectively modifying intercepted packets which are incompatible with network settings configured for communication over the foreign network to be compatible with the network settings of configured for communication over the foreign network, and selectively providing network services for the device corresponding to network services available on the home network to reduce delay associated with accessing the network services from the foreign network, or to provide network services otherwise inaccessible from the foreign network;
wherein the network settings configured for communication over the home and foreign networks include respective IP addresses, gateway addresses, subnet masks, DNS addresses, and protocol proxies;
wherein the processor selectively provides a proxy service for the device which includes resolving a domain name to an address;
wherein the processor resolves a domain name to an address by establishing a connection between the device and the configuration adapter, examining contents of the intercepted packets to identify a domain name, resolving the domain name to an address, establishing a connection between the configuration adapter and a computer at the address corresponding to the domain name, and splicing the connections between the device and the configuration adapter, and between the configuration adapter and the computer, to form a single connection between the device and the computer such that the device and the computer communicate packets with each other over the single connection without the network settings of the device being reconfigured. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A method for providing access to a second local area network for a device configured to communicate over a first local area network having incompatible network settings with network settings of the second local area network, the method comprising:
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determining whether an application running on the device is requesting a proxy service;
wherein the step of determining comprises;
establishing a transmission control protocol (TCP) connection between a configuration adapter and the device to examine contents of a packet transmitted by the device;
establishing a TCP connection between the configuration adapter and the proxy server requested by the application; and
splicing the connection such that end-to-end semantics are maintained by the application and the requested proxy server, and modifying packets containing proxy requests to direct requests if the requested proxy service is inaccessible from the foreign network without modifying the network settings of the device. - View Dependent Claims (35)
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Specification