Stateless application notifications

• US 9,225,538 B2
• Filed: 09/01/2011
• Issued: 12/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Joy, George, Lau, Cheuk Wan William, Louie, Darren, Firstenberg, Yosef, Cherukuri, Ravikant, Woley, Kevin Michael, Ayers, Matthew R., Anand, Gaurav S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Arani, Taghi
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vu, Phy Anh
• Application Number:
  US13/224,217
• Publication Number:
  US 20130061046A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,580 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1859 adapted to provide push services, e.g. data channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0807 using tickets, e.g. Kerberos cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using tickets or tokens H04L9/3213
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/164 at the network layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/146 Markers for unambiguous identification of a particular session, e.g. session cookie or URL-encoding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services

Abstract

Stateless application notifications are described that enable third parties to provide messages to client applications. A communication channel can be established between a notification service and an application. Upon request, the notification service can generate obfuscated routing data for the channel, which can be in the form of a channel handle or token. The routing data can be encrypted and digitally signed to obscure the content and format of the routing data from third parties. An application service possessing the obfuscated routing data can package a notification with the data and send the package to the notification service for delivery. The application service does so without knowing the channel particulars encoded by the obfuscated routing data. The notification service that produces the obfuscated routing data can decrypt and interpret the data, and deliver the notification on the channel to an appropriate endpoint application on behalf of the application service.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory storing instructions that, responsive to execution by the one or more processors, causes a notification service to perform acts comprising;

establishing a communication channel with a client application to deliver notifications between an application service and the client application;

generating obfuscated routing data for the communication channel to be used by the application service to direct notifications on the communication channel for the client application through the notification service, the obfuscated routing data not being interpretable by the application service and the client application, the content of the obfuscated routing data being controlled by the notification service;

obtaining a notification packaged with the obfuscated routing data from the application service, the obfuscated routing data encoding a pathway of the communication channel that can be ascertained by the notification service from the obfuscated routing data in process and without looking-up cached state data for the communication channel; and

interpreting the obfuscated routing data to identify the communication channel and direct the notification obtained from the application service to the client application.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the obfuscated routing data includes a channel handle that is derived as an abstraction of an address of the communication channel.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the obfuscated routing data includes a token formatted to carry routing data interpretable by the notification service to direct notifications sent in association with the token on the communication channel.

4. The system of claim 1 further comprising securing the communication channel by encrypting and digitally signing the obfuscated routing data.

5. The system of claim 1 further comprising de-authorizing the obfuscated routing data without affecting the communication channel.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein establishing the communication channel includes assigning a channel identifier as a persistent globally unique address between the notification service and the client application.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein generating the obfuscated routing data includes constructing a channel handle for the communication channel in response to a request from the client application based upon state data cached at the client and provided in the request.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the channel handle is constructed as a uniform resource identifier (URI) that encodes a combination of the client application, a client device, and a user of the client device.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein interpreting the obfuscated routing data includes:

decrypting the obfuscated routing data;

checking an expiration time to verify validity of the decrypted routing data;

authenticating the application service to send notifications based on a comparison of credentials embedded within the obfuscated routing data to credentials used by the application service to sign-in; and

processing the decrypted routing data to identify the communication channel for the notification.

10. A computer implemented method comprising:

initiating, by a client, creation of a channel to provide notifications from an application service to an application of the client;

requesting, by the client and via a network, a channel handle for the channel from a notification service, the channel handle encoding routing data interpretable by the notification service in process and without looking-up cached state data for the channel to direct notifications on the channel to the application of the client, the content of the routing data being controlled by the notification service;

caching at the client a channel handle returned by the notification service in response to the requesting;

providing, by the client and via the network, the channel handle returned by the notification service to the application service to enable the application service to use the channel handle to route notifications to the client, the routing data of the channel handle not being interpretable by the application service and the application of the client; and

receiving at the client a notification on the channel from the notification service, the notification packaged with the routing data at the application service to cause the notification service to direct the notification on the channel to the client.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 10, wherein the channel handle includes a uniform resource identifier (URI) that encodes a combination of identifiers for the application, the client device, and a user of the client.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 10, wherein the client is configured to request multiple channel handles for the same channel from the notification service at least some of which are active at the same time to enable:

continuity of notifications from the application service to the client; and

de-authorizing of expired and compromised channel handles for the channel without having to establish a new channel between the client and application service to provide subsequent notifications.

13. The computer implemented method of claim 10, further comprising:

requesting, by the client, renewal of the channel handle that is cached by the client before an expiration time associated with the channel handle; and

obtaining another channel handle issued for the channel by the notification service in response to the request.

14. A computer implemented method comprising:

establishing a communication channel with a client application to deliver notifications between an application service and the client application;

generating obfuscated routing data for the communication channel to be used by the application service to direct notifications on the communication channel for the client application through the notification service, the obfuscated routing data not being interpretable by the application service and the client application, the content of the obfuscated routing data being controlled by the notification service;

obtaining a notification packaged with the obfuscated routing data from the application service, the obfuscated routing data encoding a pathway of the communication channel that can be ascertained by the notification service from the obfuscated routing data in process and without looking-up cached state data for the communication channel; and

interpreting the obfuscated routing data to identify the communication channel and direct the notification obtained from the application service to the client application.

15. The computer implemented method of claim 14, wherein the obfuscated routing data includes a channel handle that is derived as an abstraction of an address of the communication channel.

16. The computer implemented method of claim 14, wherein the obfuscated routing data includes a token formatted to carry routing data interpretable by the notification service to direct notifications sent in association with the token on the communication channel.

17. The computer implemented method of claim 14, further comprising securing the communication channel by encrypting and digitally signing the obfuscated routing data.

18. The computer implemented method of claim 14, further comprising de-authorizing the obfuscated routing data without affecting the communication channel.

19. The computer implemented method of claim 14, wherein generating the obfuscated routing data includes constructing a channel handle for the communication channel in response to a request from the client application based upon state data cached at the client and provided in the request.

20. The computer implemented method of claim 19, wherein the channel handle is constructed as a uniform resource identifier (URI) that encodes a combination of the client application, a client device, and a user of the client device.