Management of multiple user sessions and user requests for multiple electronic devices

• US 7,873,734 B1
• Filed: 05/16/2002
• Issued: 01/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Computer Associates Think Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Eidelman, Brian A., Bregman, Joshua C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Thu
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chang; Julian
• Application Number:
  US10/150,351
• Time in Patent Office: 3,169 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/142 Managing session states for stateless protocols; Signalling session states; State transitions; Keeping-state mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/564 Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data

Abstract

A method and apparatus for supporting a plurality of user sessions for a plurality of electronic devices with or without cookie technology and transmitting requests and session data to appropriate servers in an enterprise network is provided. In accordance with one example embodiment, a method is provided of supporting a plurality of user sessions for a plurality of electronic devices. The method includes the step of receiving a user request from a client. A user session and a session key are established, the session key having an association with the user session. The plurality of user sessions can co-exist with other user sessions. A method is further provided for converting a plurality of incoming requests from a plurality of electronic devices into a plurality of new requests. The method includes reading one of the plurality of incoming requests and comparing at least one property associated with the request to at least one predetermined value. The one of the plurality of new requests is forwarded to a server device configured in a network, where the server device is determined by the result of comparing at least one property associated with the request to at least one predetermined value.

Claims

1. In a proxy server in communication with a network, a method of supporting a plurality of user sessions for a plurality of electronic devices, comprising:

intercepting, at the proxy server, a first user request from a first electronic device directed to a first back-end server, the first user request including first data comprising a device identifier indicative of a vendor and model associated with the first electronic device;

mapping, at the proxy server, the first data comprising the device identifier of the first electronic device to a first session scheme based on the vendor and model associated with the first electronic device from which the first user request is received, the first session scheme determining one or more session tracking characteristics for a first user session;

determining whether a first session key exists that conforms with one or more session tracking characteristics determined by the first session scheme;

upon determining the first session key does not exist;

searching for valid credentials associated with the first electronic device that were previously received by the proxy server; and

upon finding valid credentials, establishing the first session key of a first type as determined by the first session scheme, the first session key holding a client state for the first user session that is stored by the electronic device;

intercepting, at the proxy server, a second user request from a second electronic device directed to a second back-end server, the second user request including second data comprising a device identifier indicative of a vendor and model associated with the second electronic device;

mapping, at the proxy server, the second data comprising the device identifier of the second electronic device to a second session scheme based on the vendor and model associated with the second electronic device from which the second user request is received, the second session scheme determining one or more session tracking characteristics for a second user session;

establishing the second user session having one or more session tracking characteristics determined by the second session scheme; and

establishing a second session key of a second type as determined by the second session scheme, the second session key holding a client state for the second user session that is stored by the electronic device;

wherein the first data and the second data distinguish the first electronic device from the second electronic device;

wherein the first type of session key determined by the first session scheme is different from the second type of session key determined by the second session scheme; and

wherein the first user session co-exists at least in part with the second user session.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first electronic device comprises a desktop computer and the second electronic device comprises a mobile telephone.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the first user request further comprises authenticating the request.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the first user request further comprises determining authorizations for the request.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising forwarding at least one of the first user request and the second user request to a third electronic device.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising receiving a response from the third electronic device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein mapping the first data to the first session scheme comprises examining an HTTP header to identify a type of the first electronic device.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising utilizing an application program interface to generate at least one API session scheme capable of retrieval of the first session key to locate the first user session stored in one of a cookie, a persistent session store, and a storage device.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the API session scheme includes at least one of a context validation function, a retrieval function, a create key function, a create session function, an update function, and a logout function.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a subsequent user request from the first electronic device, the subsequent user request including the first data;

mapping the first data included in the subsequent user request to the first session scheme; and

retrieving the first session key as determined by the first session scheme.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first type of session key and the second type of session key are selected from a group consisting of cookies, secure sockets layer identifiers, IP addresses, device identifiers, and re-written URLs.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising utilizing the first session key to locate the first user session.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein utilizing the first session key comprises locating the first user session in one of a cookie, a persistent session store, and a storage device, and providing access to the user session.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

forwarding the first user request to a third electronic device;

