Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9820149B2/en
Timestamp: 2019-01-22 09:02:21
Document Index: 168073358

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 61', 'art 11', 'art 11', 'Application No. 2010240692', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 10717200', 'art 11', 'art 11', 'Application No. 2010240692', 'Application No. 2012', 'Application No. 2012', 'Application No. 10', 'Application No. 10', 'Application No. 10717200', 'Application No. 201080017723', 'Application No. 201080017723', 'Application No. 10717200', 'Application No. 2011078219']

US9820149B2 - Methods and apparatus to discover authentication information in a wireless networking environment - Google Patents
Methods and apparatus to discover authentication information in a wireless networking environment Download PDF
US9820149B2
US9820149B2 US15431501 US201715431501A US9820149B2 US 9820149 B2 US9820149 B2 US 9820149B2 US 15431501 US15431501 US 15431501 US 201715431501 A US201715431501 A US 201715431501A US 9820149 B2 US9820149 B2 US 9820149B2
US15431501
US20170156063A1 (en )
Examples to discover network authentication information in a wireless network involve transmitting during network discovery and prior to authentication, a Generic Advertisement Services (GAS) request to a network access point. The request requests authentication information. In addition, a response to the request is received from the network access point. The network authentication information is retrieved from the response. The network authentication information includes a re-direct frame.
This Patent arises from a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/594,880, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,572,030, filed on Jan. 12, 2015, a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/244,734, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,935,754, filed on Sep. 26, 2011, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/504,500, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,943,552, filed on Jul. 16, 2009, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/172,597, filed on Apr. 24, 2009, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
Although the example methods and apparatus described herein can be implemented in any environment providing WLAN access for network connectivity, the example methods and apparatus can be advantageously implemented in WLAN access locations or environments in which it is expected that one or more users carrying respective wireless terminals will frequently connect and disconnect from a WLAN as they enter and exit the WLAN access locations or environments. WLAN locations or environments are sometimes known as “hotspots” in reference to a location or environment that is within communication reach of WLAN signals. Such example WLAN locations or environments include coffee shops, retail stores, educational facilities, office environments, airports, public transportation stations and vehicles, hotels, etc.
Turning now to FIG. 1, an example communication network 100 in which the example methods and apparatus described herein may be implemented is shown. As shown in FIG. 1, the example communication network 100 includes a plurality of WLAN access locations 102 a-c that provide access to one or more networks (e.g., WLAN-supported networks or external networks) via respective access points 104 a-c. In the illustrated example, the access point (AP) 104 a provides access to a private network 106 a, which in turn provides access to a subscription service provider network A (SSPN-A) 108 a. Also in the illustrated example, AP 104 b provides access to a private network 106 b, which in turn provides access to a subscription service provider network B (SSPN-B) 108 b. The SSPNs 108 a-b may be owned and/or operated by data subscription service providers, Internet subscription service providers, media (e.g., audio/video) subscription service providers, wireless communications subscription service providers, or any combination thereof.
The AP104 c provides access to a public network 110, which is shown as providing access to the Internet 112. Although not shown, each of the APs 104 a-c is provided with an AP station (i.e., an AP STA), which is the interface or component, such as a network adapter or network interface card (NIC), that connects to a wireless medium.
Each of the WLAN access locations 102 a-c may be associated with different sets of AuPs required of a wireless terminal 114 to gain access to the networks 106 a, 106 b, and/or 110 through the APs 104 a-c. These AuPs can be selected by respective owners or operators of the networks 106 a, 106 b and 110. The AuPs may be selected based on different factors such as, for example, desired security levels and/or business objectives. For instance, if the WLAN access location 102 a is an airport, the private network 106 a may require relatively more authentication parameters from a wireless terminal than would a retail establishment to minimize or prevent vulnerabilities in airport/airline computer networks. Additionally or alternatively, the private networks 106 a-b may have different contract agreement terms with respective ones of the service providers of the SSPNs 108 a-b, thus leading to different sets of AuP requirements. Such differing AuPs may be related to different network access charging/pricing structures or different wireless device roaming agreements. Some networks, such as the public network 110, may require fewer or no AuPs.
In any case, the example methods and apparatus described herein can be advantageously used to enable the wireless terminal 114 to move between different WLAN access locations (e.g., the WLAN access locations 102 a-c) without requiring the wireless terminal 114 to be preconfigured or pre-loaded with different sets or lists of AuP requirements associated with accessing those different WLAN access locations. In this manner, the wireless terminal 114 can dynamically receive or learn required AuPs from any AP that it has not encountered before or that has had its required AuPs changed since a previous access session between the wireless terminal 114 and the AP. In the illustrated examples described herein, the wireless terminal 114 includes a non-AP station (i.e., a non-AP STA), while each of the APs 104 a-c includes a respective AP STA.
As shown generally in connection with the WLAN access location 102 a, the wireless terminal 114 can retrieve required AI (including AuPs) from the AP 104 a by transmitting an AI request message 116 and receiving an AI response message 118 including identifiers indicating one or more required AI and/or AuPs. In the illustrated example, the AI request message 116 and the AI response message 118 can be exchanged prior to an authentication process using a pre-defined query protocol such as a Generic Advertisement Service (GAS) query/response format. The GAS query format, as defined in IEEE® 802.11, enables non-AP STAs (e.g., the wireless terminal 114) to discover the availability of information (e.g., AP capabilities, AI, AuPs, etc.) related to desired network services. Alternatively, the AI request message 116 and the AI response message 118 can be exchanged during an authentication process in accordance with, for example, provisions in the IEEE® 802.11 standard involving secure handshake communications that securely exchange information to ensure confidentiality of such information.
Turning to FIG. 2, an example communication layer architecture 200 is shown as having seven layers which may be implemented in accordance with the well-known Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model. In the illustrated example, the communication layer architecture 200 includes a data link layer 202, which includes a media access control (MAC) sub-layer 204. To enable wireless terminals (e.g., the wireless terminal 114 of FIG. 1) to retrieve AI and AuPs from wireless APs (e.g., the wireless APs 102 a-c of FIG. 1), the example methods and apparatus described herein can be used to perform operations or processes including AI messaging 206 (e.g., the AI request message 116 and the AI response message 118 of FIG. 1) at the MAC sub-layer 204. That is a wireless terminal can retrieve required AI values and/or AuP values from a memory or other hardware of the wireless terminal using one or more authentication value retrieval processes performed by the wireless terminal at the MAC sub-layer 204 without needing to allow the authentication value retrieval process(es) to perform operations at or above an internet protocol (IP) layer (e.g., a network layer 208) nor needing to otherwise provide the authentication value retrieval process(es) with access to the IP layer.
