Configuring captive portals with a cloud service

• US 9,369,342 B2
• Filed: 11/15/2013
• Issued: 06/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Dyba, Adam R., Goyal, Piyush, Gray, James Christopher, Guday, Shai, Kuehnel, Thomas W., Lamba, Triptpal Singh, MacDonald, David Neil, Mazandarany, Darya, Sharma, Saumaya
• Primary Examiner(s): WON, MICHAEL YOUNG
• Application Number:
  US14/081,214
• Publication Number:
  US 20150142947A1
• Time in Patent Office: 942 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/212, 709/219, 709/220, 709/225, 709/229, 709/224
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1435 volume-based
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1446 inter-operator billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1496 involving discounts
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0253 using browsers or web-pages for accessing management information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0886 Fully automatic configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 Policy-based network configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5096 wherein the managed service relates to distributed or central networked applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0876 Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/02 for separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls
• 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 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/50 for cross-charging network operators
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/60 based on actual use of network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8083 involving reduced rates or discounts, e.g. time-of-day reductions or volume discounts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8214 Data or packet based
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/83 : Notification aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/85 : characterised by the type of condition triggering a notification
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/858 : Request users acknowledgement prior to use
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/00 : Security arrangements; Authentication; Protecting privacy or anonymity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/088 : using filters or firewalls
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/30 : Security of mobile devices; Security of mobile applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/37 : Managing security policies for mobile devices or for controlling mobile applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 : Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 : Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 : Accounting or billing

Abstract

Embodiments provision captive portals on network access points (NAPs). In response to a request from a NAP owner, a cloud service associates a NAP with the NAP owner and provides a control channel for configuring the NAP. The NAP owner inputs configuration settings describing the captive portal. The cloud service processes the configuration settings to generate configuration data. The cloud service transmits the configuration data to the NAP. The NAP applies the configuration data to configure the NAP. Some embodiments configure Wi-Fi hotspots with captive portals for gated access to the Internet.

Claims

1. A system for provisioning a captive portal associated with a network access point (NAP), said system comprising:

a memory area associated with a cloud service, said memory area storing a correlation between a NAP owner identifier and at least one NAP, the NAP implementing the captive portal to provide access to a network; and

a processor programmed to;

receive a request from a NAP owner device to configure a NAP, the request including the NAP owner identifier;

receive, from the NAP owner device via a control channel, configuration settings for the captive portal, the configuration settings including usage rules and identification of a first service provider and a second service provider;

process the received configuration settings to;

generate configuration data for the NAP;

generate a first landing page for the first service provider;

generate a second landing page for the second service provider; and

transmit the generated configuration data to the NAP, the NAP applying the transmitted configuration data to configure the NAP;

monitor network traffic from a plurality of users through the captive portal; and

enforce the usage rules against the plurality of users based on the monitored network traffic.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to provide, in response to the received request, the control channel to the NAP owner device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the NAP owner device is co-located with the NAP at a location of a business entity.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to enforce the usage rules by offloading one or more of the plurality of users to another network.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the usage rules identify opt-out conditions under which access through the captive portal is prohibited.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the first landing page is different than the second landing page.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the configuration settings further comprise a set of application identifiers, the set identifying one or more applications allowed to connect to the network through the captive portal without authentication.

6. A method comprising:

receiving, by a cloud service from a network access point (NAP) owner device, a NAP identifier and a NAP owner identifier;

providing a control channel to the NAP owner device;

receiving, from the NAP owner device via the provided control channel, configuration settings for a captive portal associated with the NAP, the captive portal providing access to a network, the configuration settings comprising a set of application identifiers that identify one or more applications allowed to connect to the network through the captive portal without authentication;

processing the received configuration settings to generate configuration data for the NAP; and

transmitting the generated configuration data from the cloud service to the NAP, the NAP applying the transmitted configuration data to configure the NAP.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the NAP is associated with a business entity, wherein receiving the configuration settings comprises receiving hours of operation for the business entity, and wherein applying the transmitted configuration data comprises disabling access to the network outside the hours of operation.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein receiving the configuration settings comprises receiving identification of one or more mobile operators, and further comprising allowing users affiliated with at least one of the one or more mobile operators to connect through the captive portal without paying a fee.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising generating a monetization report showing an amount of network traffic associated with the users.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising subsidizing a cost associated with the access to the network with the plurality of service providers.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein providing the control channel comprises providing at least one of an application programming interface (API) or a user interface (UI).

20. The method of claim 6, wherein the configuration settings comprising a rule whereby authentication is a pre-requisite for an application to connect to the network through the captive portal if the application does not have an application identifier that enables the application to connect to the network through the captive portal without authentication.

12. One or more computer storage media embodying computer-executable components, said components comprising:

a user interface component that when executed causes at least one processor of a cloud service to provide a user interface for display on a network access point (NAP) owner device, the NAP owner device receiving configuration settings for a NAP from a NAP owner via the provided user interface;

a communications interface component that when executed causes at least one processor to receive the configuration settings from the NAP owner device, the configuration settings defining access by a plurality of users to a network through a captive portal implemented by the NAP; and

a configuration component that when executed causes at least one processor to process the configuration settings received by the communications interface component to;

generate configuration data for the NAP;

generate a first landing page for the first service provider;

generate a second landing page for the second service provider; and

wherein the communications interface component further transmits the configuration data generated by the configuration component from the cloud service to the NAP, the NAP applying the transmitted configuration data to configure the NAP.

13. The computer storage media of claim 12, wherein the configuration component further creates a correlation between the NAP and the NAP owner.

14. The computer storage media of claim 12, wherein the user interface component provides user interface elements for receiving a bandwidth configuration from the NAP owner.

15. The computer storage media of claim 12, wherein the user interface component provides user interface elements for receiving a request to add another captive portal to the NAP.

16. The computer storage media of claim 12, further comprising a report component that when executed causes at least one processor to generate a report indicating an amount of network traffic, through the NAP, from users affiliated with a service provider.

17. The computer storage media of claim 16, wherein the report component further provides the report to the service provider on behalf of the NAP owner to market the NAP for additional subsidies from the service provider.