Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to virtual private networks. More particularly, the present invention relates to the creation of virtual private networks that permit interaction between a local area network and an out-of-network electronic device. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) technology defines an architecture for pervasive peer-to-peer network connectivity of intelligent appliances, wireless devices, and personal computers of all types. UPnP technology is designed to bring easy-to-use, flexible, standards-based connectivity to ad-hoc or unmanaged networks whether in the home, in a small business, public locations, or systems connected to the Internet. UPnP technology provides a distributed, open networking architecture that leverages TCP/IP and web technologies to enable seamless proximity networking, in addition to providing control and data transfer among networked devices. 
     UPnP Device Architecture (UDA) is designed to support zero-configuration, “invisible” networking, as well as automatic discovery for a breadth of device categories from a wide range of vendors. Under this architecture, a device can dynamically join a network, obtain an IP address, convey the device&#39;s capabilities, and learn about the presence and capabilities of other devices within the network. 
     A UPnP Internet Gateway Device (IGD) is a device that connects a home network to a wide area network such as the Internet. An IGD possesses at least a wide area network (WAN) interface (in the form of a DSL, Cable, Ethernet connection, or another type of connection) and a local area network (LAN) interface (in the form of an Ethernet or wireless LAN (WLAN) connection, or another type of connection). The UPnP IGD contains several WAN and LAN related services. 
     Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) using IP Security (IPSec) are one of the most widely used technologies to securely connect to a network using the infrastructure provided by a public network such as the Internet. 
     A number of new technologies are currently being implemented for enabling remote access to home networks. One of the proposed technologies that will enable remote access to home networks involves the use of a VPN between a remote device, such as a mobile telephone, and the Internet gateway located within a home network. VPN standards that are currently being developed involves the use of IPsec, which is a very complex technical standard that requires a deep understanding of cryptographic algorithms and the way IP networks function. Configuring devices that deploy IPSec technology is a complicated task due to the large number of parameters involved. The correct configuration ensures that a particular VPN client can connect to the VPN gateway, thus enabling the DLNA Remote Access scenarios. Most consumers, however, do not have the requisite skills to correctly configure such VPN devices unless they have a substantial technical expertise. 
     In the corporate environment, a number proprietary solutions have been developed to address these issues. These solutions are often provided by the VPN gateway manufacturer. However, these solutions are not interoperable, depend on specific VPN gateway hardware, and their costs are usually well beyond the reach of the ordinary consumers. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention involves the use of an open interface that enables the configuration of a VPN gateway that is collocated with an IGD. The present invention provides for a mechanism for provisioning VPN parameters to VPN clients via UPnP messages, as well as a mechanism for configuring another IGD with a VPN gateway in order to establish a gateway-gateway VPN. 
     The present invention provides for a number of advantages over conventional systems. Under the system and method of the present invention, users are provided with the ability to configure VPN parameters, regardless of the manufacturer or manufacturers of the various VPN devices. The complexity involved with the present invention is relatively low, and the present invention makes VPN technologies accessible to normal consumers that, until the present invention, were available only to enterprise and large, institutional users. 
     These and other objects, advantages and features of the invention, together with the organization and manner of operation thereof, will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like elements have like numerals throughout the several drawings described below. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a mobile telephone that can be used in the implementation of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic representation of the telephone circuitry of the mobile telephone of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a representation of an Internet gateway device and its relationship to other devices in a local area network and a wide area network; 
         FIG. 4  is a representation of a scenario where a mobile telephone with a built-in IGD control point supporting the present invention is used to configure the Internet gateway device with VPN gateway support; 
         FIG. 5  is a representation of a situation where a VPN tunnel is created between an Internet gateway device and an electronic device that it outside of its home network; and 
         FIG. 6  is a representation of a situation where a VPN gateway-gateway tunnel is created between home networks. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  show one representative mobile telephone  12  within which the present invention may be implemented. It should be understood, however, that the present invention is not intended to be limited to one particular type of mobile telephone  12  or other electronic device. For example, the present invention can be incorporated into a combination personal digital assistant (PDA) and mobile telephone, a PDA, an integrated messaging device (IMD), a desktop computer, and a notebook computer. The mobile telephone  12  of  FIGS. 1 and 2  includes a housing  30 , a display  32  in the form of a liquid crystal display, a keypad  34 , a microphone  36 , an ear-piece  38 , a battery  40 , an infrared port  42 , an antenna  44 , a smart card  46  in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) according to one embodiment of the invention, a system clock  43 , a card reader  48 , radio interface circuitry  52 , codec circuitry  54 , a controller  56  and a memory  58 . Individual circuits and elements are all of a type well known in the art, for example in the Nokia range of mobile telephones. 