Some authentication techniques that use hyper text transfer protocol (HTTP) or other internet protocol (IP) processes to display login websites and/or terms and conditions websites require establishing a connection between a wireless terminal and a wireless AP at one or more of the layers between and including a network layer 208 (e.g., an internet protocol (IP) layer) and an application layer 210 of the communication layer architecture 200. However, such techniques can often create certain vulnerabilities to WLAN-supported networks (e.g., one of the private networks 106 a-b) that can be exploited in harmful ways by malicious or mischievous users. That is, users can access network resources using authentication-bypass techniques based on IP or HTTP communications or other communication protocols at or above the network layer 208. The AI messaging 206 used in connection with the example methods and apparatus described herein can substantially reduce or eliminate such vulnerabilities by using an authentication process involving operations at a MAC sub-layer network connection making it relatively more difficult or impossible for users to access such low-level network resources to bypass authentication processes.
Another example advantage of the AI messaging 206 at the MAC sub-layer 204 is that a wireless terminal can, without user involvement or with minimal user involvement, determine whether connecting to a particular AP is even an option based on the required AI and/or AuPs advertised by that AP and which may be requested by the network behind the AP. For example, if the AP 104 a indicates that it requires a SIM card identifier, and the wireless terminal 114 does not have a SIM card storing a particular code, a user of the wireless terminal 114 is not given the option to discover that the AP is available for connection. Thus, during a WLAN discovery process initiated by the user of the wireless terminal 114, the wireless terminal 114 does not return the SSID of the AP 104 a because it would not be possible for the wireless terminal 114 to connect to the AP 104 a without a SIM card. Such an implementation would substantially reduce or eliminate user frustration because the user would not engage in any attempts to connect when such a connection is impossible based on the user's credentials. In such an example, the SIM card requirement may be imposed by a wireless service provider that owns or operates the SSPN-A 108 a to, for example, ensure that only wireless terminals (e.g., smart phones) associated with its service can gain network access. That is, when the wireless terminal 114 determines that it does have the SIM card requirement, it displays the SSID of the AP104 a because it is capable of being authenticated by the AP104 a. Although an SSID is used in connection with the above example and in other examples described below, an AP may alternatively be configured to broadcast a Homogeneous Extended Service Set Identifier (HESSID). An HESSID includes an SSID associated with a particular AP and a network identification corresponding to a supported SSPN. For instance, if the AP 104 a of FIG. 1 were configured to broadcast an HESSID, it would include the SSID of the AP 104 a and the network identification corresponding to the SSPN-A 108 a.
FIG. 3 depicts an example authentication parameters (AuPs) data structure 300 shown in table format to facilitate its description. The example AuPs data structure 300 includes a plurality of AuP names 302, each of which is associated with a respective one of a plurality of AuP identifiers 304. In the illustrated example, the AuP identifiers 304 are not themselves AuP values, but instead are identifiers used by wireless APs (e.g., the wireless APs 104 a-c of FIG. 1) to indicate to wireless terminals (e.g., the wireless terminal 114 of FIG. 1) which AuP values the wireless terminals must have to be authenticated and establish network communications via the wireless APs. For example, according to the AuPs data structure 300, a NAI AuP ID (i.e., AuP ID=1) is used to indicate to the wireless terminal 114 that the wireless terminal 114 must provide an AuP value equal to a user's identity associated with the wireless terminal 114.
Owners or operators of WLAN-supported networks can select one or more of the AuPs in the AuPs data structure 300 as required AuPs to allow authentication and connection to their WLAN-supported networks. In some example implementations, the wireless terminal 114 may be configured to store a complete list of the AuPs in the AuPs data structure 300, while in other example implementations, the wireless terminal 114 can be configured to store select ones of the AuPs. For example, if the wireless terminal 114 is provided by a wireless mobile phone service provider that elects to allow its devices to wirelessly connect only to sponsored or approved WLAN hotspots using SIM card identification values, the wireless terminal 114 may store only a NAI AuP identifier (AuP ID=1) associated with the AuPs data structure 300 in addition to a security hardware identifier discussed below in connection with FIG. 5. In such an example implementation, the NAI AuP identifier refers to requiring a user identification value, and the security hardware identifier refers to requiring a SIM card identification value (or other identification value corresponding to another security hardware element (e.g., a universal SIM (USIM) card or a near field communication (NFC) secure element)).
Now turning to FIGS. 4-6, FIG. 4 depicts an example basic service set (BSS) capabilities data structure 400, FIG. 5 depicts an example layer-2 authentication information (AI) data structure 500, and FIG. 6 depicts an example messaging process (e.g., which may be used to implement the AI messaging 206 of FIG. 2) to discover AI in a WLAN environment (e.g., one of the WLAN access locations 102 a-c of FIG. 1). The example messaging process of FIG. 6 can be used in connection with the information in the BSS capabilities data structure 400 and the layer-2 AI data structure 500 to implement an example AI discovery technique involving using a first AI query to discover AI requirements associated with operations at the MAC sub-layer 204 (FIG. 2) and a second AI query to discover AI requirements associated with operations at or above the network layer 208 (FIG. 2).
The example BSS capabilities data structure 400 stores CAP IDs 402 (i.e., capability identifiers) of APs and/or wireless terminals. In the illustrated example, the BSS capabilities data structure 400 includes a layer-3+ authentication type information capability entry 404 and a layer-2 authentication type information capability entry 406, each associated with a respective one of the CAP IDs 402. The layer-3+ authentication type information capability entry 404 and the layer-2 authentication type information capability entry 406 are used to indicate capabilities of the APs 104 a-c of FIG. 1. Thus, in the illustrated example, the BSS capabilities data structure 400 can be stored in the APs 104 a-c and are discoverable using pre-defined query protocol formats by wireless terminals (e.g., the wireless terminal 114) attempting to connect to respective WLAN supported networks (e.g., the networks 106 a-b and 110 of FIG. 1). An example pre-defined query protocol format includes the GAS query format described above.
In the illustrated example, the layer-3+ authentication type information capability entry 404 can be used to indicate that the associated AP requires an HTTP-level authentication.
Such an authentication can be implemented using URL redirect techniques that involve redirecting a wireless terminal's web browser to a particular URL requiring a wireless terminal user to perform additional steps required for access (e.g., accept terms and conditions, on-line login enrollment, etc.). The layer-2 authentication type information capability entry 406 can be used to indicate that the associated AP requires one or more of the AuPs shown in the AuPs data structure 300 of FIG. 3 and/or AI described below in connection with FIG. 5.
