Protocols for accessing hosts

• US 10,616,240 B2
• Filed: 04/29/2019
• Issued: 04/07/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Ruhlen, Matthew J., Brown, Christopher J., Butler, Tyler W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Song, Hosuk
• Application Number:
  US16/398,234
• Publication Number:
  US 20190260760A1
• Time in Patent Office: 344 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• 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 63/108 when the policy decisions are valid for a limited amount of time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/60 Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers

Abstract

Techniques and technologies for protocols for accessing hosts are described. In at least some embodiments, a system includes a processing component, and a host protocol component. The host protocol component is configured to receive at a host a request from a client device, the request including a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) string locating a container or an ecosystem stored by the host; determine using at least a portion of the URL string whether the request is a container-related request or an ecosystem-related request; generate a response at the host including information responsive to the request, the information including the URL string locating the container or the ecosystem, and at least one response parameter corresponding to the request and associated with the container or the ecosystem; and transmit the response from the host to the client device.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processing component operatively coupled to a memory; and

a host protocol component stored on the memory, the host protocol component including one or more instructions that when executed by the processing component perform one or more operations including;

receiving at a host a request from a client device, the request including a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) string locating at least one of a container and an ecosystem stored by the host;

determining using at least a portion of the URL string whether the request is a container-related request or an ecosystem-related request;

generating a response at the host including information responsive to the request based on a result of the determining operation, the information including the URL string locating the at least one of the container and the ecosystem, and at least one response parameter corresponding to the request and associated with the at least one of the container and the ecosystem; and

transmitting the response from the host to the client device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the request received from the client device further includes an access token, and wherein the host protocol component further includes one or more instructions that when executed perform one or more operations comprising:

determining whether the request is authorized to be performed based at least partially on the access token.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the host protocol component further includes one or more instructions that when executed perform one or more operations comprising:

receiving an authentication request from the client device requesting to be authenticated with the host, the authentication request including authentication information; and

authenticating the client device at least partially based on the authentication information.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the host protocol component further includes one or more instructions that when executed perform one or more operations comprising:

receiving an authentication request from the client device requesting to be authenticated with the host, the authentication request including authentication information;

performing an initial authentication using a standard authentication scheme of the host at least partially based on the authentication information;

providing at least one standard access token to the client device based on the standard authentication scheme;

receiving a protocol-related authentication request from the client device, the protocol-related authentication request including the at least one standard access token; and

providing protocol-related information and at least one protocol-related access token to the client device based at least partially on the protocol-related authentication request including the at least one standard access token.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the host protocol component further includes one or more instructions that when executed perform one or more operations comprising:

determining that the protocol-related access token is at or near expiration; and

retrieving a fresh protocol-related access token based at least partially on the at least one standard access token.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the host protocol component further includes one or more instructions that when executed perform one or more operations comprising:

determining that the protocol-related access token is at or near expiration; and

retrieving a fresh protocol-related access token based at least partially on the at least one standard access token without requiring re-performing the initial authentication using the standard authentication scheme.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein determining using at least a portion of the URL string whether the request is at least one of a container-related request or an ecosystem-related request comprises:

determining using at least an endpoint portion of the URL string whether the request is at least one of a container-related request or an ecosystem-related request.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein determining using at least a portion of the URL string whether the request is at least one of a container-related request or an ecosystem-related request comprises:

determining using at least a portion of the URL string that the request includes a root-level information that enables at least one of a browsing or a navigating command related to at least one of a container or an ecosystem.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving at the host a request from the client device, the request including a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) string locating at least one of a container or an ecosystem stored by the host comprises:

receiving at the host a request from the client device to at least one of enumerate children or enumerate ancestors of a container stored by the host, the request including a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) string locating the container stored by the host.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving at the host a request from the client device, the request including a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) string locating at least one of a container or an ecosystem stored by the host comprises:

receiving at the host a request from the client device related to browsing an ecosystem stored by the host, the request including a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) string locating the ecosystem stored by the host.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein receiving at the host a request from the client device related to browsing an ecosystem stored by the host, the request including a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) string locating the ecosystem stored by the host comprises:

receiving at the host a request from the client device to get a root container of an ecosystem stored by the host, the request including a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) string locating the ecosystem stored by the host.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein generating a response at the host including information responsive to the request, the information including the URL string locating the at least one of the container or the ecosystem, and at least one response parameter corresponding to the request and associated with the at least one of the container or the ecosystem, comprises:

generating a response at the host including information responsive to the request, the information including an array of objects including at least a name of the at least one of the container or the ecosystem, a URL corresponding to the at least one of the container or the ecosystem, and a valid access token for accessing the at least one of the container or the ecosystem.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the host stores at least two ecosystems, and

a plurality of containers are stored in the ecosystems.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the containers organize first digital objects associated by a common characteristic,

the first digital objects span across multiple devices,

the ecosystems store second digital objects associated by the common characteristic, and

all of the second digital objects are stored in a single ecosystem.

15. A method for communicating between a client device and a host, comprising:

receiving at the host a request from the client device, the request including a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) string that includes a root-level information that locates at least one of a container or an ecosystem stored by the host;

determining using at least a portion of the URL string whether the request is a container-related request or an ecosystem-related request;

generating a response at the host including information responsive to the request, the information including the URL string locating the at least one of the container or the ecosystem, and at least one response parameter corresponding to the request and associated with the at least one of the container or the ecosystem; and

transmitting the response from the host to the client device.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising authenticating the client device with the host, including providing at least one protocol-related access token to the client device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein URL string includes the at least one protocol-related access token.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the authenticating the client device with the host, including providing at least one protocol-related access token to the client device comprises:

receiving an authentication request from the client device requesting to be authenticated with the host, the authentication request including authentication information;

performing an initial authentication using a standard authentication scheme of the host at least partially based on the authentication information; and

providing at least one standard access information to the client device based on the standard authentication scheme.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the authenticating the client device with the host, including providing at least one protocol-related access token to the client device comprises:

receiving a protocol-related authentication request from the client device, the protocol-related authentication request including the at least one standard access information; and

providing protocol-related information and at least one protocol-related access token to the client device based at least partially on the protocol-related authentication request including the at least one standard access information.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein:

the host stores at least two ecosystems,

a plurality of containers are stored in the ecosystems,

the containers organize first digital objects associated by a common characteristic,

the first digital objects span across multiple devices,

the ecosystems store second digital objects associated by a common characteristic, and

all of the second digital objects are stored in a single ecosystem.