     The communication devices may communicate using various transmission technologies including, but not limited to, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Short Messaging Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), e-mail, Instant Messaging Service (IMS), Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11, etc. 
     The present invention provides for an open interface that enables the configuration of a VPN gateway that is collocated with an IGD. VPN parameters can be provisioned to VPN clients via UPnP messages. Additionally, another IGD can be configured with a VPN gateway in order to establish a gateway-gateway VPN. 
     The service of the present invention enables the control, monitoring and configuration of a VPN gateway for unmanaged network space, namely residential and small office LANs. The present invention focuses on the core elements required for setting up a VPN gateway, configuring/provisioning the VPN Clients, and diagnosing and monitoring usage problems. The present invention simplifies the setup experience and provides the framework for diagnosing and monitoring problems on the VPN gateway. 
     The present invention enables a number of different functions. For example, the present invention allows for the remote setup and configuration of security parameters of an IPsec tunnel accepted by the VPN gateway, through the use of an encryption algorithm and hash functions. The present invention also permits for the remote setup and configuration of an authentication mode accepted by the VPN gateway through the use of shared keys and certificates. The remote configuration and provisioning of VPN Client settings, as well as remote diagnostics and monitoring of a VPN tunnel, are also enabled. 
       FIG. 3  is a representation of an Internet gateway device  100  and its relationship to other devices in a local area network and a wide area network. The Internet gateway device  100  comprises a plurality of WAN devices  110  and a plurality of LAN devices  120 . The plurality of LAN devices  120  are capable of connecting to a plurality of client devices  130 , which are located within one or more local area networks  140 . The plurality of WAN devices  110  are capable of connecting to various Internet Service Providers (ISPs)  150  that are located within the Internet  160  or another wide area network. This overall arrangement permits the Internet gateway device  100  to serve as a conduit between the client devices  130  and individual ISPs  150 . 
       FIG. 4  describes a scenario where a mobile telephone  12  with a built-in IGD control point supporting a VPN configuration service of the present invention is used to configure the IGD device  100  having VPN gateway support. The mobile telephone  12  is connected within a home network  170  via a LAN interface of the IGD device  100 . An application in the mobile telephone  12  can edit the VPN configuration in order to adjust the required security protocols, the authentication and privacy parameters of the security protocols, and the session time-outs. After the configuration step is finished, the mobile telephone  12 , now a VPN client, can start using the new configuration. 
     The following is one representative system for provisioning VPN parameters to a VPN Client according to one embodiment of the present invention. In this situation, the mobile telephone  12  possesses a VPN client application. The built-in IGD control point is used to connect the IGD with the VPN gateway via the LAN interface. The built-in IGD control point reads the VPN gateway parameters and configures itself when it acts as the mobile telephone. Parameters needed to configure the gateway include, but are not limited to, the IP Address(es) of the VPN gateway, security protocols, and authentication and privacy parameters specific to the security protocols. Later, and as depicted in  FIG. 5 , when the mobile telephone  12  is in a remote location and away from the home network  170 , the VPN client application can create a VPN tunnel  190  with the home VPN gateway, as the VPN client application possesses all of the necessary parameters. 
