METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING NETWORK COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATION INFORMATION TO APPLICATIONS AND SERVICES

• US 20100162348A1
• Filed: 12/24/2008
• Published: 06/24/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Narayanan, Vidya, Dondeti, Lakshminath Reddy
• Granted Patent: US 9,444,823 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/105 Multiple levels of security
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/205 involving negotiation or determination of the one or more network security mechanisms to be used, e.g. by negotiation between the client and the server or between peers or by selection according to the capabilities of the entities involved negotiation of communication capabilities H04L69/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066

Abstract

A system and method are provided that allow an application on a first terminal to inquire about available network communication associations that it can use to send data to another terminal, thereby avoiding the establishment of a new network communication association with the other terminal. A security information module may serve to collect and/or store information about available network communication associations between the first terminal and another terminal across different layers. The security information module may also assess a trust level for the network communication associations based on security mechanisms used to establish each association and/or past experience information reported for these network communication associations. Upon receiving a request for available network communication associations, the security information module provides this to the requesting application which can use it to establish communications with a corresponding application on the other terminal.

Claims

1. A method operational on a transmitting terminal, comprising:

providing an interface through which information for one or more network communication associations for one or more layers is collected and distributed to applications; and

providing security information for at least one network communication association to a requesting application to allow the requesting application to select a network communication association to send data to a receiving terminal, thereby avoiding the establishment of a new network communication association with the receiving terminal.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the collected information in a security information module for later retrieval and selection of a network communication association on which to send the data to an application on the receiving terminal.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the security information includes a level of strength for the network communication associations.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more network communication associations correspond to one or more layers of an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) module communication system, the one or more layers including at least one of an application layer, a network layer, a data link layer and a physical layer.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting the network communication association on which to send the data to the receiving terminal over a network.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the selected network communication association is selected from the one or more network communication associations if a security level of at least one of the one or more network communication association meets a desired security level for data transmissions by the requesting application.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

establishing a new network communication association and using it to send the data to the receiving terminal if security levels of the one or more network communication associations fail to meet a desired security level.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising notifying the receiving terminal of the network communication association on which to receive data being sent.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

assessing a level of trust for each of the one or more network communication associations; and

storing the level of trust for each of the one or more network communication associations.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the level of trust is based on previous experiences with a corresponding receiving terminal and type of authentication used to create the layer network communication association to the corresponding receiving terminal.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

collecting information from applications regarding previous experiences with one or more receiving terminals;

assessing a level of trust for each such receiving terminal based on the collected information; and

providing the information of the one or more receiving terminals to other applications.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a set of policies to be used in selecting a network communication association through which to send the data, wherein the set of policies is based on user preferences.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request from the requesting application for information about available layer network communication associations.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the security information of the network communication associations include at least one of:

a method used to secure the first layer network communication association, a method used to authenticate the first layer network communication association, and a prior history between the transmitting terminal and the receiving terminal with which the network communication associations are established.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the requesting application operates on a first layer of a hierarchical protocol architecture and the selected network communication association operates on a second layer of the hierarchical protocol architecture.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the first layer is a higher layer than the second layer.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the requesting application operates on a first layer and the selected network communication association operates on the same first layer.

18. An access terminal, comprising:

a communication interface for communication with a receiving terminal;

a processing circuit coupled to the communication interface, the processing circuit configured to;

provide an interface through which information for one or more network communication associations for one or more layers is collected and distributed to applications; and

provide security information for at least one network communication association to a requesting application to allow the requesting application to select a network communication association to send data to a receiving terminal, thereby avoiding the establishment of a new network communication association with the receiving terminal.

19. The terminal of claim 18, further comprising:

a storage device coupled to the processing circuit and configured to store the collected information in a security information module for later retrieval and selection of a network communication association on which to send the data to an application on the receiving terminal.

20. The terminal of claim 18, wherein the security information includes a level of strength for the network communication associations.

21. The terminal of claim 18, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

select a network communication association on which to send the data to the receiving terminal over a network.

22. The terminal of claim 21, wherein the selected network communication association is selected from the one or more network communication associations if a security level of at least one of the one or more network communication association meets a desired security level for data transmissions by the requesting application.

23. The terminal of claim 21, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

establish a new network communication association and using it to send the data to the receiving terminal if security levels of the one or more network communication associations fail to meet a desired security level.

24. The terminal of claim 18, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

assess a level of trust for each of the one or more network communication associations; and

store the level of trust for each of the one or more network communication associations.

25. The terminal of claim 18, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

collect information from applications regarding previous experiences with one or more receiving terminals;

assess a level of trust for each such receiving terminal based on the collected information; and

provide the information of the one or more receiving terminals to other applications.

26. The terminal of claim 18, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

receive a request from the requesting application for information about available layer network communication associations.

27. The terminal of claim 18, wherein the requesting application operates on a first layer and the selected network communication association operates on a second layer.

28. The terminal of claim 18, wherein the requesting application operates on a first layer and the selected network communication association operates on the same first layer.

29. An access terminal, comprising:

means for providing an interface through which information for one or more network communication associations for one or more layers is collected and distributed to applications; and

means for providing security information for at least one network communication association to a requesting application to allow the requesting application to select a network communication association to send data to a receiving terminal, thereby avoiding the establishment of a new network communication association with the receiving terminal.

30. The terminal of claim 29, wherein a network communication association is selected from the one or more network communication associations if a security level of at least one of the one or more network communication association meets a desired security level for data transmissions by the requesting application.

31. The terminal of claim 29, further comprising:

means for establishing a new network communication association and using it to send the data to the receiving terminal if security levels of the one or more network communication associations fail to meet a desired security level.

32. The terminal of claim 29, wherein the requesting application operates on a first layer and the selected network communication association operates on a second layer.

33. The terminal of claim 29, wherein the requesting application operates on a first layer and the selected network communication association operates on the same first layer.

34. A processor comprising a processing circuit adapted to:

provide an interface through which information for one or more network communication associations for one or more layers is collected and distributed to applications; and

provide security information for at least one network communication association to a requesting application to allow the requesting application to select a network communication association to send data to a receiving terminal, thereby avoiding the establishment of a new network communication association with the receiving terminal.

35. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions for facilitating use of pre-established network communication associations to transfer data from an access terminal, which when executed by a processor causes the processor to provide an interface through which information for one or more network communication associations for one or more layers is collected and distributed to applications;

and

provide security information for at least one network communication association to a requesting application to allow the requesting application to select a network communication association to send data to a receiving terminal, thereby avoiding the establishment of a new network communication association with the receiving terminal.