The example layer-2 AI data structure 500 of FIG. 5 stores authentication information that is retrieved by the wireless terminal 114 from an AP (e.g., one of the APs 104 a-c of FIG. 1). In the illustrated example, the layer-2 AI data structure 500 can be used to indicate protocols or information that an AP requires to exchange information and perform authentication processes. The AI types or protocols are shown as AI types 502, and each AI type is identified by a corresponding AI ID 504.
In the illustrated example, the layer-2 AI data structure 500 stores an Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) method AI type 506, which can be used to indicate that an AP (e.g., one of the APs 104 a-c of FIG. 1) supports and/or requires one or more EAP authentication protocols. EAP is a type of protocol that can be used to perform authentication processes in wireless networks and is sometimes used in connection with the well-known Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) standards. In operation, EAP communications can be invoked by any of the APs 104 a-c of FIG. 1 in accordance with the well-known IEEE® 802.1X standard, which is part of the IEEE® 802.11 architecture. Known EAP methods include EAP-MD5, EAP-OTP, EAP-GTC, EAP-TLS, EAP-IKEv2, EAP-SIM, EAP-AKA, and PEAP. Each EAP method can be identified using a corresponding integer-format value assigned by an industry-standard resource coordination body such as the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) (http://www.iana.org). Other EAP methods can also include vendor-specific methods.
The example layer-2 AI data structure 500 also stores an inner authentication mode AI type 508, a certificate type AI type 510, a security hardware AI type 512, an AuP AI type 514, and vendor-specific AI types 516. The inner authentication mode AI type 508 can be used to indicate that an AP (e.g., one of the APs 104 a-c of FIG. 1) supports and/or requires secure tunneling protocols to securely exchange information between the AP and a wireless terminal. The certificate type AI type 510 can be used to indicate that an AP (e.g., one of the APs 104 a-c of FIG. 1) supports and/or requires security certificates to securely exchange information. The security hardware AI type 512 can be used to indicate that an AP supports and/or requires a wireless terminal to have one or more credentials provided by or supplied by a hardware element associated with the wireless terminal. The enumerated hardware elements in the illustrated example of FIG. 5 include a SIM card, a USIM card, a NFC secure element, and a hardware token.
The AuP AI type 514 can be used to indicate which of the AuPs in the AuPs data structure 300 of FIG. 3 are required by an AP (e.g., one of the APs 104 a-c of FIG. 1) to allow a wireless terminal to be authenticated for establishing a network connection with the AP. The vendor-specific AI type 516 can be used to define additional or alternative AI types defined by owners or operators of WLAN supported networks (e.g., the networks 106 a-b, 108 a-b, and 110 of FIG. 1). Example messaging frame formats that can be used by a wireless terminal to retrieve the AI of the layer-2 AI data structure 500 are described below in connection with FIG. 6.
Referring now to FIG. 6, the illustrated example shows a messaging exchange process 600 that may be used to discover AI requirements in a wireless network in connection with the data structures described above in connection with FIGS. 3-5. As shown, the messaging exchange process 600 involves a plurality of query/response exchanges between the wireless terminal 114 and the AP 104 a to discover AI supported and/or required by the AP 104 a to allow the wireless terminal 114 to establish a network connection to the WLAN-supported private network 106 a and/or the SSPN-A 108 a of FIG. 1. In the illustrated example, the capabilities of the AP 104 a include support for layer-3+ authentication type information described above in connection with the layer-3+ authentication type information capability entry 404 of FIG. 4 and layer-2 authentication type information described above in connection with the layer-2 authentication type information capability entry 406 of FIG. 4.
As shown in FIG. 6, the wireless terminal 114 and the AP 104 a perform a first set of message exchanges involving a first capabilities query 602 and a first capabilities response 604, which allow the wireless terminal 114 to discover which ones of the AI and AuPs from the layer-2 AI data structure 500 and the AuPs data structure 300 are required by the AP 104 a to authenticate the wireless terminal 114. In the illustrated example, the wireless terminal 114 and the AP 104 a also perform a second set of message exchanges involving a second capabilities query 606 and a second capabilities response 608, which allow the wireless terminal 114 to discover the layer-3+ authentication type information (e.g., IP-level authentication information, HTTP-level authentication information, etc.) that is supported and/or required by the AP 104 a. The queries 602 and 606 can be performed by the wireless terminal 114 using the GAS query format described above. Although the queries/responses 602/604 and 606/608 are described as first and second query/responses, such description does not imply any required ordering of the sets of message exchanges. That is, the query/response 606/608 exchange could alternatively be performed prior to the query/response 602/604 exchange. In addition, either of the query/response 602/604 and 606/608 exchanges could occur without the other.
To allow the wireless terminal 114 to discover layer-2 authentication type information, the AP 104 a responds to the capabilities query 602 by communicating a layer-2 authentication type information frame 610 to the wireless terminal 114 via the capabilities response 604. In the illustrated example, the layer-2 authentication type information frame 610 includes a CAP ID field 612, a length field 614, a count field 616, and a plurality of authentication information identifier (AI ID) fields and corresponding AI value fields.
The CAP ID field 612 identifies the BSS capability with which the frame 610 is associated. Thus, to indicate that the frame 610 is a layer-2 authentication type information frame, the CAP ID field 612 of the illustrated example stores the capabilities identifier (e.g., CAP ID=270) corresponding to the layer-2 authentication type information 406 of the BSS capabilities data structure 400 of FIG. 4.
In the illustrated example, each of the AI ID fields (AI ID #1 through AI ID #M) in the layer-2 authentication type information frame 610 stores a unique one of the AI IDs 504 of the layer-2 AI data structure 500 to denote one or more of the AI types 502 that are supported and/or required by the AP 104 a. A first one of the AI ID fields (i.e., AI ID #1) is denoted by reference numeral 618 and its corresponding AI value field (i.e., AI value #1) is denoted by reference numeral 620. A second one of the AI ID fields (i.e., AI ID #2) is denoted by reference numeral 622 and its corresponding AI value field (i.e., AI value #2) is denoted by reference numeral 624. In some example implementations, the AI ID #1 field 618 can store an AI ID identifier equal to 1, which corresponds to the EAP method AI type 506 as shown in the layer-2 AI data structure 500 of FIG. 5. In such examples, the AI value #1 field 620 can store the integer-format value of a particular EAP authentication protocol (e.g., EAP-MD5, EAP-OTP, EAP-GTC, EAP-TLS, EAP-IKEv2, EAP-SIM, EAP-AKA, PEAP, etc.).