receiving a response from the third electronic device; and

forwarding the response to the first electronic device.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the first type of session key is a cookie and the second type of session key is selected from a group consisting of a secure sockets layer identifier, an IP address, a device identifier, and a re-written URL.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the first type of session key is a re-written URL and the second type of session key is selected from a group consisting of a secure sockets layer identifier, a device identifier, and an IP address.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the first type of session key is a secure sockets layer identifier and the second type of session key is selected from a group consisting of a device identifier and an IP address.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

intercepting, at the proxy server, a third user request from a third electronic device, the third user request including third data comprising an attribute of the third electronic device;

mapping, at the proxy server, the third data comprising an attribute of the third electronic device to a third session scheme, the third session scheme determining one or more session tracking characteristics for a third user session;

establishing the third user session having one or more session tracking characteristics determined by the third session scheme; and

establishing a third session key of a third type as determined by the third session scheme, the third session key holding a client state for the third user session;

wherein the first data, the second data and the third data distinguish the first electronic device, the second electronic device, and the third electronic device from one another;

wherein the first type of session key determined by the first session scheme, the second type of session key determined by the second session scheme, and the third type of session key determined by the third session scheme are each of different types from one another; and

wherein the first user session, second user session, and third user session co-exists at least in part with one another.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the device identifier indicative of a type of device of the first electronic device comprises a device identifier indicative of the type of device of the first electronic device identifying a device type selected from the group consisting of a pocket PC type of device, a smart phone type of device, a television set interface type of device, a personal data assistant type of device, and a personal computer type of device.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising mapping the first and second user requests to first and second uniform resource locator addresses associated with the first and second backend servers, respectively.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the proxy server is managed by the vendor of the first electronic device.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising adding a proxy server identifier to the first and second user requests, the proxy server identifier specifically designating the proxy server that intercepted the first and second user requests.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the second back-end server is different than the first back-end server.

24. In a proxy server in communication with a network, a method of supporting a plurality of user sessions for a plurality of electronic devices, comprising:

intercepting, at the proxy server, a first user request from a first electronic device directed to a first back-end server;

extracting first data from the first user request, the first data comprising a device identifier indicative of a vendor and model associated with the first electronic device;

locating, at the proxy server, a first session scheme that correlates to the first data comprising the device identifier of the first electronic device, the first session scheme determining one or more tracking characteristics for a first user session;

retrieving the first session scheme based on the vendor and model associated with the first electronic device from which the first user request is received;

determining whether there exists a first session key of a first type that conforms with the first session scheme, the first session key holding a client state for the first electronic device that is stored by the electronic device;

upon determining the first session key does not exist;

searching for valid credentials associated with the first electronic device that were previously received by the proxy server; and

upon finding valid credentials, establishing the first session key of a first type as determined by the first session scheme, the first session key holding a client state for the first user session that is stored by the electronic device;

intercepting, at the proxy server, a second user request from a second electronic device directed to a second back-end server;

extracting second data from the second user request, the second data comprising a device identifier indicative of a vendor and model associated with the second electronic device;

attempting to locate, at the proxy server, a second session scheme that correlates to the second data comprising the device identifier of the second electronic device, the second session scheme determining one or more tracking characteristics for a second user session;

at least one of retrieving the second session scheme if the second session scheme is located, providing a default session scheme if the second session scheme is not located, and rejecting the second user request if the default session scheme is not located; and

if one of the second session scheme and the default session scheme is located, obtaining a second session key of a second type as instructed by one of the second session scheme and the default session scheme, the second session key holding a client state for the second electronic device that is stored by the proxy server;

wherein the first data and the second data distinguish the first electronic device from the second electronic device; and

wherein the first type of session key is different from the second type of session key.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising one of forwarding the first user request upon locating the first user session utilizing the first session key and forwarding the first user request after creating the first user session in association with the first session key.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising determining a uniform resource locator to which the first user request is forwarded, the uniform resource locator indicating an electronic server device configured in the network.

27. The method of claim 25, further comprising forwarding data from the first user session to an electronic server device configured in the network.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein the first user session comprises data in the form of at least one of a user identifier, a preference, authentication data, and a session expiration period.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein forwarding the first user request comprises executing a proxy rule, the proxy rule determining an electronic server device to receive the first user request.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein executing the proxy rule comprises:

analyzing data from at least one of the first user request, the first user session, and a stored user record;

comparing at least one property associated with the data to at least one predetermined value; and

converting the first user request to a new request according to a result of comparing at least one property associated with the data to at least one predetermined value.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the at least one predetermined value specifies one of a URL, an authentication indicator, a device type, a host, a user class, and a level of service.

