Method and apparatus for maintaining network connections between devices

• US 9,201,815 B2
• Filed: 01/08/2013
• Issued: 12/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ubiquiti Inc.
• Original Assignee: Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. (Ubiquiti Inc.)
• Inventors: Frei, Randall W., Cheng, Linker, Pera, Robert J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zong, Ruolei
• Application Number:
  US13/736,838
• Publication Number:
  US 20140006552A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,057 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/10 Program control for peripheral devices G06F13/14 - G06F13/42 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/01 characterised by the transmission medium
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2809 indicating that an appliance service is present in a home automation network monitoring functionality H04L43/0817; discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services, H04L67/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/281 indicating a format for calling an appliance service function in a home automation network for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2818 from a device located outside both the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless eletrical link G08C17/00; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with remote control systems H04M11/007
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2825 Reporting to a device located outside the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with telemetering systems H04M11/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/024 using relational databases for representation of network management data, e.g. managing via structured query language [SQL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/065 related to network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 Interoperability with other network applications or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/256 NAT traversal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2575 using address mapping retrieval, e.g. simple traversal of user datagram protocol through session traversal utilities for NAT [STUN]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5061 Pools of addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 : involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 : Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/289 : Intermediate processing functionally located close to the data consumer application, e.g. in same machine, in same home or in same sub-network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 : Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 : Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/10 : Technologies improving the efficiency by using switched-mode power supplies [SMPS], i.e. efficient power electronics conversion e.g. power factor correction or reduction of losses in power supplies or efficient standby modes
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 : Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A data-forwarding system establishes a network connection to a plurality of network devices to facilitate an interfacing device communicating with a device-controlling system, a peer interfacing device, or other computing devices. During operation, when the system receives data from a network device, the system determines a peer network device that is to receive the data, such as a device that is subscribed to receive the data. The system can forward the sensor data to the peer network device by determining an established network connection for communicating with the second network device, and sending the sensor data to the peer network device via the established network connection.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

establishing, by a server computer, a network connection with each of a plurality of network devices over a computer network, wherein a respective established network connection facilitates sending or receiving an unsolicited packet to or from a corresponding network device over the computer network;

responsive to receiving sensor data from a first network device over the computer network, determining a second network device that is subscribed to the sensor data received from the first network device;

determining, by the server computer, a previously-established network connection to the second network device over the computer network; and

sending, by the server computer over the computer network, the sensor data to the second network device via the previously-established network connection.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the second network device that is subscribed to the received sensor data involves:

searching, through a data-subscription repository, for a stored data-subscription request associated with the received sensor data, wherein the data-subscription repository stores data-subscription requests for a plurality of network devices; and

identifying an interfacing device that is subscribed to the received sensor data based on the stored data-subscription request.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving, by a data-forwarding device, a data-subscription request from the first network device, wherein the data-subscription request indicates a data-supplying interfacing device, and further indicates sensor data supplied by the data-supplying interfacing device;

storing the data-subscription, in the data-subscription repository, in association with the first network device; and

forwarding the data-subscription request to the data-supplying interfacing device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing the network connection involves:

receiving a request from a network device to establish the network connection;

determining device-accessing information for the network device based on the request;

storing the device-accessing information in association with the network device; and

establishing the network connection with the network device based on the device-accessing information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein establishing the network connection involves using at least one protocol selected from the group consisting of:

a WebSocket protocol;

a Session Traversal Utilities for Network-address-translation (STUN) protocol; and

a Comet protocol.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the request for establishing the network connection using the WebSocket protocol includes at least one of:

a WebSocket handshake request to upgrade a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) session to a WebSocket session; and

a Sec-WebSocket-Key token from the network device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein establishing the network connection using the WebSocket protocol further involves:

storing the Sec-WebSocket-Key in association with the network device;

generating a Sec-WebSocket-Accept token for the interfacing device based on the Sec-WebSocket-Key; and

sending to the interfacing device a response which acknowledges a persistent WebSocket communication channel, wherein the response includes at least the Sec-WebSocket-Accept token for the interfacing device.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein establishing the network connection using the STUN protocol involves:

receiving a binding request that indicates network-addressing information for the network device, wherein the network-addressing information includes at least one or more of a network address and a port number; and

storing the network-addressing information in association with the network device.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein establishing the network connection using the Comet protocol involves:

receiving a long-polling request from the network device;

determining network-addressing information for the network device based on the long-polling request, wherein the network-addressing information includes at least one or more of a network address and a port number; and

storing the network-addressing information in association with the network device.

10. The method of claim 4, wherein the device-accessing information includes one or more of:

a network address for the network device;

a port number for the network device;

a unique identifier for the network device;

a digital certificate assigned to the network device; and

login credentials associated with the network device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the network device includes one or more of:

a sensor-interfacing device;

a power outlet;

a power strip;

a light dimmer;

a light switch; and

a client computing device.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method, the method comprising:

establishing a network connection with each of a plurality of network devices over a computer network, wherein a respective established network connection facilitates sending or receiving an unsolicited packet to or from a corresponding network device over the computer network;

responsive to receiving sensor data from a first network device over the computer network, determining a second network device that is subscribed to the sensor data received from the first network device;

determining a previously-established network connection to the second network device over the computer network; and

sending, over the computer network, the sensor data to the second network device via the previously-established network connection.