In the illustrated example, the AI ID #2 field 622 stores an AI ID identifier equal to 5, which corresponds to the AuP AI type 514 as shown in the layer-2 AI data structure 500. In addition, the AI value #2 field 624 stores an AuP list 626, which includes one or more comma-separated AuPs from the AuPs data structure 300 of FIG. 3 (e.g., NAI [AuP ID=1], server SAN [AuP ID=3], etc.).
Referring now to the query/response 606/608 exchange, to allow the wireless terminal 114 to discover layer-3+ type information, the AP 104 a responds to the capabilities query 606 by communicating a layer-3+ authentication type information frame 628 to the wireless terminal 114 via the capabilities response 608. In the illustrated example, the layer-3+ authentication type information frame 628 includes a CAP ID field 630, a length field 632, and a plurality of layer-3+ authentication type unit fields 634 a and 634 b.
The CAP ID field 630 identifies the BSS capability with which the frame 628 is associated. Thus, to indicate that the frame 628 is a layer-3+ authentication type information frame, the CAP ID field 630 of the illustrated example stores the capabilities identifier (e.g., CAP ID=260) corresponding to the layer-3+ authentication type information capability entry 404 of the BSS capabilities data structure 400 of FIG. 4. The length field 632 stores the byte length of the layer-3+ authentication type information frame 628 to enable retrieval of the same from memory after the frame 628 is received by the wireless terminal 114.
Each of the layer-3+ authentication type unit fields 634 a-b stores a re-direct URL frame 636, only one of which is shown. The re-direct URL frame 636 can be used to implement other authentication procedures when additional steps are required for access (e.g., accept terms and conditions, on-line login enrollment, etc.) for establishing a connection with the AP 104 a. In the illustrated example, the re-direct URL frame 636 enables authentication or additional procedures associated with processes implemented at the application layer 210 of the communication layer architecture 200 of FIG. 2. Such procedures may be in addition to or instead of authentication processes associated with the layer-2 authentication type information frame 610 discussed above. In some example implementations, the re-direct URL frame 636 may specify that a web browser of the wireless terminal 114 must display terms and conditions that must be accepted by a user or an on-line login enrollment page in which a user must login. The re-direct URL frame 636 may additionally or alternatively specify a HTTP/HTTPS redirection and/or a domain name server (DNS) redirection.
Turning to FIGS. 7-9, FIG. 7 depicts another example basic service set (BSS) capabilities data structure 700, FIG. 8 depicts an example layer-2+ authentication information (AI) data structure 800, and FIG. 9 depicts another example messaging process (e.g., which may be used to implement the AI messaging 206 of FIG. 2) to discover AI in a WLAN environment (e.g., one of the WLAN access locations 102 a-c of FIG. 1). As discussed below, the BSS capabilities data structure 700 is a modified version of the BSS capabilities data structure 400 of FIG. 4, and the layer-2+ AI data structure 800 is a modified version of the layer-2 AI data structure 500 of FIG. 5.
Unlike the BSS capabilities data structure 400 of FIG. 4 which stores the layer-3+ authentication type information capability entry 404 separate from the layer-2 authentication type information capability entry 406, the BSS capabilities data structure 700 of FIG. 7 stores a layer-2+ authentication type information capability entry 702. In the illustrated example, the layer-2+ authentication type information capability entry 702 indicates that an AP (e.g., the APs 104 a-c of FIG. 1) supports all of the authentication processes and data (involving operations at or above the MAC sub-layer 204 of FIG. 2) that are otherwise indicated separately by the layer-3+ authentication type information capability entry 404 and the layer-2 authentication type information capability entry 406 of FIG. 4. That is, the layer-2+ authentication type information capability entry 702 indicates that all of the AI types of the layer-2 AI data structure 500 of FIG. 5 are combined with the URL re-direct capability described above in connection with the re-direct URL frame 636 of FIG. 6. In this manner, when a wireless terminal queries an AP for supported and/or required capabilities associated with authentication, the wireless terminal can perform a single GAS query to discover all of the authentication information and/or parameters discussed above in connection with FIGS. 3-6 instead of two separate queries as described in connection with FIG. 6.
Turning now to FIG. 9, the illustrated example shows a single-query messaging exchange process 900 that may be used to discover AI requirements in a wireless network in connection with the data structures described above in connection with FIGS. 3, 7, and 8. As shown, the single-query messaging exchange process 900 involves a single capabilities query 902 communicated by the wireless terminal 114 followed by a single capabilities response 904 communicated by the AP 104 a. In the illustrated example, the capabilities of the AP 104 a include support for the layer-2+ authentication type information described above in connection with the layer-2+ authentication type information capability entry 702 of FIG. 7.
The wireless terminal 114 also includes a terminal message generator 1004 and a terminal data parser 1006. The terminal message generator 1004 may be used to generate queries (e.g., the queries 602 and 606 of FIG. 6 and the query 902 of FIG. 9) in accordance with any query protocol including the GAS query protocol format discussed above. The terminal data parser 1006 may be used to retrieve frames of information from memory (e.g., a RAM 1010) and retrieve particular information of interest from those frames. For example, the terminal data parser 1006 may be used to retrieve AI and/or AuPs from any of the data frame formats discussed above in connection with FIGS. 6 and 9. Although the terminal message generator 1004 and the terminal data parser 1006 are shown as separate from and connected to the processor 1002, in some example implementations, the terminal message generator 1004 and the terminal data parser 1006 may be implemented in the processor 1002 and/or in a wireless communication subsystem (e.g., a wireless communication subsystem 1018). The terminal message generator 1004 and the terminal data parser 1006 may be implemented using any desired combination of hardware, firmware, and/or software. For example, one or more integrated circuits, discrete semiconductor components, and/or passive electronic components may be used. Thus, for example, the terminal message generator 1004 and the terminal data parser 1006, or parts thereof, could be implemented using one or more circuit(s), programmable processor(s), application specific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)), field programmable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)), etc. The terminal message generator 1004 and the terminal data parser 1006, or parts thereof, may be implemented using instructions, code, and/or other software and/or firmware, etc. stored on a machine accessible medium and executable by, for example, a processor (e.g., the example processor 1002). When any of the appended claims are read to cover a purely software implementation, at least one of the terminal message generator 1004 and the terminal data parser 1006 is hereby expressly defined to include a tangible medium such as a solid state memory, a magnetic memory, a DVD, a CD, etc.
