Apparatus and method for establishing communication in a computer network

• US 7,039,708 B1
• Filed: 08/31/1999
• Issued: 05/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Mannesmann VDO AG (Continental AG), International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Phippen, Robert William, Eibach, Wolfgang G, Knobl, Karl-Heinz, Menzenbach, Christof, Nuttall, Mark Patrick
• Primary Examiner(s): Etienne, Ario
• Assistant Examiner(s): Burgess, Barbara
• Application Number:
  US09/386,836
• Time in Patent Office: 2,436 Days
• Field of Search: 709/227, 709/203, 709/219, 709/106, 709/228, 709/237, 709/217, 709/229, 709/232
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/205 Mobile phones
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/04 operating on the propulsion system, e.g. engine or drive motor
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/33 of global position, e.g. by providing GPS coordinates
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/313 using a call-back technique via a telephone network
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/42 using separate channels for security data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263

Abstract

Provided are apparatus and a method for establishing communications between a Web client computer in a vehicle and a Web server computer connected to the Internet or an intranet, initiated from a remote Web Browser. The Web Browser sends a request to the server, which invokes a process at the server causing a SMS message to be sent to a telephone connected to the client computer. This SMS message includes an identification of the server process (such as a URL) and causes the client computer to establish communications with the server. This allows the Browser to interact with the client computer via a standard Browser request without the overheads of security exposure of requiring the client to be a Web server. The invention is useful for allowing a remote Browser to interact with a computer controlling a vehicle'"'"'s electronic control systems.

Claims

1. A method for establishing communications between a first client computer and a server computer via a network, including the steps of:

sending to the server computer from a second client computer remote from the first client computer a request for invocation of a communications controller component, wherein the server is remote from the first client computer;

in response to receipt of the request at the server computer, invoking the communications controller component at the server computer to generate and send a message from the server computer to the first client computer, the message including an identification of the communications controller component, wherein the message sent from the server computer to the first client computer is a SMS message generated by the communications controller component, said SMS message being sent to the first client computer via a GSM telephone connected to the first client computer, and wherein the SMS message is sent without establishing a two way telephone connection;

in response to receipt of the message at the first client computer, sending a request from the first client computer to the communications controller component at the server computer, thereby to establish communications between the first client computer and the server computer, wherein the request from the first client computer to the communications controller component at the server computer uses Internet protocols to establish communications between the first client computer and the server computer.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the first client computer is installed in a vehicle and is connected to electronic control and/or information systems within the vehicle, enabling initiation from the second client computer of communications for controlling and/or interrogating the vehicle'"'"'s electronic control and/or information systems.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the request sent from the second client computer specifies a required operation to be performed and/or required information to be retrieved and the message generated in response to receipt of the request from the second client computer includes an identification of the specified operation and/or information, the method including the steps, subsequent to establishing communications between the first client computer and the server computer, of sending information from the first client computer to the Server computer and forwarding said information to the second client computer.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the server computer includes Web server software and the first and second client computers each include software for communicating with the server computer using Internet protocols via the Internet or an intranet.

5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the message sent from the server computer to the first client computer includes a URL identifying the communications controller component.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the SMS message includes a URL identifying the communications controller component and wherein a component at the first client computer receives said SMS messages from the server computer, analyses the SMS messages to retrieve the respective URL, and uses the URL to generate a request for sending to the communications controller component at the server computer.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the communications controller component at the server computer is a Java servlet.

8. A method according to claim 1, including the step, subsequent to said request being sent from the first client computer to the server computer, of downloading Java applets from the server computer for performing at the first client computer operations specified in the request from the second client computer.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein the request from the second client computer includes an identifier of an end user and/or a password and the message generated at the server computer includes said user identifier and/or password, and wherein the method includes performing a determination at the first client computer of whether to establish communications with the server computer, said determination being dependent on said user identifier and/or password.

10. A method according to claim 9, including the step of downloading Java applets from the server computer for performing operations at the first client computer, the selection of applets to be downloaded being performed at the fist client computer and being dependent on said user identifier and/or password.

11. A method according to claim 1, wherein the generation of the SMS message by the communications controller component includes the step of retrieving from a database accessible from the server computer a GSM telephone number of said GSM telephone.

12. A method according to claim 1, wherein the first client computer is a personal computer connected to electronic control and/or information systems within a user'"'"'s home, enabling initiation from the second client computer of communications for controlling and/or interrogating the home electronic control and/or information systems.

13. A set of components for use in a method of establishing client-server data communications between a first client computer and a server computer within a computer network in response to initiation from a remote client computer within the network, the set of components including:

a server communications component, for running on the server computer, adapted to requests directed to said server communications component from remote client computer by generating and sending messages to the first client computer which messages identify the server communications component, wherein the messages are SMS messages generated by the communications controller component, said SMS messages being sent to the first client computer via a GSM telephone connected to the first client computer, and wherein the SMS messages are sent without establishing a two way telephone connection; and

a decoder component for running on first client computer to respond to said messages from the server communications component causing a client request to be sent to server communications component, thereby to establish communications between the first client computer and the server computer, wherein the client request uses Internet protocols to establish communications between the first client computer and the server computer.

14. A set of components according to claim 13, wherein the server communications component is adapted to generate a form, for presentation via a graphical user interface of the remote client computer, enabling a user to specify required operations and/or required information to be included within said remote client requests, and wherein the server communications component is adapted to include an identification of said specified operations and/or information within said generated messages.

