JP2015118478A - Communication adapter device, communication system, tunnel communication method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique that enables communication of P2P between arbitrary devices to be easily performed.SOLUTION: A communication adapter device in a communication system including the communication adapter device and other communication adapter device, the communication adapter device includes a Web browser, and comprises: tunnel connection means for performing a tunnel connection between the communication adapter device and the other communication adapter device using the Web browser; and data conversion means for converting a received packet into data in a format in which the received packet is transmitted/received by the tunnel connection means, and passes the data to the tunnel connection means.

Description

  The present invention relates to network communication, and particularly relates to P2P communication.

  VPN exists as a technology for virtually connecting a network and another network and using the network as if it were the same network. In this technique, P2P communication can be performed between devices on different networks with the same implementation on the same network by performing communication after establishing a VPN in advance.

  Patent Document 1 is an example of a prior art document that discloses a technique for constructing a virtual network using VPN.

JP2013-5110A

  However, in the existing VPN technology, it is necessary to prepare a high-function network device having a VPN function in advance and perform complicated settings. Therefore, with the existing VPN technology, it is difficult to perform P2P communication between arbitrary devices.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique that enables P2P communication to be easily performed between arbitrary apparatuses.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the communication adapter device in a communication system comprising a communication adapter device and another communication adapter device,
A tunnel connection unit having a Web browser and performing a tunnel connection with the other communication adapter device using the Web browser;
There is provided a communication adapter device comprising: data conversion means for converting a received packet into data in a format to be transmitted / received by the tunnel connection means and passing the data to the tunnel connection means.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a communication system including a first communication adapter device and a second communication adapter device,
The first communication adapter device includes a web browser, and includes first tunnel connection means for performing a tunnel connection with the second communication adapter device using the web browser,
The second communication adapter device includes a Web browser, and includes second tunnel connection means for performing a tunnel connection with the first communication adapter device using the Web browser,
The first communication adapter device converts the received packet into data of a format transmitted and received by the first and second tunnel connection means, and the data is transmitted via the tunnel by the first tunnel connection means. Send
The second communication adapter device receives the data by the second tunnel connection means, converts the data into an original packet, and sends out the packet.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is also provided a tunnel communication method in a communication system including a first communication adapter device including a Web browser and a second communication adapter device including a Web browser,
The first communication adapter device establishing a tunnel with the second communication adapter device using the Web browser;
The first communication adapter device receives a packet, converts the packet into data in a format to be transmitted / received via the tunnel, and transmits the data via the tunnel;
The second communication adapter device includes a step of receiving the data through the tunnel, converting the data into an original packet, and transmitting the packet.

  According to the embodiment of the present invention, P2P communication can be easily performed between arbitrary devices on a communication network.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of a communication adapter device 10. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the basic operation | movement of the packet transfer in a communication system. It is a functional block diagram of the communication management apparatus 30 in the case of implement | achieving a tunnel connection part using Web-based technology. It is a figure which shows the example of the process sequence at the time of the tunnel connection in the case of implement | achieving a tunnel connection part by WebRTC. It is a process sequence at the time of the tunnel connection in the case of implement | achieving a tunnel connection part by WebSocket, and is a figure which shows the example when using the communication management apparatus 30 as a relay apparatus.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The embodiment described below is only an example, and the embodiment to which the present invention is applied is not limited to the following embodiment. For example, in the present embodiment, WebRTC and WebSocket are listed as Web-based bidirectional communication technologies, but these are only examples, and other technologies can be used.

(Overall system configuration)
FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system according to the present embodiment includes a communication adapter device 10, a communication adapter device 20, a communication management device 30, a user terminal 40, and a user terminal 50. In addition, each device is connected to a network and can perform network communication.

  In the present embodiment, a tunnel is established between the communication adapter device 10 and the communication adapter device 20, and communication is performed between the user terminal 40 and the user terminal 50 through the tunnel. The type of communication between user terminals is not limited to a specific type, and any type of communication such as data, video, voice, text, and the like may be used. Further, the communication protocol between user terminals is not limited to a specific type. The form of the tunnel includes a tunnel for performing communication via a relay device in addition to a tunnel based on P2P communication between communication adapter devices.

  The communication management apparatus 30 according to the present embodiment includes a Web server function, and includes a function for determining whether or not a tunnel connection is possible, a function for determining whether or not communication between user terminals is possible, and a function for performing processing for establishing a tunnel. .

