Patent Document ID: 7814208
Application ID: 09824132

Base Claim:
1. A method of communicating between computers, comprising the steps of: (1) transmitting from a first computer to an intermediate server computer a first HTTP POST message through a firewall that is open to outbound Internet traffic, wherein the first HTTP POST message requests establishment of a connection between the first computer and the intermediate server computer over a first return path; (2) receiving from the intermediate server computer a response including a connection identifier corresponding to the first return path; (3) periodically transmitting from the intermediate server computer to the first computer a “keep alive” message over the first return path, if no further messages are sent to the first computer within a period of time; (4) exchanging encryption keys between the first computer and the intermediate server computer; (5) repeating steps (1) through (4) between a second computer and the intermediate server computer, thereby creating a second return path between the second computer and the intermediate server computer; (6) transmitting encrypted information from the first computer through the firewall to the intermediate server computer using further HTTP POST messages; and (7) transmitting the encrypted information from the intermediate server over the second return path.

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Claim 8:
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein periodically transmitting a “keep alive” message over the first return path comprises transmitting a “keep alive” message prior to a firewall timeout period to prevent the firewall from blocking traffic on the first receive path.