13. The storage medium of claim 12, wherein determining the second network device that is subscribed to the received sensor data involves:

searching, through a data-subscription repository, for a stored data-subscription request associated with the received sensor data, wherein the data-subscription repository stores data-subscription requests for a plurality of network devices; and

identifying an interfacing device that is subscribed to the received sensor data based on the stored data-subscription request.

14. The storage medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a data-subscription request from the first network device, wherein the data-subscription request indicates a data-supplying interfacing device, and further indicates sensor data supplied by the data-supplying interfacing device;

storing the data-subscription, in the data-subscription repository, in association with the first network device; and

forwarding the data-subscription request to the data-supplying interfacing device.

15. The storage medium of claim 14, wherein establishing the network connection involves:

receiving a request from a network device to establish the network connection;

determining device-accessing information for the network device based on the request;

storing the device-accessing information in association with the network device; and

establishing the network connection to communicate with the network device based on the device-accessing information.

16. The storage medium of claim 15, wherein establishing the network connection involves using at least one protocol selected from the group consisting of:

a WebSocket protocol;

a Session Traversal Utilities for Network-address-translation (STUN) protocol; and

a Comet protocol.

17. The storage medium of claim 16, wherein the request for establishing the network connection using the WebSocket protocol includes at least one of:

a WebSocket handshake request to upgrade a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) session to a WebSocket session; and

a Sec-WebSocket-Key token from the network device.

18. The storage medium of claim 17, wherein establishing the network connection using the WebSocket protocol further involves:

storing the Sec-WebSocket-Key in association with the network device;

generating a Sec-WebSocket-Accept token for the interfacing device based on the Sec-WebSocket-Key; and

sending to the interfacing device a response which acknowledges the persistent WebSocket communication channel, wherein the response includes at least the Sec-WebSocket-Accept token for the interfacing device.

19. The storage medium of claim 18, wherein establishing the network connection using the STUN protocol involves:

receiving a binding request that indicates network-addressing information for the network device, wherein the network-addressing information includes at least one or more of a network address and a port number; and

storing the network-addressing information in association with the network device.

20. The storage medium of claim 18, wherein establishing the network connection using the Comet protocol involves:

receiving a long-polling request from the network device;

determining network-addressing information for the network device based on the long-polling request, wherein the network-addressing information includes at least one or more of a network address and a port number; and

storing the network-addressing information in association with the network device.

21. The storage medium of claim 12, wherein the network device includes one or more of:

a sensor-interfacing device;

a power outlet;

a power strip;

a light dimmer;

a light switch; and

a client computing device.

22. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor;

a memory;

a communication module to establish a network connection with each of a plurality of network devices over a computer network, wherein a respective established network connection facilitates sending or receiving an unsolicited packet to or from a corresponding network device over the computer network;

a sensor-monitoring module to receive sensor data from the one or more network devices over the computer network; and

a data-subscription module, wherein responsive to the sensor-monitoring module receiving sensor data from a first network device, the data-subscription module is configured to;

determine a second network device that is subscribed to the sensor data received from the first network device;

determining a previously-established network connection to the second network device over the computer network; and

configure the communication module to send, over the computer network, the sensor data to the second network device via the previously-established network connection.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein while determining the second network device, the data-subscription module is further configured to:

search, through a data-subscription repository, for a stored data-subscription request associated with the received sensor data, wherein the data-subscription repository stores data-subscription requests for a plurality of network devices; and

identify an interfacing device that is subscribed to the received sensor data based on the stored data-subscription request.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the communication module is further configured to receive a data-subscription request from the first network device, wherein the data-subscription request indicates a data-supplying interfacing device, and further indicates sensor data supplied by the data-supplying interfacing device;

and

wherein the data-subscription module is further configured to;

store the data-subscription, in the data-subscription repository, in association with the first network device; and

configure the communication module to forward the data-subscription request to the data-supplying interfacing device.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein while establishing the network connection, the communication module is further configured to:

receive a request from a network device to establish the network connection;

determine device-accessing information for the network device based on the request;

store the device-accessing information in association with the network device; and

establish the network connection with the network device based on the device-accessing information.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein while establishing the network connection, the communication module is further configured to use at least one protocol selected from the group consisting of:

a WebSocket protocol;

a Session Traversal Utilities for Network-address-translation (STUN) protocol; and

a Comet protocol.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the request for establishing the network connection using the WebSocket protocol includes at least one of:

a WebSocket handshake request to upgrade a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) session to a WebSocket session; and

a Sec-WebSocket-Key token from the network device.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein while establishing the network connection using the WebSocket protocol, the communication module is further configured to:

store the Sec-WebSocket-Key in association with the network device;

generate a Sec-WebSocket-Accept token for the interfacing device based on the Sec-WebSocket-Key; and

send to the interfacing device a response which acknowledges the persistent WebSocket communication channel, wherein the response includes at least the Sec-WebSocket-Accept token for the interfacing device.

29. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein while establishing the network connection using the STUN protocol, the communication module is further configured to:

receive a binding request that indicates network-addressing information for the network device, wherein the network-addressing information includes at least one or more of a network address and a port number; and

store the network-addressing information in association with the network device.

30. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein while establishing the network connection using the Comet protocol, the communication module is further configured to:

receive a long-polling request from the network device;

determine network-addressing information for the network device based on the long-polling request, wherein the network-addressing information includes at least one or more of a network address and a port number; and

store the network-addressing information in association with the network device.