Techniques for limiting network access

• US 7,647,385 B2
• Filed: 12/19/2003
• Issued: 01/12/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Flaks, Jason, Srinivasan, Jai, Encarnacion, Mark J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vaughn, Jr.; William C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Anwari; Maceeh
• Application Number:
  US10/741,706
• Publication Number:
  US 20050138179A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,216 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• 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 69/163 In-band adaptation of TCP data exchange; In-band control procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A network architecture in a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) network includes a resource sharing service to govern the distribution of resource information from a server to a recipient entity (such as rendering device or a control point). The network architecture includes one or more of the following provisions: (a) setting the server to operate in a predetermined private address range or an Auto IP range; (b) operating one or more parts of the network architecture on the same subnet; (c) setting a time to live (TTL) parameter associated with messages transmitted by the server to a predetermined number; (d) setting a number of permitted recipient entities to a predetermined number; (e) setting a number of permitted concurrent content distribution sessions to a predetermined session number; (f) granting access to a recipient entity on condition that the recipient entity has generated a message that conforms to the UPnP protocol; and (g) retiring a URL used to identify a location of a resource provided by the server after a predetermined amount of time.

Claims

1. A network architecture implemented at least in part by one or more computing devices for disseminating resource information, comprising:

a network;

a server coupled to the network, the server comprising;

a processor;

a memory;

a shared resource store that identifies a collection of sharable resources; and

logic for sharing resource information, obtained from the sharable resources, over the network; and

a recipient entity coupled to the network, the recipient entity configured to render, at the recipient entity, resource information received from the server, wherein the logic;

is implemented by the server for limiting an unauthorized external recipient entity from accessing the sharable resources or the sharing resource information; and

comprises;

first logic configured to set a maximum number of permitted recipient entities coupled to the network, wherein the number represents a maximum number of recipient entities allowed by the server to serve the resources;

second logic configured to set a maximum number of permitted concurrent sessions granted by the server for disseminating resource content for rendering on respective recipient entities to a predetermined maximum session number; and

third logic configured to retire a resource locator, used to identify a location in which a resource is stored in the server, in a predetermined amount of time, so that the resource locator is no longer usable after that predetermined amount of time.

2. The network architecture according to claim 1, wherein the network is configured as a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) network.

3. The network architecture according to claim 1, wherein the recipient entity is a rendering device for rendering resource information.

4. The network architecture according to claim 1, wherein the resource information shared out by the server is resource metadata that describes high level information regarding respective resources.

5. The network architecture according to claim 1, wherein the resource information shared out by the server is resource content that provides information to be presented at the recipient entity.

6. The network architecture according to claim 1, wherein:

the logic further comprises fourth logic configured to operate one or more parts of the network architecture in a predetermined address range not compatible with transmission of messages over a wide area network; and

the predetermined address range comprises one of;

10.0.0.0 through 10.255.255.255;

172.16.0.0 through 172.31.255.255;

169.254.0.0 through 169.254155.255; and

192.168.0.0 through 192.168.255.255.

7. The network architecture according to claim 1, wherein:

the logic further comprises fourth logic configured to set a time to live (TTL) parameter associated with messages to a predetermined TTL number indicative of a maximum number of nodes that a message is permitted to pass through en route from a source node to a destination node; and

the predetermined TTL number is 3 or less.

8. The network architecture according to claim 1, wherein:

the logic further comprises fourth logic configured to set a time to live (TTL) parameter associated with messages to a predetermined TTL number indicative of a maximum number of nodes that a message is permitted to pass through en route from a source node to a destination node; and

the nodes are Internet Protocol Layer 3 Nodes.

9. The network architecture according to claim 1, wherein:

the logic further comprises fourth logic configured to grant access to a recipient entity on condition that the recipient entity has generated a message that conforms to an expected network protocol to announce its existence in the network; and

the expected network protocol is an UPnP network protocol.

10. The network architecture according to claim 1, wherein:

the logic further comprises fourth logic configured to grant access to a recipient entity on condition that the recipient entity has generated a message that conforms to an expected network protocol to announce its existence in the network; and

the network architecture ignores an entity that is attempting to retrieve a resource content item if that entity has not been previously approved by the server.

11. A server implemented by a computing device and coupled to a network for disseminating media resource information to one or more recipient entities over the network, the server comprising:

a processor;

a memory;

a shared resource store identifying a collection of sharable media resources; and

logic for sharing media resource information over the network with the one or more recipient entities, the media resource information being obtained from the sharable media resources, the one or more recipient entities being capable of rendering the media resources information at the one or more recipient entities, the logic being implemented by the server for limiting unauthorized external recipient entity from accessing the sharable media resources or the sharing media resource information, wherein the logic comprises;

first logic configured to operate one or more parts of the network in a predetermined address range that is not compatible with transmission of messages over a wide area network;

second logic configured to operate the server and the one or more recipient entities on a same subnet;

third logic configured to set a time to live (TTL) parameter associated with the messages transmitted by the server to a predetermined TTL number indicative of a maximum number of nodes that the messages are permitted to pass through en route from a source node to a destination node;

fourth logic configured to set a maximum number of permitted concurrent sessions granted by the media server for disseminating media resource content for rendering at the one or more recipient entities to a predetermined maximum session number; and

fifth logic configured to retire a resource locator, used to identify a location in which one of the media resources is stored in the media server, in a predetermined amount of time, so that the resource locator is no longer usable to locate the one of the media resources after that predetermined amount of time.

