Minimum intervention authentication of heterogeneous network technologies (MIAHNT)

• US 8,468,219 B2
• Filed: 01/23/2006
• Issued: 06/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies General IP PTE Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Palm, Stephen R., Ptasinski, Henry
• Primary Examiner(s): DAILEY, THOMAS J
• Application Number:
  US11/348,624
• Publication Number:
  US 20060173978A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,703 Days
• Field of Search: 709/219, 709/220, 726/17
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227

Abstract

Methods and systems for enabling communication of information within a network are disclosed herein and comprise receiving at a first communication device located within a network, configuration information from a network service provider for configuring a plurality of communication devices located within said network. The first communication device located within the network can be configured based on at least a portion of the received configuration information. In response to a user input at a second communication device located within the network, at least a portion of the received configuration information can be communicated from the first communication device to the second communication device located within the network. The network service provider can be coupled to the first communication device via a wired connection. The network can comprise a wireless network.

Claims

1. A method for enabling communication of information comprising:

receiving at a first communication device, located as a gateway to a first network, configuration parameters from a remote source to configure the first communication device for secure operation in communicating with the remote source;

configuring the first communication device for secure communication with the remote source;

causing, from the remote source, the first communication device to enter a mode in which the first communication device communicates with a second communication device in the network to communicate at least a portion of the configuration parameters to the second communication device, wherein the first communication device operates as a configuration protocol (CFP) configurator for the configuration parameters;

configuring the second communication device as a CFP relay by utilizing the first communication device as the CFP configurator, wherein the second communication device is coupled to a third communication device on a second network which is heterogeneous from the first network; and

configuring the third communication device by utilizing the first communication device as the CFP configurator and in which the third communication device operates as a CFP client to the CFP configurator of the first communication device and the second communication device operates to provide CFP relaying to provide for secure operation in communicating between the remote source and the third communication device via the first and second communication devices.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein when communicating at least the portion of the configuration parameters from the first communication device to the second communication device, the communicating is via a wireless connection.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein when communicating between the first communication device and the third communication device, the communicating is via a wired connection.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein when communicating between the first communication device and the third communication device, the communicating is via a wireless connection.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the configuring of the second communication device is in response to an action performed at the second communication device.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first network and the second network are part of a residential network.

18. The method according to claim 1, further comprising converting data at the second communication device from a first format determined by a first networking standard to a second format determined by a second networking standard to traverse between the first network and the second network.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the first format is OSI layer-2 (L2) and the second format is OSI layer-3 (L3).

20. The method according to claim 18, wherein the first format is OSI layer-3 (L3) and the second format is OSI layer-2 (L2).

21. The method according to claim 18, wherein when communicating between the first communication device and the second communication device, the communicating is via a wired connection.

22. The method according to claim 18, wherein when communicating between the second communication device and the third communication device, the communicating is via a wireless connection.

7. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon, a computer program having at least one code section for enabling communication of information, the at least one code section being executable by a machine to cause the machine to perform comprising:

receiving at a first communication device, located as a gateway to a first network, configuration parameters from a remote source to configure the first communication device for secure operation in communicating with the remote source;

configuring the first communication device for secure communication with the remote source;

causing, from the remote source, the first communication device to enter a mode in which the first communication device communicates with a second communication device in the network to communicate at least a portion of the configuration parameters to the second communication device, wherein the first communication device operates as a configuration protocol (CFP) configurator for the configuration parameters;

configuring the second communication device as a CFP relay by utilizing the first communication device as the CFP configurator, wherein the second communication device is coupled to a third communication device on a second network which is heterogeneous from the first network; and

configuring the third communication device by utilizing the first communication device as the CFP configurator and in which the third communication device operates as a CFP client to the CFP configurator of the first communication device and the second communication device operates to provide CFP relaying to provide for secure operation in communicating between the remote source and the third communication device via the first and second communication devices.

8. The machine-readable storage medium according to claim 7, wherein when the first communication device communicates at least the portion of the configuration parameters to the second communication device, the communicating is via a wireless connection.

9. The machine-readable storage medium according to claim 7, wherein when communicating between the first communication device and the third communication device, the communicating is via a wired connection.

10. The machine-readable storage medium according to claim 7, wherein when communicating between the first communication device and the third communication device, the communicating is via a wireless connection.

11. The machine-readable storage medium according to claim 7, wherein the configuring of the second communication device is in response to an action performed at the second communication device.

12. The machine-readable storage medium according to claim 7, wherein the first network and the second network are part of a residential network.

23. The machine-readable storage medium according to claim 7, further comprising converting data at the second communication device from a first format determined by a first networking standard to a second format determined by a second networking standard to traverse between the first network and the second network.

24. The machine-readable storage medium according to claim 23, wherein the first format is OSI layer-2 (L2) and the second format is OSI layer-3 (L3).

25. The machine-readable storage medium according to claim 23, wherein the first format is OSI layer-3 (L3) and the second format is OSI layer-2 (L2).

26. The machine-readable storage medium according to claim 23, wherein when communicating between the first communication device and the second communication device, the communicating is via a wired connection.

27. The machine-readable storage medium according to claim 23, wherein when communicating between the second communication device and the third communication device, the communicating is via a wireless connection.

13. A system for enabling communication of information comprising:

a first communication device located as a gateway to a first network, wherein the first communication device to receive configuration parameters from a remote source and to use the configuration parameters to configure the first communication device for secure operation in communicating with the remote source, and wherein the first communication device, under direction from the remote source, to enter a mode in which the first communication device is to operate as a configuration protocol (CFP) configurator to communicate with other communication devices on the first network to communicate at least a portion of the configuration parameters; and

a second communication device, coupled to the first communication device on the first network, to receive at least the portion of the configuration parameters and to have the first communication device, as the CFP configurator, to configure the second communication device as a CFP relay, in which the second communication device is coupled to a third communication device on a second network which is heterogeneous from the first network, wherein the third communication device is configured as a CFP client by the first communication device operating as the CFP configurator and in which the second communication device operates to provide CFP relaying to provide for secure operation in communicating between the remote source and the third communication device via the first and second communication devices.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein the first communication device to communicate with the second communication device via a wireless connection.

15. The system according to claim 13, wherein the first communication device to communicate with the second communication device via a wired connection.

16. The system according to claim 13, wherein the second communication device to communicate with the third communication device via a wireless connection.

17. The system according to claim 13, wherein the first network and the second network are part of a residential network.

28. The system according to claim 13, wherein the second communication device converts data from a first format determined by a first networking standard to a second format determined by a second networking standard to traverse between the first network and the second network.

29. The system according to claim 28, wherein the first format is OSI layer-2 (L2) and the second format is OSI layer-3 (L3).

30. The system according to claim 28, wherein the first format is OSI layer-3 (L3) and the second format is OSI layer-2 (L2).

31. The system according to claim 28, wherein the first communication device is coupled to the second communication device via a wired connection.

32. The system according to claim 28, wherein the second device is coupled to the third communication device via a wireless connection.