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, the communication adapter device 10 and the user terminal 40 are illustrated as separate devices, but may be a single device. Even in the case of one device, this device is referred to as a “communication adapter device”. In this case, a communication application that runs on the user terminal 40 is provided in the communication adapter device 10. The same applies to the communication adapter device 20 and the user terminal 50. Moreover, although one user terminal is shown under each communication adapter device, a plurality of user terminals may be provided. Further, three or more communication adapter devices may be provided.

  In the present embodiment, a tunnel between the communication adapter device 10 and the communication adapter device 20 can be easily set using a Web-based technology. A user of each communication adapter device can basically establish a tunnel by accessing the communication management device 30 including the Web server function with a Web browser. Specific examples of the technology will be described later. In the present embodiment, communication between the user terminal 40 and the user terminal 50 is possible using the tunnel set up simply as described above.

(Functional configuration of communication adapter device)
FIG. 2 shows a functional configuration diagram of the communication adapter device 10. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the communication adapter device 10 includes an NW transmission / reception unit 11, a connection determination unit 12, a data conversion unit 13, and a tunnel connection unit 14. Since the communication adapter device 20 has the same functional configuration as the communication adapter device 10, the communication adapter device 10 will be described as a representative. The communication adapter device 20 includes an NW transmission / reception unit 21, a connection determination unit 22, a data conversion unit 23, and a tunnel connection unit 24. The functional outline of each functional unit of the communication adapter device 10 is as follows.

  The NW transmission / reception unit 11 is connected to the network on the user terminal 40 side, receives a packet (eg, an IP packet) sent from the user terminal 40 side, and sends a packet received from the tunnel side to the user terminal 40 side. .

  The connection determination unit 12 receives a packet from the NW transmission / reception unit 11, determines whether to transmit the packet through a tunnel based on the header information of the packet, and only when the transmission is possible The packet is passed to the data converter 13. For example, the connection determination unit 12 holds the address information of the user terminal (application) under the opposite side (communication adapter device 20) and can transmit if the destination address of the packet is an address included in the address information. Can be performed.

  Further, the connection determination unit 12 may perform the same determination based on the transmission source address or a combination of the transmission source address and the transmission destination address. The connection determination unit 12 may determine that transmission is possible only when the protocol determined by the header information of the packet is a predetermined protocol.

  The connection determination unit 12 may perform the above determination based on address information or protocol information stored in advance in its own storage means, or by transmitting header information to the communication management device 30, so that the communication management device 30 may perform the determination and receive the determination result from the communication management device 30 to determine whether or not transmission is possible.

  The connection determination unit 12 can also perform the same determination on the packet received from the data conversion unit 13 and perform an operation of passing the packet to the NW transmission / reception unit 11 if transmission is possible. Note that the packet received from the data conversion unit 13 has already been determined on the opposite side, so the packet may be passed to the NW transmission / reception unit 11 without performing the determination.

  In communication via a tunnel, it is necessary to consider the possibility that an unauthorized terminal or application by an attacker exists in the network of the opposing communication adapter device because the connection is not limited to a local network that is reliable for the user. Therefore, by determining whether or not transmission is possible as described above, it is possible to eliminate terminals and applications that have not been pre-registered. In addition, when there is an application for charging according to the usage amount, the communication management apparatus 30 can provide usage statistics.

  The data conversion unit 13 converts the packet (header and payload) received from the connection determination unit 12 into a format suitable for the processing of the tunnel connection unit 14. As described above, in the present embodiment, a tunnel is set up by a simple operation for a user using a Web-based technology. However, when the type of data that can be transmitted and received by a tunnel using such a Web-based technology is text, May be a video.

  Therefore, the data conversion unit 13 performs packet conversion so as to conform to a data format that can be transmitted and received by the Web-based technology used for tunnel setting in the communication adapter device 10. For example, if the tunnel connection unit 14 transmits and receives video data, the packet is converted into a media data format similar to video data. For example, if the tunnel connection unit 14 transmits and receives text data, the data conversion unit 13 performs base 64 encoding on the input packet.

  When the data conversion unit 13 receives data from the tunnel connection unit 14, the data conversion unit 13 performs the reverse conversion and generates a packet to be transmitted to the user terminal 40 side.

  The tunnel connection unit 14 includes a Web browser and uses the Web-based technology to set a tunnel (connection) with the tunnel connection unit 24 of the opposite communication adapter device 20. In the present embodiment, WebRTC or WebSocket is used as the Web-based technology, but is not limited to these.

  In WebRTC, the tunnel connection unit 14 establishes a UDP tunnel with the opposite tunnel connection unit 24 by P2P.