12. The server according to claim 11, wherein the network is configured as a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) network.

13. The server according to claim 11, wherein the media resource information shared by the server is media resource metadata that describes high level information regarding the respective media resources.

14. The server according to claim 11, wherein the media resource information shared by the server is media resource content that provides information to be rendered at the one or more recipient entities.

15. The server according to claim 11, wherein the predetermined address range comprises one of:

10.0.0.0 through 10.255.255.255;

172.16.0.0 through 17231.255.255;

169.254.0.0 through 169.254.255.255; and

192.168.0.0 through 192.168.255.255.

16. The server according to claim 11, wherein:

the predetermined TTL number is 3 or less.

17. The server according to claim 11, wherein:

the nodes are Internet Protocol Layer 3 Nodes.

18. The server according to claim 11, wherein:

the logic further comprises sixth logic configured to grant access to the one or more recipient entities on condition that the one or more recipient entities each has generated a message that conforms to an expected network protocol to announce existence of the one or more recipient entities in the network; and

the expected network protocol is an UPnP network protocol.

19. The server according to claim 11, wherein:

the logic further comprises sixth logic configured to grant access to one or more recipient entities on condition that the one or more recipient entities each has generated a message that conforms to an expected network protocol to announce existence of the one or more recipient entities in the network; and

the network ignores one of the one or more recipient entities that is attempting to retrieve a resource content item if the one or more recipient entities have not been previously approved by the server.

20. The server according to claim 11, wherein the logic further comprises seventh logic configured to set a maximum number of the one or more recipient entities coupled to the network, the number representing a maximum number of the one or more recipient entities allowed by the server to receive the media resources for rendering at the one or more recipient entities.

21. A computer readable storage medium including machine readable instructions for implementing the logic for sharing the resource information and at least one of the fourth and fifth logic recited in claim 11.

22. A computer-implemented method for disseminating resource information stored by a server over a network to a recipient entity, the method, implemented by one or more processors executing instructions stored on a computer-readable medium, comprising:

receiving, at the server, a request to provide resource information;

providing, by the server, the requested resource information to the recipient entity; and

presenting to the recipient entity, the provided resource information,

wherein the network applies provisions implemented by the server in disseminating the resource information to limit unauthorized external recipient entity from accessing the resource information;

wherein the provisions comprise a provision of retiring a resource locator, used to identify a location in which a resource is stored at the server, in a predetermined amount of time, so that the resource locator is no longer usable after that predetermined amount of time; and

wherein the provisions further comprise one or more provisions of;

setting a maximum number of permitted recipient entities coupled to the network, wherein the number represents a maximum number of recipient entities allowed by the server to serve out resource for rendering on each of the recipient entities; and

setting a maximum number of permitted concurrent sessions granted by the server for disseminating resource content for rendering on respective recipient entities to a predetermined maximum session number at any time.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the network is configured as a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) network.

24. The method according to claim 22, wherein the recipient entity is a rendering device for rendering resource information.

25. The method according to claim 22, wherein the resource information shared out by the server is resource metadata that describes high level information regarding respective resources.

26. The method according to claim 22, wherein the resource information shared out by the server is resource content that provides information to be presented at the recipient device.

27. The method according to claim 22, wherein the network architecture is configured to include a predetermined address range comprising one of:

10.0.0.0 through 10.255.255.255;

172.16.0.0 through 172.31.255.255;

169.254.0.0 through 169.254.255.255; and

192.168.0.0 through 192.168.255.255.

28. The method according to claim 22, wherein:

the network is configured to include a provision of setting a time to live (TTL) parameter associated with messages to a predetermined TTL number indicative of a maximum number of nodes that a message is permitted to pass through en route from a source node to a destination node; and

the predetermined TTL number is 3 or less.

29. The method according to claim 22, wherein:

the network is configured to include a provision of setting a time to live (TTL) parameter associated with messages to a predetermined TTL number indicative of a maximum number of nodes that a message is permitted to pass through en route from a source node to a destination node; and

the nodes are Internet Protocol Layer 3 Nodes.

30. The method according to claim 22, wherein:

the network is configured to include a provision of granting access to a recipient entity on condition that the recipient entity has generated a message that conforms to an expected network protocol to announce its existence in the network; and

the expected network protocol is an UPnP network protocol.

31. The method according to claim 22, wherein:

the network is configured to include a provision of granting access to a recipient entity on condition that the recipient entity has generated a message that conforms to an expected network protocol to announce its existence in the network; and

the network ignores an entity that is attempting to retrieve a resource content item if that entity has not been previously approved by the server.

32. The method according to claim 22, wherein the network includes three of the provisions.

33. A computer readable medium including machine readable instructions for implementing the receiving, providing, presenting, and least one of the provisions recited in claim 22.