Patent ID: 7170857

Claim:
A system for providing a virtual link, the system including a geographically distributed communications network coupled to at least first and second network resources, the system comprising: a user device including a wireless transceiver for communicating using a short-range wireless protocol; a service device including a wireless transceiver to accept communication signals under the short-range wireless protocol, wherein the service device is associated with the first network resource, and wherein the second network resource is not configured to accept communication signals under the short-range wireless protocol; and a virtual linking system in communication with the network, wherein the virtual linking system includes: a controller having a virtual device table and a permissions filter, and first and second geographically distributed transceivers coupled to the controller, wherein the first and second transceivers are configured to communicate wirelessly under the short-range wireless protocol with the user device and service device, respectively, and wherein the user device can not communicate directly under the short-range wireless protocol with the service device because of wireless range limitations under the short-range wireless protocol, wherein the virtual linking system is configured to establish the virtual link between the user device and either the service device or the second network resource, wherein the permissions filter is configured to check for a match between the user device and either the service device or the second network resource during a service discovery request and a connection request before establishing the virtual link.