  In WebSocket, tunnel connection unit 14 establishes a connection similar to TCP with a relay device (in this embodiment, communication management device 30), and opposing tunnel connection unit 24 also has communication management device 30. Establish a connection with Further, the communication management device 30 has a function of passing packets between connections, and the tunnel between the tunnel connection unit 14 and the tunnel connection unit 24 is realized by the function and these connections.

  The communication adapter device according to the present embodiment can be realized by causing a computer to execute a program describing the processing contents described in the present embodiment. That is, the function of the communication adapter device is realized by executing a program corresponding to processing executed in the communication adapter device using hardware resources such as a CPU, memory, and hard disk built in the computer. Is possible. Further, the program can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium (portable memory or the like), stored, or distributed. It is also possible to provide the program through a network such as the Internet or electronic mail.

(Process flow)
Next, with reference to FIG. 3, a basic processing flow when a packet is transmitted from the user terminal 40 and the user terminal 50 receives the packet will be described. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, it is assumed that a tunnel is already established between the tunnel connection unit 14 and the tunnel connection unit 24.

  First, the NW transmission / reception unit 11 receives a packet transmitted from the user terminal 40 (step 1), and passes the packet to the connection determination unit 12 (step 2). The destination address of the packet is the address of the user terminal 50, and the transmission source address is the address of the user terminal 40. As described above, the connection determination unit 12 makes an inquiry to the communication management device 30 as necessary based on the header information of the packet (step 3), thereby determining whether the packet can be transmitted. Here, when transmission is impossible, the packet is discarded. When the transmission is possible, the connection determination unit 12 passes the packet to the data conversion unit 13.

  The data conversion unit 13 converts the packet into data in a format that can be transmitted by the tunnel connection unit 14, and passes the data to the tunnel connection unit 14 (step 5).

  The tunnel connection unit 14 transmits the data passed from the data conversion unit 13 to the tunnel connection unit 24 of the opposite communication adapter device 20 through the tunnel (step 6).

  The tunnel connection unit 24 passes the data received through the tunnel to the data conversion unit 23 (step 7). The data conversion unit 23 converts the data in the format for tunnel transmission / reception back into a normal packet, and passes the packet to the connection determination unit 22 (step 8). Here, although connection determination may be performed, in this example, since connection determination is performed on the transmission side, the connection determination unit 22 passes the packet to the NW transmission / reception unit 21 without performing connection determination (step S31). 9) The NW transmission / reception unit 21 transmits the packet. Since the destination of the packet is the user terminal 50, the user terminal 50 receives the packet.

  The above example is an example of packet communication from the user terminal 40 to the user terminal 50, but packet communication from the user terminal 50 to the user terminal 40 is also performed in the same procedure.

  Since tunnel communication as described above is performed, communication can be performed between the user terminal 40 and the user terminal 50 in the same manner as communication on the same network. The communication protocol between terminals is not limited, and for example, TCP / IP communication or other protocol communication can be performed. It is also possible to detect the opposite terminal as follows.

  For example, when a multicast packet for search (similar to a broadcast packet) is transmitted from the user terminal 40, the multicast packet is received by the communication adapter device 10, and the user terminal 50 is transmitted from the communication adapter device 20 via the tunnel. Multicast distribution in the local network. Then, the user terminal 50 that has received the multicast packet transmits a response packet to the multicast packet toward the user terminal 40.

  As a result, the user terminal 40 can detect the user terminal 50 and communicate with the user terminal 50 as if the user terminal 50 exists in the same network as the network in which the user terminal 40 exists. .

(Example of tunnel connection processing)
As described so far, in this embodiment, a tunnel is established between communication adapter apparatuses using WebRTC or WebSocket technology.

  FIG. 4 shows a functional configuration example of the communication management apparatus 30 when such a Web-based technology is used. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the communication management device 30 includes a web communication function unit 31, an authentication unit 32, a web data storage unit 33, and a connection information storage unit 34.

  The Web communication function unit 31 includes functions for performing Web-based communication processing such as a Web server function, WebRTC, and WebSocket. In this example, in order to establish a tunnel, first, the communication adapter devices 10 and 20 access the Web communication function unit 31 from the Web browser (tunnel connection units 14 and 24), and the Web communication function unit 31 transmits a Web page (communication communication). (Including programs necessary for this).

  The authentication unit 32, for example, when receiving access from the tunnel connection units 14 and 24 for establishing a tunnel, or when receiving a designation of a connection destination or the like thereafter, identification information (address) of the access source (request source) , ID, etc.), authentication is performed by determining whether or not the access source (request source) is a pre-registered device. If the authentication is successful, tunnel connection is permitted (response is returned).