     The present invention can also be used to configure another VPN gateway in order to create a gateway-gateway VPN. For example, a situation may arise where a user A is visiting a user B and desires to access a number of media files that are stored in a personal video recorder  200  (PVR) located in user A&#39;s home network  210  and view the files on a television  220  in user B&#39;s home network  230 . To accomplish this task, and as shown in  FIG. 6 , an IGD-IGD VPN tunnel  235  is created between a Home Network A IGD  240  and a Home Network B IGD  250  so that the two home networks  210  and  230  are essentially merged into a single virtual home network. In this arrangement, it is assumed that the IGD control point in user A&#39;s mobile telephone  12  has all the information needed about its home VPN gateway (which is the Home Network A  240 ). The next step involves the connection of the mobile telephone  12  to the Home Network B IGD  250  with VPN gateway support via a LAN interface. The mobile telephone  12  transmits the necessary information to the VPN gateway for establishing the VPN tunnel. This information includes, but is not limited to, the IP Address(es) of the VPN gateway, security protocols, and authentication and privacy parameters specific to the security protocols. 
     The following is a process for implementing one particular embodiment of the present invention. Before proceeding, a number of assumptions are made concerning the devices and networks involved. First, it is assumed that the user&#39;s home network includes an always-on connection at the user&#39;s home. This connection can comprise a broadband connection or a connection of some other sort. It is also assumed that the devices involved are UPnP capable, and that the VPN products involved (i.e. the VPN gateway and the VPN Client) are tested according to standards promulgated by the Virtual Private Network Consortium (VPNC). These standards can be found on the Internet. Furthermore, it is assumed that the IGD with a VPN gateway includes a UPnP IGD VPN configuration service. 
     In this situation, a user purchases a new Internet gateway device. The feature list for the Internet gateway device indicates support for remote access. The user plugs the Internet gateway device into the home network, and installs the setup software. A setup wizard is used to configure the Internet gateway device. The setup software is used to configure the security protocols, as well as the authentication and privacy parameters for the security protocols. The setup software also binds the VPN gateway to specific WAN interfaces. The setup software includes a built-in UPnP IGD control point. At this point, the IGD with a VPN gateway is ready for use. Regarding advanced functionality, the VPN provides IP addresses from the home network pool to remote devices. 
     For remote access on a particular device, such as a mobile telephone, the user installs a new software package in the mobile telephone that enables remote access. Later, the user, when leaving his or her office, decides that he or she would like to have an activity initiated on a device within the home network. The user can then have the mobile telephone connect to the home network via remote access to initiate the activity. 
     A situation where a gateway-gateway VPN may be created can be discussed as follows. A first user and a second user can each have their own home network, referred to as a first home network and a second home network, respectively. In the event that the first user is in the vicinity of the second home network and wants the second user to have access to the first home network, the first user can use his or her own mobile telephone to configure the second user&#39;s Internet gateway for remote access to the first network. The first user can therefore grant temporary access to the Internet gateway of the second home network and initiates the connection, creating a gateway-gateway VPN. 
     The present invention is described in the general context of method steps, which may be implemented in one embodiment by a program product including computer-executable instructions, such as program code, executed by computers in networked environments. 
     Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Computer-executable instructions, associated data structures, and program modules represent examples of program code for executing steps of the methods disclosed herein. The particular sequence of such executable instructions or associated data structures represents examples of corresponding acts for implementing the functions described in such steps. 
     Software and web implementations of the present invention could be accomplished with standard programming techniques with rule-based logic and other logic to accomplish the various database searching steps, correlation steps, comparison steps and decision steps. It should also be noted that the words “component” and “module” as used herein, and in the claims, is intended to encompass implementations using one or more lines of software code, and/or hardware implementations, and/or equipment for receiving manual inputs. 
     The foregoing description of embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the precise form disclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the present invention. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the present invention and its practical application to enable one skilled in the art to utilize the present invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

Technology Category: 5