The wireless terminal 114 is provided with a wireless communication subsystem 1018 to enable wireless communications with WLAN APs (e.g., the APs 104 a-c of FIG. 1). Although not shown, the wireless terminal 114 may also have a long-range communication subsystem to receive messages from, and send messages to, a cellular wireless network. In the illustrated examples described herein, the wireless communication subsystem 1018 can be configured in accordance with the IEEE® 802.11 standard. In other example implementations, the wireless communication subsystem 1018 can be implemented using a BLUETOOTH® radio, a ZIGBEE® device, a wireless USB device, or an ultra-wideband (UWB) radio.
Turning now to FIG. 11, the example AP 104 a of FIGS. 1, 6, and 9 is shown in block diagram form. The example AP 104 a includes a processor 1102 to perform the overall operations of the AP 104 a. In addition, the AP 104 a includes an AP message generator 1104 to generate query and/or response messages and an AP data parser 1106 to retrieve information from received data frames. The AP message generator 1104 is substantially similar to the terminal message generator 1004 of FIG. 10, and the AP data parser 1106 is substantially similar to the terminal data parser 1006 of FIG. 10. Thus, the AP message generator 1104 and the AP data parser 1106 may be implemented in the processor 1102 and/or a wireless communication subsystem (e.g., a wireless communication subsystem 1112) using any combination of hardware, firmware, and/or software including instructions stored on a computer-readable medium.
The example AP104 a also includes a FLASH memory 1108 and a RAM 1110, both of which are coupled to the processor 1102. The FLASH memory 1108 may be configured to store required AuPs from the AuP data structure of FIG. 300, supported capability indicators from the BSS capabilities data structures 400 or 700, and supported AI types from the data structures 500 or 800.
To communicate with wireless terminals such as the wireless terminal 114, the AP 104 a is provided with a wireless communication subsystem 1112, which may be substantially similar or identical to the wireless communication subsystem 1018 (FIG. 10) of the wireless terminal 114. To communicate with a WLAN-supported network (e.g., the networks 106 a-b, 110, and 108 a-b), the AP 104 a is provided with a network uplink communication interface 1114.
FIG. 12 depicts an example flow diagram representative of computer readable instructions that may be used to discover AuPs associated with accessing a WLAN-supported network (e.g., the networks 106 a-b, 108 a-b, and 110 of FIG. 1). The example operations of FIG. 12 may be performed using a processor, a controller and/or any other suitable processing device. For example, the example operations of FIG. 12 may be implemented using coded instructions stored on a tangible medium such as a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM) and/or random-access memory (RAM) associated with a processor (e.g., the processor 1002 of FIG. 10 and/or the processor 1102 of FIG. 11). Alternatively, some or all of the example operations of FIG. 12 may be implemented using any combination(s) of application specific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)), field programmable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)), discrete logic, hardware, firmware, etc. Also, some or all of the example operations of FIG. 12 may be implemented manually or as any combination(s) of any of the foregoing techniques, for example, any combination of firmware, software, discrete logic and/or hardware. Further, although the example operations of FIG. 12 are described with reference to the flow diagram of FIG. 12, other methods of implementing the operations of FIG. 12 may be employed. For example, the order of execution of the blocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated, sub-divided, or combined. Additionally, any or all of the example operations of FIG. 12 may be performed sequentially and/or in parallel by, for example, separate processing threads, processors, devices, discrete logic, circuits, etc.
In general, the example flow diagram of FIG. 12 can be used to implement the example messaging exchange process 600 of FIG. 6 and/or the example messaging exchange process 900 of FIG. 9 during a WLAN discovery process. The example flow diagram of FIG. 12 includes a wireless terminal process 1202 and an AP process 1204. The wireless terminal process 1202 can be implemented using the wireless terminal 114 (FIGS. 1, 6, 9, and 10) to query the AP 104 a to discover AuPs required by the AP 104 a. The AP process 1204 can be implemented using the AP 104 a (FIGS. 1, 6, 9, and 11) to transmit the AI and/or AuPs required by the AP 104 a.
Turning in detail to FIG. 12, initially, the wireless terminal 114 transmits a probe request (block 1206) via the wireless communication subsystem 1018. In the illustrated example, the probe request is used to query the AP 104 a on whether it supports interworking with external networks (e.g., the networks 106 a-b, 108 a-b, and 110). The AP 104 a receives the probe request (block 1208) via the wireless communication subsystem 1112 and transmits a probe response (block 1210) to indicate whether it supports interworking with external networks and whether it requires authentication.
The AP 104 a receives the authentication capabilities request message (block 1220), and the AP message generator 1104 (FIG. 11) packs or inserts the required AI and AuP identifiers in an authentication capabilities response message (block 1222) (e.g., one of the capabilities responses 604 of FIG. 6 or 904 of FIG. 9). The AI and AuP identifiers associated with the AP 104 a may be stored in a memory (e.g., one of the flash memory 1108 or the RAM 1110 of FIG. 11) of the AP 104 a. The AP 104 a then transmits the authentication capabilities response message (block 1224).
In some example implementations, when the wireless terminal 114 determines at block 1228 that it has the required AI and/or AuP values, a user may be prompted with the SSID (or HESSID) associated with the AP 104 a before generating the connect request message. In this manner, the user may be given the option of whether to connect to the AP 104 a instead of allowing the wireless terminal 114 to automatically connect to the AP 104 a. In some example implementations, if the wireless terminal 114 determines at block 1228 that it does not have the required AI and/or AuP values, the wireless terminal 114 (e.g., the processor 1002 of FIG. 10) can refrain from displaying the SSID (or HESSID) associated with the AP 104 a. In this manner, the private network 106 a is not shown as available for connecting since the wireless terminal 114 would not be able to connect to it without the required AI and/or AuP values. In addition, in some example implementations, the wireless terminal 114 can be configured to store the AI and AuP identifiers obtained at block 1226 in connection with an SSID of the AP 104 a as a profile for the AP 104 a. In this manner, when the wireless terminal 114 subsequently re-discovers the presence of the AP 104 a, the wireless terminal 114 may use the stored AI and AuP identifiers to determine the AI and/or AuP values that it must provide to the AP 104 a to be authenticated without having to re-request required AI and/or AuPs from the AP 104 a.
After the AI and/or AuP values are packed or inserted into a connect request message (block 1230) or if the wireless terminal 114 determined at block 1214 that the AP 104 a does not require authentication, the wireless terminal 114 transmits the connect request message (block 1232). After the AP 104 a receives the connect request message (block 1234), the AP data parser 1106 (FIG. 11) parses the AI and/or AuP values from the connect request message (block 1236) and the AP 104 a (or another system or computer networked to the AP 104 a) performs an authentication process (block 1238). The AP 104 a then authenticates and establishes a connection to the wireless terminal 114 or denies a connection to the wireless terminal 114 based on whether the AI and/or AuP values provided by the wireless terminal 114 were satisfactory for authentication.
