SEAMLESS LOCATION AWARE NETWORK CONNECTIVITY

• US 20090327497A1
• Filed: 06/27/2008
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Neystadt, Eugene John, Ben-Yochanan, Noam Gershon, Itshaki, Ehud Mordechai, Nice, Nir
• Granted Patent: US 10,116,580 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup

Abstract

Described is a technology by which a seamless automatic connection to an (e.g., corporate) network is made for a client device. Upon detecting a need for a connection to a network, such as by intercepting a communication directed towards a network destination, a list of available connection methods is automatically obtained based on the device'"'"'s current location data (e.g., LAN or remote) and policy information. An available connection method from the list is selected, e.g., in order, and an attempt is made to establish a connection via that connection method. If the attempt fails, another attempt is made with a different connection method, and so on, until a connection method succeeds. Additional seamlessness from the user'"'"'s perspective is provided via a credentials vault, by which stored credentials may be retrieved and used in association with the access method being attempted.

Claims

1. In a computing environment, a method comprising:

intercepting a communication directed towards a destination;

determining that the destination corresponds to a network with which a connection is needed;

obtaining a set of one or more access methods for establishing a connection to the network; and

using one of the access methods to establish a connection to the network.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining the set of one or more access methods comprises obtaining location-based network reachability data.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining the set of one or more access methods comprises accessing policy data to obtain a list of allowed access methods.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein using one of the access methods comprises, selecting an access method, attempting to establish a connection to the network with that access method, and if unsuccessful, selecting another access method and attempting to establish a connection to the network with that other access method.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein using one of the access methods comprises selecting an access method, and further comprising, obtaining credentials from a storage location to use in association with the access method selected.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising, indicating connectivity when the connection is established.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising, indicating other available connection methods when the connection is established.

8. In a computing environment a system comprising:

a communication interceptor mechanism that detects when a communication is directed to a network destination;

a connectivity establisher mechanism coupled to the communication interceptor mechanism to receive notification of the communication directed to the network destination, and to establish a connection to the network destination by selecting an available connection method based on policy and connecting via that selected connection method.

9. The system of claim 8 further comprising a policy advisor coupled to the connectivity establisher mechanism, wherein the connectivity establisher mechanism selects the available connection method from a list of available connection methods provided by the policy advisor.

10. The system of claim 9 further comprising a network location awareness mechanism coupled to the connectivity establisher mechanism, the connectivity establisher mechanism obtaining location data from the network location awareness mechanism and providing the data to the policy advisor for use in providing the list of available connection methods.

11. The system of claim 8 further comprising a failure detection mechanism, wherein the connectivity establisher mechanism establishes the connection by selecting a first available connection method, attempting to establish a connection with that first available connection method and determining via the failure detection mechanism that the attempt failed, and selecting a second available connection method with which connection succeeds.

12. The system of claim 8 further comprising a credentials vault coupled to the connectivity establisher mechanism, wherein the connectivity establisher mechanism accesses the credentials vault to obtain credentials associated with the selected connection method.

13. The system of claim 8 further comprising, a connectivity gauge that indicates connectivity when the connection is established, or indicates other available connection methods when the connection is established, or indicates both connectivity and other available connection methods when the connection is established.

14. The system of claim 8 wherein the access methods include a local area network access method, a direct access network access method, an IPSec VPN access method, an SSL VPN access method, a terminal services access method, or a web publishing access method, or any combination of a local area network access method, a direct access network access method, an IPSec VPN access method, an SSL VPN access method, a terminal services access method, or a web publishing access method.

15. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions, which when executed perform steps, comprising:

(a) detecting a need for a connection to a network via a client device;

(b) determining location data corresponding to the client device;

(c) using the location data and policy information to obtain a list of available connection methods;

(d) selecting an available connection method from the list as a selected connection method;

(e) attempting to establish a connection with the selected connection method; and

(f) determining whether the attempt was successful, and if not, selecting a different available connection method from the list as the selected connection method and returning to step (e), and if so, using the connection.

16. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 15 having further computer executable instructions comprising, indicating connectivity when the connection is established or indicating other available connection methods when the connection is established, or both indicating connectivity and indicating other available connection methods when the connection is established.

17. The one or more computer-readable media of claim having further computer executable instructions comprising, accessing stored credentials for use in association with the step of attempting to establish a connection with the selected connection method.

18. The one or more computer-readable media of claim having further computer executable instructions comprising, accessing stored credentials for use in association with the step of attempting to establish a connection with the selected connection method.

19. The one or more computer-readable media of claim having further computer executable instructions comprising, attempting to access stored credentials for use in association with the step of attempting to establish a connection with the selected connection method, and if not found or invalid, prompting to receive data corresponding to the credentials.

20. The one or more computer-readable media of claim wherein determining the location data corresponding to the client device comprises determining whether the client device is located inside the LAN.