System and method for acceleration of a secure transmission over satellite

• US 8,762,478 B2
• Filed: 08/28/2012
• Issued: 06/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Gilat Satellite Networks Limited
• Original Assignee: Gilat Satellite Networks Limited
• Inventors: Chatterjee, Aditya N., Rodrigues, Roberto G., Kadrichu, Hanny P., Bowers, Steven
• Primary Examiner(s): MACILWINEN, JOHN MOORE JAIN
• Application Number:
  US13/596,509
• Publication Number:
  US 20120324036A1
• Time in Patent Office: 665 Days
• Field of Search: 209/212, 209/235
• US Class Current: 709/213
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9574 of access to content, e.g. by caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18519 Operations control, administration or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/1858 Arrangements for data transmission on the physical system, i.e. for data bit transmission between network components
• 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 7/18586 Arrangements for data transporting, e.g. for an end to end data transport or check
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18593 Arrangements for preventing unauthorised access or for providing user protection arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1836 with heterogeneous network architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/189 in combination with wireless systems selective distribution or broadcast in wireless communication networks H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/288 Distributed intermediate devices, i.e. intermediate devices for interaction with other intermediate devices on the same level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5681 Pre-fetching or pre-delivering data based on network characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5683 Storage of data provided by user terminals, i.e. reverse caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/06 Transport layer protocols, e.g. TCP [Transport Control Protocol] over wireless transmission control protocol/Internet protocol [TCP/IP] or user datagram protocol [UDP] H04L69/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/06 Airborne or Satellite Networks space-based or airborne stations H04B7/185

Abstract

A broadband communication system with improved latency is disclosed. The system employs acceleration of secure web-based communications over a satellite communication network. In accordance with aspects of the invention, secure protocol acceleration is employed such that required protocol signals transmitted from a computer employing a web browser may be intercepted by a remote terminal. To insure that the browser will continue transmitting data, the remote terminal generates required acknowledgment and security signals to continue the secure communication, which may then transmitted back to the computer. Meanwhile, the received protocol signals may be converted by the remote terminal for transmission through the satellite communications system in a format appropriate for that communication medium. Aspects of the invention further include a hub or similar device for communicating with the satellite communications system.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

establishing a tunnel between a terminal device and a host station, the terminal device comprising a cache, and the tunnel configured to carry encapsulated information and its address information within a container across a satellite link;

intercepting, at the terminal device, a handshake connection signal before the handshake connection signal is transmitted via the satellite link to a host station, the handshake connection signal being transmitted by a computer collocated with the cache;

receiving, at the terminal device, one or more multicasted objects communicated using a multicast technique;

receiving, at the terminal device, a request for a data page from a browser operating on the computer;

determining that a first object of the requested data page matches one of the one or more multicasted objects stored in the cache;

sending the first object to the computer;

determining that a second object of the requested data page is not stored in the cache;

sending a request to the host station for the second object via the tunnel, wherein sending the request comprises;

encapsulating the request and address information of the request in a tunnel container, and

transmitting the tunnel container from the terminal device to the host station;

receiving the second object; and

sending the received second object to the computer.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the terminal device, a list of objects stored on the computer; and

synchronizing, at the terminal device, a linked list of objects stored in the cache with the received list of objects stored at the computer.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the terminal device, information from the computer related to an object handling capability of the browser,

wherein the sending of the first object to the computer is based at least in part on determining that the browser is capable of handling the first object.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the terminal device, a request for the second object,

wherein the request, received at the terminal device, for the second object comprises an index number that identifies the second object, and

wherein the sending of the second object to the computer is responsive to receiving the request for the second object.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising periodically receiving the data page and storing the data page in the cache, wherein the data page comprises at least one of a favorites page and a home page.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the host station is included in a hub and the second object is received at the terminal device from the hub, the method further comprising:

storing a copy of the second object in the cache.

7. A method, comprising:

establishing a tunnel between a device and a hub, the tunnel configured to carry encapsulated information and its address information within a container across a satellite link;

intercepting, by the device, a connection request before the connection request is transmitted via the satellite link to eliminate transmission of the connection request via the satellite link, wherein the connection request is received from a browser that is collocated with the device;

transmitting, by the device, a connection response to the browser in response to intercepting the connection request;

intercepting, by the device, a request for a data page before the request is transmitted via the satellite link, the request indicating a first address for retrieving a data page;

determining, by the device, whether the requested data page is stored in a predefined cache;

forwarding, by the device, the data page request to the hub via the tunnel when the data page is not stored in the predefined cache,

wherein the forwarding of the data page request comprises;