After the AP 104 a connects to the wireless terminal 114 or denies the connection (block 1240), or if the wireless terminal 114 determines that it does not have the required AI and/or AuP values, the example process of FIG. 12 ends.
1. A method to provide network authentication information in a wireless network, the method comprising:
receiving, by an access point, during network discovery and prior to authentication, a Generic Advertisement Service (GAS) request from a wireless terminal, the GAS request requesting network authentication information; and
transmitting, by the access point and to the wireless terminal, a response to the GAS request, wherein the response includes the network authentication information, the network authentication information includes an authentication type information and a re-direct uniform resource locator (URL) frame, and the authentication type information indicates that the wireless terminal uses the re-direct URL frame for at least one of: (a) obtaining terms and conditions, or (b) hyper text transfer protocol (HTTP)/hyper text transfer protocol secure (HTTPS) redirection.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the authentication type information further indicates that the wireless terminal performs at least one of: (a) on-line login enrollment, or (b) domain name server (DNS) redirection.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the network authentication information includes a re-direct URL length field.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless terminal is a mobile communication device.
5. An access point that provides network authentication information in a wireless network, comprising:
receive, during network discovery and prior to authentication, a Generic Advertisement Service (GAS) request from a wireless terminal, the GAS request requesting network authentication information; and
transmit, to the wireless terminal, a response to the GAS request, wherein the response includes the network authentication information, the network authentication information includes an authentication type information and a re-direct uniform resource locator (URL) frame, and the authentication type information indicates that the wireless terminal uses the re-direct URL frame for at least one of: (a) obtaining terms and conditions, or (b) hyper text transfer protocol (HTTP)/hyper text transfer protocol secure (HTTPS) redirection.
6. A method for an access point to provide authentication information in a wireless network, the method comprising:
receiving, by the access point, during network discovery and prior to authentication, a Generic Advertisement Services (GAS) request from a wireless terminal, the GAS request requesting authentication information, the authentication information being indicative of an extensible authentication protocol method and indicative of a credential from the wireless terminal to use for authentication of the wireless terminal, and the credential being indicative of a username and password credential; and
transmitting, by the access point and to the wireless terminal, a response to the GAS request from the wireless terminal, wherein the response includes the authentication information.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the wireless terminal is a mobile communication device.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein the response is transmitted at a media access control layer.
9. The method of claim 6, wherein the credential is obtainable by the wireless terminal.
10. The method of claim 6, wherein the credential is pre-stored in the wireless terminal.
11. The method of claim 6, further comprising receiving the credential from the wireless terminal.
12. The method of claim 6, wherein the credential enables access to a subscription service provider network communicatively coupled to the access point.
13. An access point that provides authentication information in a wireless network, comprising:
receive, during network discovery and prior to authentication, a Generic Advertisement Services (GAS) request from a wireless terminal, the GAS request requesting authentication information, the authentication information being indicative of an extensible authentication protocol method and indicative of a credential from the wireless terminal to use for authentication of the wireless terminal, the credential being indicative of a username and password credential; and
transmit, to the wireless terminal, a response to the GAS request from the wireless terminal, wherein the response includes the authentication information.
US15431501 2009-04-24 2017-02-13 Methods and apparatus to discover authentication information in a wireless networking environment Active US9820149B2 (en)
US17259709 true 2009-04-24 2009-04-24
US12504500 US8943552B2 (en) 2009-04-24 2009-07-16 Methods and apparatus to discover authentication information in a wireless networking environment
US13244734 US8935754B2 (en) 2009-04-24 2011-09-26 Methods and apparatus to discover authentication information in a wireless networking environment
US14594880 US9572030B2 (en) 2009-04-24 2015-01-12 Methods and apparatus to discover authentication information in a wireless networking environment
US15431501 US9820149B2 (en) 2009-04-24 2017-02-13 Methods and apparatus to discover authentication information in a wireless networking environment
US15811442 US10136319B2 (en) 2009-04-24 2017-11-13 Methods and apparatus to discover authentication information in a wireless networking environment
US14594880 Continuation US9572030B2 (en) 2009-04-24 2015-01-12 Methods and apparatus to discover authentication information in a wireless networking environment
US15811442 Continuation US10136319B2 (en) 2009-04-24 2017-11-13 Methods and apparatus to discover authentication information in a wireless networking environment
US20170156063A1 true US20170156063A1 (en) 2017-06-01
US9820149B2 true US9820149B2 (en) 2017-11-14
US12504500 Active 2030-10-24 US8943552B2 (en) 2009-04-24 2009-07-16 Methods and apparatus to discover authentication information in a wireless networking environment
US13244734 Active US8935754B2 (en) 2009-04-24 2011-09-26 Methods and apparatus to discover authentication information in a wireless networking environment
US14594880 Active 2029-09-15 US9572030B2 (en) 2009-04-24 2015-01-12 Methods and apparatus to discover authentication information in a wireless networking environment
US15431501 Active US9820149B2 (en) 2009-04-24 2017-02-13 Methods and apparatus to discover authentication information in a wireless networking environment
US15811442 Active US10136319B2 (en) 2009-04-24 2017-11-13 Methods and apparatus to discover authentication information in a wireless networking environment
WO (1) WO2010122315A3 (en)
CN103096421B (en) * 2011-11-01 2018-12-07 华为技术有限公司 Accessing a wireless local area network, the station and the access point
CN104754642A (en) * 2013-12-30 2015-07-01 华为终端有限公司 Service query method, device and system and site
WO2002018877A1 (en) 2000-08-28 2002-03-07 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Method and device for planning itineraries/routes for road users
JP2004072682A (en) 2002-08-09 2004-03-04 Canon Inc Radio connection method, radio connection system and access point apparatus
JP2005341621A (en) 2005-08-05 2005-12-08 Nec Corp Network service information providing system, apparatus and method, and operation control method therefor
WO2007089109A1 (en) 2006-02-01 2007-08-09 Lg Electronics Inc. Method of transmitting messages in communication networks
JP2008543247A (en) 2005-06-06 2008-11-27 サムスン エレクトロニクス カンパニー リミテッド Mobile station neighbor network discovery method and a network system for the
KR20090065089A (en) 2007-12-17 2009-06-22 한국전자통신연구원 Apparatus and method for providing cognitive radio access by communication mode guide data in mobile terminal supporting multi communication mode
US20100265871A1 (en) 2007-12-07 2010-10-21 Electronics And Telecommunications Research Institute Beacon re-broadcasting apparatus, beacon re-broadcasting method, and initial access request method in wireless network
JP2004531710A (en) 2001-03-20 2004-10-14 コーニンクレッカ フィリップス エレクトロニクス エヌ ヴィＫｏｎｉｎｋｌｉｊｋｅ Ｐｈｉｌｉｐｓ Ｅｌｅｃｔｒｏｎｉｃｓ Ｎ．Ｖ． Information system for people to move
CN1578533A (en) 2003-06-30 2005-02-09 松下电器产业株式会社 Communication system, communication method, base station apparatus, controller, device, and recording medium storing control program
JP2009525664A (en) 2006-02-01 2009-07-09 エルジー エレクトロニクス インコーポレイティド Message transmission method in a communication network
JP2009525666A (en) 2006-02-01 2009-07-09 エルジー エレクトロニクス インコーポレイティド Information transmission method in a wireless LAN system
JP2010529730A (en) 2007-06-01 2010-08-26 エルジー エレクトロニクス インコーポレイティド Scanning procedure in a wireless LAN, a station for supporting the same, and the frame format for this
JP2010532619A (en) 2007-07-04 2010-10-07 エルジー エレクトロニクス インコーポレイティド Interworking procedures and message formats for this to an external network in a wireless lan
"Extensible Authentication Protocol," From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, [retrieved from http://en. wikipedia.org/w /index.php?title= ExtensibleAuthentication-Protocol&oldid=297 I 68642 on Dec. 27, 2010], Jun. 18, 2009, 7 pages.
"Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); LTE; 3GPP System to Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Interworking; WLAN User Equipment (WLAN UE) to Network Protocols; Stage 3 (3GPP TS 24.234 version 8.2.0 Release 8)," ETSI TS 124 234, V8.2.0, Apr. 15, 2009, 40 pages.
"Extensible Authentication Protocol," From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, [retrieved from http://en. wikipedia.org/w /index.php?title= ExtensibleAuthentication—Protocol&oldid=297 I 68642 on Dec. 27, 2010], Jun. 18, 2009, 7 pages.
802.11 Working Group of the 802 Committee, "Draft STANDARD for Information Technology-Telecommunications and information exchange between systems-Local and metropolitan area networks-Specific Requirements," IEEE P802.1 lu/D6.0, published Apr. 9, 2009, IEEE Standards, New York, NY, USA, 208 pages.
802.11 Working Group of the 802 Committee, "Draft STANDARD for Information Technology-Telecommunications and information exchange between systems-Local and metropolitan area networks-Specific Requirements," IEEE P802.1 lu/D7.0, published Jun. 2009, IEEE Standards, New York, NY, USA, 197 pages.
802.11 Working Group of the 802 Committee, "Draft STANDARD for Information Technology—Telecommunications and information exchange between systems—Local and metropolitan area networks—Specific Requirements," IEEE P802.1 lu/D6.0, published Apr. 9, 2009, IEEE Standards, New York, NY, USA, 208 pages.
802.11 Working Group of the 802 Committee, "Draft STANDARD for Information Technology—Telecommunications and information exchange between systems—Local and metropolitan area networks—Specific Requirements," IEEE P802.1 lu/D7.0, published Jun. 2009, IEEE Standards, New York, NY, USA, 197 pages.
802.11 Working Group; "Draft Amendment to Standard Information Tec-Telecommunications and Information Exchange between Systems-Local and Metropolitan Networks-Specific Requirements-Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications: Amendment 7: Interworking with External Networks"; IEEE P802.11 U/D3.0; May 2008; pp. 1-166.
802.11 Working Group; "Draft Amendment to Standard Information Tec-Telecommunications and Information Exchange between Systems—Local and Metropolitan Networks—Specific Requirements—Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications: Amendment 7: Interworking with External Networks"; IEEE P802.11 U/D3.0; May 2008; pp. 1-166.
Aboba et al., "Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) Key Management Framework," Network Working Group, Request for Comments: 5247, Aug. 2008, 80 pages.
Aboba et al., "Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)," Network Working Group, Request for Comments (RFC) 3748, Jun. 2004, 67 pages.
Australian Government, IP Australia, "Notice of Acceptance," issued in connection with Australian Patent Application No. 2010240692, dated Apr. 4, 2014 (2 pages).
Campolat et al., "IEEE 802.11u Network Selection & MIH Support," Sep. 19, 2006, pp. 1-19, XP002478803 [Retrieved from: URL: https://mentor.ieee.org/802. I I/dcn/06/11-06-1069-00-000u-tguoverview.ppt].
Canadian Intellectual Property Office, "Examination Report," issued in connection with Canadian Application No. 2,759,579, dated May 15, 2014 (2 pages).
Canadian Intellectual Property Office, "Examination Report," issued in connection with Canadian Patent Application No. 2,759,579, dated Jul. 5, 2013 (4 pages).
Communication Pursuant to Article 94(3) EPC issued in European Application No. 10717200.9 dated Mar. 4, 2016.
Funk et al., "Extensible Authentication Protocol Tunneled Transport Layer Security Authenticated Protocol Version 0 (EAP-TTLSvO)," Network Working Group, Request for Comments 5281, Aug. 2008, 52 pages.
Gurney et al., "Geo-Location Database Techniques for Incumbent Protection in the TV White Space," New Frontiers in Dynamic Spectrum Access Networks, 2008, DYSPAN 2008, 3rd IEEE Symposium on, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, USA, Oct. 14, 2008 (Oct. 14, 2008), pp. 1-9.
Hartl et al., "Engineering Multimedia-Aware Personalized Ubiquitous Services," Multimedia Software Engineering, Proceedings Fourth International Symposium on Date of Conference 2002 (8 pages).
Hartl et al.; Engineering multimedia-aware personalized ubiquitous services; Published in: Multimedia Software Engineering, 2002. Proceedings. Fourth International Symposium on Date of Conference: 2002 pp. 344-351; IEEE Xplore. *
Hilt et al., "A Framework for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Session Policies," SIPPING Working Group, Internet-Draft, Apr. 27, 2008, [retrieved from http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-sip-session-policy-framework- 03 on Dec. 27, 2010], 36 pages.
Hilt et al., "A Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Event Package for Session-Specific Session Policies," SIPPING Working Group, Internet-Draft, Jan. 28, 2007, [retrieved from http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-sippingpolicy-package-03 on Dec. 27, 2010],18 pages.