32. The method of claim 24, wherein obtaining the first session key comprises one of locating and creating the first user session in one of a cookie, a persistent session store, and a storage device, and providing access to the first user session.

33. The method of claim 24, wherein the first type of session key and the second type of session key are selected from a group consisting of cookies, secure sockets layer identifiers, IP addresses, device identifiers, and re-written URLs.

34. The method of claim 24, wherein the first data contains a device identifier identifying a type of the first electronic device transmitting the user request.

35. The method of claim 24, wherein the first type of session key is an IP address and the second type of session key is a device identifier.

36. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing a software tool for executing a method of supporting a plurality of user sessions for a plurality of electronic devices, the method comprising:

intercepting, at the proxy server, a first user request from a first electronic device directed to a first back-end server, the first user request including first data comprising a device identifier indicative of a vendor and model associated with the first electronic device;

mapping, at the proxy server, the first data comprising the device identifier of the first electronic device to a first session scheme based on the vendor and model associated with the first electronic device from which the first user request is received, the first session scheme determining one or more session tracking characteristics for a first user session;

determining whether a first session key exists that conforms with one or more session tracking characteristics determined by the first session scheme;

upon determining the first session key does not exist;

searching for valid credentials associated with the first electronic device that were previously received by the proxy server; and

upon finding valid credentials, establishing the first session key of a first type as determined by the first session scheme, the first session key holding a client state for the first user session that is stored by the electronic device;

intercepting, at the proxy server, a second user request from a second electronic device directed to a second back-end server, the second user request including second data comprising a device identifier indicative of a vendor and model associated with the second electronic device;

mapping, at the proxy server, the second data comprising the device identifier of the second electronic device to a second session scheme based on the vendor and model associated with the second electronic device from which the second user request is received, the second session scheme determining one or more session tracking characteristics for a second user session;

establishing the second user session having one or more session tracking characteristics determined by the second session scheme; and

establishing a second session key of a second type as determined by the second session scheme, the second session key holding a client state for the second user session that is stored by the electronic device;

wherein the first data and the second data distinguish the first electronic device from the second electronic device;

wherein the first type of session key determined by the first session scheme is different from the second type of session key determined by the second session scheme; and

wherein the first user session co-exists at least in part with the second user session.

37. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing a software tool for executing a method of supporting a plurality of user sessions for a plurality of electronic devices, comprising:

intercepting, at the proxy server, a first user request from a first electronic device directed to a first back-end server;

extracting first data from the first user request, the first data comprising a device identifier indicative of a vendor and model associated with the first electronic device;

attempting to locate, at the proxy server, a first session scheme that correlates to the first data comprising the device identifier of the first electronic device, the first session scheme determining one or more tracking characteristics for a first user session;

retrieving the first session scheme based on the vendor and model associated with the first electronic device from which the first user request is received;

determining whether there exists a first session key of a first type that conforms with the first session scheme, the first session key holding a client state for the first electronic device that is stored by the electronic device;

upon determining the first session key does not exist;

searching for valid credentials associated with the first electronic device that were previously received by the proxy server; and

upon finding valid credentials, establishing the first session key of a first type as determined by the first session scheme, the first session key holding a client state for the first user session that is stored by the electronic device;

intercepting, at the proxy server, a second user request from a second electronic device directed to a second back-end server;

extracting second data from the second user request, the second data comprising a device identifier indicative of a vendor and model associated with the second electronic device;

attempting to locate, at the proxy server, a second session scheme that correlates to the second data comprising the device identifier of the second electronic device, the second session scheme determining one or more tracking characteristics for a second user session;

at least one of retrieving the second session scheme if the second session scheme is located, providing a default session scheme if the second session scheme is not located, and rejecting the second user request if the default session scheme is not located; and

if one of the second session scheme and the default session scheme is located, obtaining a second session key of a second type as instructed by one of the second session scheme and the default session scheme, the second session key holding a client state for the second electronic device that is stored by the proxy server;

wherein the first data and the second data distinguish the first electronic device from the second electronic device; and

wherein the first type of session key is different from the second type of session key.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising one of forwarding the first user request upon locating the first user session utilizing the first session key and forwarding the first user request after creating the first user session in association with the first session key.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein forwarding the first user request comprises executing a proxy rule, the proxy rule determining an electronic server device to receive the first user request.