encapsulating the data page request, comprising its address information, in a tunnel container, and transmitting the tunnel container from the device to the hub via the tunnel;

receiving a multicasted object;

receiving, from the browser, an object request for the multicasted object; and

forwarding the multicasted object to the browser.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the connection request includes a TCP segment having a SYN signal, and wherein the connection response includes a TCP segment having a SYN-ACK signal.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein transmitting the tunnel container comprises transmitting the tunnel container to the hub having a second address different from the first address.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving, by the device, the data page via the satellite link;

storing a copy of the received data page in the predefined cache; and

forwarding, by the device, the data page to the browser.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving a multicast transmission including a base page; and

storing the base page in the predefined cache.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

parsing, by the device, the data page to determine a desired subset of objects of the data page; and

transmitting, by the device to the hub via a satellite, an object request including a list of the desired subset of objects.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the device is incorporated into a modem used by the browser to connect to a network or integrated with a device including the browser.

14. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

intercepting, by the device, a disconnection request from the browser before the disconnection request is transmitted via the satellite link; and

transmitting, by the device, a disconnection response to the browser in response to intercepting the disconnection request.

15. The method of claim 14,

wherein the disconnection request includes a TCP segment having an ACK signal, and another TCP segment having a FIN signal, and

wherein the disconnection response includes a TCP segment having an ACK signal.

16. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving, by the device, an object request for an object of the data page;

determining, by the device, whether the requested object is stored in the predefined cache;

determining, by the device, whether the requested object is to be received from the hub;

determining, by the device, to wait for a predetermined amount of time to receive the requested object from the hub when determining that the requested object is not stored in the predefined cache but that the requested object is to be received from the hub; and

forwarding, by the device, the requested object to the browser when the device receives the requested object from the hub.

17. The method of claim 7, wherein the connection request includes a secure handshake connection request for establishing a secure connection, and the connection response includes a secure handshake connection response for establishing the secure connection.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the secure connection comprises a secure sockets layer (SSL) connection.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

storing, by the device, a certificate; and

transmitting the certificate to the browser.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

generating, by the device, a certificate; and

transmitting the certificate to the browser.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the device generates the certificate in response to intercepting the connection request and while the device performs handshaking.

22. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

encrypting, by the device, the data page using one or more keys; and

transmitting, by the device, the encrypted data page to the browser.

23. The method of claim 7, wherein the tunnel uses a first encryption, and a connection between the device and the browser uses a second encryption, the second encryption being different from the first encryption.

24. The method of claim 7, wherein the tunnel between the device and the hub is established prior to intercepting the connection request, and wherein the tunnel is configured to use a first protocol to carry data transmitted by the browser using a second protocol, the second protocol being different from the first protocol.

25. The method of claim 7, wherein establishing the tunnel comprises configuring the tunnel to transfer multiple data page requests.

26. The method of claim 7, wherein establishing the tunnel comprises configuring the tunnel to transfer multiple data page requests in bulk.

27. A system, comprising:

a client device comprising a cache and configured to;

establish a tunnel between the client device and a hub, the tunnel configured to carry encapsulated information and its address information within a container across a satellite link;

receive, from a browser that is collocated with the client device, a handshake connection signal before the handshake connection signal is transmitted via the satellite link to the hub;

perform spoofing by transmitting a response to the browser to establish a connection between the client device and the browser in response to receiving the handshake connection signal;

receive one or more multicasted objects;

store the one or more multicasted objects in the cache;

receive a data page request;

determine that a first object of a data page requested by the data page request matches one of the one or more multicasted objects stored in the cache;

transmit the first object to the browser;

determine that a second object of the data page is not stored in the cache;

send a request to the hub for the second object via a tunnel by encapsulating the request and address information of the request in a tunnel container and transmitting the tunnel container to the hub;

receive the second object; and

transmit the received second object to the browser.

28. The system of claim 27, further comprising:

the browser configured to generate the handshake connection signal in response to a user input to access a page.

29. The system of claim 27, further comprising:

a personal computer comprising;

an input device configured to receive a user input to access a page; and

the browser configured to generate the handshake connection signal in response to the user input.

30. The system of claim 29, further comprising:

a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) configured to facilitate communication with the hub via a satellite link,

wherein the tunnel is established over the satellite link.

31. The system of claim 27, wherein the client device comprises:

a multicast engine configured to receive the one or more multicasted objects; and

a synchronizer configured to;

receive one or more object requests from the browser for the one or more multicasted objects;

retrieve the one or more multicasted objects from the cache based on the one or more object requests; and

forward the one or more multicasted objects to the browser.