Hilt et al., "A Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Event Package for Session-Specific Session Policies," SIPPING Working Group, Internet-Draft, Jul. 12, 2008, [retrieved from http://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-ietf-sipping-policypackage-05], 37 pages.
International Standard ISO/IEC 8802.11, "Information technology-Telecommunications and information exchange between systems-Local and metropolitan area networks-Specific requirements; Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) specifications; Amendment 6: Medium Access Control (MAC) Security Enhancements," ISO/IEC 8802-I 1:2005/Amd.6:2006(E), IEEE Std 802.1 li-2004 (Amendment to IEEE Std 802.11-1999), Dec. 15, 2006, 197 pages.
International Standard ISO/IEC 8802.11, "Information technology—Telecommunications and information exchange between systems—Local and metropolitan area networks—Specific requirements; Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) specifications; Amendment 6: Medium Access Control (MAC) Security Enhancements," ISO/IEC 8802-I 1:2005/Amd.6:2006(E), IEEE Std 802.1 li-2004 (Amendment to IEEE Std 802.11-1999), Dec. 15, 2006, 197 pages.
IP Australia, "Patent Examination Report No. I," issued in connection with Australian Patent Application No. 2010240692, dated May 24, 2013 (3 pages).
Japanese Patent Office, "Notice of Allowance," issued in connection with Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-506568, dated Dec. 18, 2014 (3 pages).
Japanese Patent Office, "Notice of Reasons for Rejection," issued in connection with Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-506568, dated Mar. 28, 2013 (15 pages).
Kawatsura, Y., "Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) Supplement for the vl.O Internet Open Trading Protocol (IOTP)," Network Working Group, Request for Comments: 3538, Jun. 2003, 57 pages.
Korean Intellectual Property Office, "Notice of Allowance of Patent," issued in connection with Korean Patent Application No. 10-2011-7025004, dated Feb. 26, 2014 (3 pages).
Korean Intellectual Property Office, "Office Action," issued in connection with Korean Patent Application No. 10-2011-7025004, dated Aug. 20, 2013 (19 pages).
Messerges et al., "A Security Design for a General Purpose, Self-Organizing, Multihop Ad Hoc Wireless Network," Proceedings SASN '03, Proceedings of the 1st ACM workshop on Security of Ad Hoc and Sensor Networks, 2003 (11 pages).
Messerges et al.; A security design for a general purpose, self-organizing, multihop ad hoc wireless network; Published in: Proceeding SASN '03 Proceedings of the 1st ACM workshop on Security of ad hoc and sensor networks; pp. 1-11; ACM New York, NY, USA ; 2003; ACM Digital Library. *
Mexican Institute of Industrial Property, "Notice of Allowance," issued in connection with Mexican Patent Application No. MX/a/2011/011194, dated Feb. 11, 2014 (1 page).
Mexican Institute of Industrial Property, "Office Action," issued in connection with Mexican Patent Application No. Mx/a/2011/011194, dated Jun. 19, 2013 (5 pages).
Mexican Institute of Industrial Property, "Office Action," issued in connection with Mexican Patent Application No. MX/a/2011/011194, dated Oct. 18, 2013 (4 pages).
N. CAMPOLAT ET AL: "IEEE 802.11u Network Selection & MIH Support", 19 September 2006 (2006-09-19), pages 1 - 19, XP002478803, Retrieved from the Internet <URL:ieee802.org/.../2006_Meeting_Docs/2006-09_meeting_docs/21-06-0761-00-000-Network-Selection-MIH-Support.ppt>
Office Action in EP Application No. 10717200.9, dated Jan. 26, 2015, 4 pages.
Patent Cooperation Treaty, "International Preliminary Report on Patentability," issued by the International Preliminary Examining Authority in connection with PCT application No. PCT/GB2010/000834, dated Sep. 5, 2011 (27 pages).
Patent Cooperation Treaty, "International Search Report," issued by the International Searching Authority in connection with PCT application No. PCT/GB2010/000834, dated Jan. 17, 2011 (4 pages).
Patent Cooperation Treaty, "Written Opinion of the International Preliminary Examining Authority," issued by the International Preliminary Examining Authority in connection with related PCT application No. PCT/GB2010/000834, dated Jul. 18, 2011 (5 pages).
Patent Cooperation Treaty, "Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority," issued by the International Searching Authority in connection with PCT application No. PCT/GB2010/000834 dated Jan. 17, 2011 (7 pages).
State Intellectual Property Office of People's Republic of China, "First Office Action," issued in connection with Chinese Application No. 201080017723.2, dated Nov. 5, 2013 (8 pages).
State Intellectual Property Office of People's Republic of China, "Office Action," issued in connection with Chinese Patent Application No. 201080017723.2, dated Jul. 23, 2014 (11 pages).
Summons to Attend Oral Proceedings issued in European Application No. 10717200.9 dated Nov. 16, 2016.
The Registry of Patents Singapore, "Certificate of Grant of Patent," issued in connection with Singapore Application No. 2011078219, dated May 19, 2014 (52 pages).
EP2422504A2 (en) 2012-02-29 application
US20180070236A1 (en) 2018-03-08 application
WO2010122315A3 (en) 2011-03-17 application
JP2012525045A (en) 2012-10-18 application
US20150128232A1 (en) 2015-05-07 application
US8943552B2 (en) 2015-01-27 grant
US10136319B2 (en) 2018-11-20 grant
US20170156063A1 (en) 2017-06-01 application
US8935754B2 (en) 2015-01-13 grant
CA2759579A1 (en) 2010-10-28 application
CN102415072A (en) 2012-04-11 application
JP5449531B2 (en) 2014-03-19 grant
EP2422504B1 (en) 2018-04-04 grant
CN102415072B (en) 2015-05-27 grant
CA2759579C (en) 2016-03-22 grant
US9572030B2 (en) 2017-02-14 grant
US20100275249A1 (en) 2010-10-28 application
EP3364628A1 (en) 2018-08-22 application
KR20120013335A (en) 2012-02-14 application
KR101398149B1 (en) 2014-05-27 grant
WO2010122315A2 (en) 2010-10-28 application
US20120017267A1 (en) 2012-01-19 application
US20140018037A1 (en) 2014-01-16 On-demand access tunnel between service provider network and wireless commuinication network
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:RESEARCH IN MOTION UK LIMITED;REEL/FRAME:042002/0637
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:MONTEMURRO, MICHAEL;REEL/FRAME:042002/0575
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:MCCANN, STEPHEN;REEL/FRAME:042002/0528
Free format text: CHANGE OF NAME;ASSIGNOR:RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED;REEL/FRAME:042249/0799