15. A set of components according to claim 14, wherein the decoder component is adapted to retrieve said identification of specified operations and/or information upon receipt of said messages, and wherein the set of components includes a set of applets for storing on the server computer such that they are down loadable to the first client computer in response to requests from said first client which include an identification of specified operations and/or information retrieved from said messages.

16. Apparatus for supporting remote access to a client computer, including:

a Web Browser for running on a first Internet or intranet-connected computer, to control the operation of said first computer;

a server component for running on a Web server component remote from the client computer comprising a second Internet or intranet-connected computer, to control the operation of said second computer; and

decoder component for running on a client computer, to control the operation of said client computer;

wherein the server component is adapted to respond to Web Browser requests directed to said server component by generating and sending SMS messages to the client computer from said first client computer which messages identify the server component, and the decoder component is adapted to respond to said messages from the server component by causing a client request from said client computer to be sent to the server component using Internet protocols, thereby to establish communications between the client computer and the Web server computer.

17. Apparatus according to claim 16 wherein the decoder component is installed on a client computer connected to a vehicle'"'"'s electronic control and/or information systems, and is adapted to communicate with the Web server computer via a wireless communication link.

18. A data communications network including:

a first network-connected client computer having installed thereon a decoder component for handling communications received by said first client computer from a server computer;

a second network-connected client computer having installed thereon a communications component for handling communications with a server computer;

a network-connected server computer remote from the first network-connected client computer having installed thereon a server communications component for handling communications between said server computer and said client computers; and

wherein server communications component is adapted to respond to a request from said second client computer directed to said server communications component by generating and sending a SMS message to the first client computer in which message identifies the server communications component, and wherein the decoder component is adapted to respond to said SMS message from the server communications component by causing a client request from the first client computer to be sent to the server communications component, thereby to establish communications between the first client computer and the server computer, wherein the client request from the first client computer to the communications controller component at the server computer uses Internet protocols to establish communications between the first client computer and the server computer.

19. A method for establishing communications between a web client computer and a web server computer via a network, comprising:

causing, by interaction between a web browser computer remote from the web client computer and the web server computer remote from the web client computer, a request that identifies a servlet which is referenced by a Universal Resource Locator (URL) to be sent from the web browser computer to the web server computer by identification of the URL by an end user;

invoking the servlet at the web server computer, the servlet running persistently on the web server computer and supporting multi-threading;

in response to the request, requesting by the servlet a user identifier from the end user, the user identifier comprising a user name and a password;

verifying at the web server computer the user identifier;

upon verification of the user identifier, sending via a graphical user interface to the web browser computer a form for completion by the end user, the form including an entry field for entering a license/registration number of a vehicle having the web client computer to be contacted and menu options for specifying at least one of a required operation to be performed and information which is required;

upon completion of the form by the end user transmitting the form from the web browser computer to the web server computer, wherein the servlet of the web server computer recognizes the completed form as an invocation request of the servlet;

in response to the invocation request, starting a new servlet thread, the new servlet thread comprising a communications controller component;

retrieving from a database of the web server computer by the communications controller component a client telephone number of a digital Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) telephone of the vehicle, the GSM telephone being connected to the web client computer;

using the client telephone number to send from the communications controller component of the web server computer a short message service (SMS) message in a Short Message Transport Protocol (SM-TP) over a first wireless link to the web client computer located in the vehicle through a receiver of the GSM telephone connected to the web client computer, the SMS message including a communications controller component URL for identifying the communications controller component, a required operation identifier of the required operation to be performed, a session identifier assigned by the communications controller component and the user identifier of the end user, wherein the SMS message is sent without establishing a two way telephone connection;

decoding at the web client computer, a content of the SMS message using encryption keys, the decoding for determining whether the SMS message was sent by the communications controller component;

in response to a determination that the SMS message was sent by the communications controller component, determining using the user identifier of the end user whether to respond positively to the SMS message;

in response to a determination to respond positively to the SMS message, invoking a process for establishing internet access over a second wireless link by retrieving an Internet Service Provider (ISP) telephone number from the web client computer and using the ISP telephone number to establish a session and a connection to the communications controller component using an identifier of the web client computer and information of the SMS message, the information including the communications controller component URL, the session identifier, the user identifier and the required operation identifier, wherein the second wireless link enables two-way communications between the web client computer and the communications controller component;

downloading from the web client computer applets from the web server computer, the applets being required to perform the required operation specified by the required operation identifier;

executing the applets to perform the required operation; and

returning results to the web browser computer via the servlet of the web server computer,

wherein the network is the internet,

wherein the web client computer is connected to and manages electronic control and information systems of the vehicle,

wherein the electronic control and information system includes an engine system, a fuel management system, a navigation system, a telematic system, a communication system, an audio system, a security system, a telephone system, a seat position control system, a mirror position control system, and a climate control system,

wherein the required operation comprises an operation selected from the group consisting of;

adding new capabilities to the web client computer, adding new information to the web client computer, retrieving information from the web client computer, recording traffic warnings beginning at a specified time, setting climate controls, providing diagnostic information, setting a seat position, setting a steering wheel position, setting a mirror position, selecting a radio channel, configuring a navigation system, checking a security system, providing fuel level information, displaying an alert message in the vehicle, starting the vehicle, inhibiting an attempt to start the vehicle and providing a location of the vehicle, and

wherein the web client computer has control over whether or not to take any action in response to the SMS message and can control a level of system resources access granted to the applets that are downloaded from the web server computer, and

wherein the web browser computer is provided with secure access to the client computer without the web client computer including any of a web server and a firewall.