  The web data storage unit 33 stores web pages (HTML data), programs (scripts, etc.) and the like transmitted to the communication adapter devices 10 and 20. The connection information storage unit 34 stores, for example, information (address, name, etc.) of a communication adapter device accessing the communication management device 30 (having a connection with the communication management device 30). This information may be grouped, for example. This grouping is similar to the chat room concept. For example, when a communication adapter device accesses the communication management device 30 from a Web browser, a Web page that displays information about the communication adapter device already connected to the communication management device 30 for each room is displayed on the accessed communication adapter device. In response, the communication adapter device that has received the Web page realizes a mode in which a tunnel is established with the selected communication adapter device by selecting a room or selecting one of the communication adapter devices in the room. Is possible.

  FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a processing sequence up to tunnel establishment when the tunnel connection units 14 and 24 are realized by WebRTC. This sequence is only an example, and a tunnel may be established by another processing sequence.

  In the example of FIG. 5, first, the tunnel connection unit 14 (Web browser) of the communication adapter device 10 accesses the communication management device 30 and transmits a request (step 101). Then, the web communication function unit 31 of the communication management device 30 transmits the web page to the tunnel connection unit 14 (step 102). In this example, the Web page includes a program (script or the like) for WebRTC connection processing, and the subsequent processing for tunnel connection is performed by the function of the program (and the function of the Web browser). . This is an example, and the program may exist in the communication adapter device 10 in advance.

  Similarly, the tunnel connection unit 24 of the communication adapter device 20 accesses the communication management device 30 and receives a Web page including the program (steps 103 and 104).

  As an example, information on a communication adapter device that has accessed the communication management device 30 is displayed on each Web page. In this example, information about the communication adapter device 20 is displayed on the Web page screen of the communication adapter device 10, and information about the communication adapter device 10 is displayed on the Web page screen of the communication adapter device 20.

  When the communication adapter device 10 wishes to make a tunnel connection with the communication adapter device 20, and the user selects the communication adapter device 20 on the Web page screen, for example, the tunnel connection unit 14 sends a connection request to the communication management device. 30 (step 105). In this example, communication information (such as the address of the tunnel connection unit 14) of the communication adapter device 10 is included in this connection request. The web communication function unit 31 of the communication management device 30 transfers the connection request (communication information) to the communication adapter device 20 that is the connection destination (step 106).

  The tunnel connection unit 24 of the communication adapter device 20 that has received the connection request transmits a response to the connection request to the communication management device 30 (step 107). The response includes communication information of the communication adapter device 20 (such as the address of the tunnel connection unit 24). The web communication function unit 31 of the communication management device 30 transfers the response (communication information) to the communication adapter device 10 (step 108).

  Then, negotiation is performed between the tunnel connection unit 14 of the communication adapter device 10 and the tunnel connection unit 24 of the communication adapter device 20. This negotiation includes, for example, negotiation of an encryption key, a NAT passing method, and the like (step 109).

  Thereafter, a tunnel is established between the tunnel connection unit 14 of the communication adapter device 10 and the tunnel connection unit 24 of the communication adapter device 20, and tunnel communication can be performed (step 110).

  FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a processing sequence up to tunnel establishment when the tunnel connection units 14 and 24 are realized by WebSocket. This sequence is only an example, and a tunnel may be established by another processing sequence.

  In the example of FIG. 6, first, the tunnel connection unit 14 (Web browser) of the communication adapter device 10 accesses the communication management device 30 and transmits a request (step 201). Then, the web communication function unit 31 of the communication management device 30 transmits the web page to the tunnel connection unit 14 (step 202). In this example, the Web page includes a program (script or the like) for WebSocket connection, and between the tunnel connection unit 14 and the Web communication function unit 31 of the communication management device 30 by the function of the program. A connection is set (step 203). With this connection, two-way communication can be freely performed between the tunnel connection unit 14 and the Web communication function unit 31 without a request / response procedure. This is an example, and the program may exist in the communication adapter device 10 in advance.

  Similarly, the tunnel connection unit 24 of the communication adapter device 20 accesses the communication management device 30, receives a Web page including the program, and establishes a connection (steps 204, 205, and 206).

  In this example, each Web page has a column for designating a group number (may be called a room number) that the user wishes to participate in. In this embodiment, tunnel connection is established between communication adapter devices that designate the same group number. Shall be done.

  For example, assuming that the group 1 is specified in the communication adapter device 10 and the communication adapter device 20, an instruction of the group is transmitted as a connection request from each tunnel connection unit to the communication management device 30 (steps 207 and 208).

  The Web communication function unit 31 of the communication management device 30 determines that the communication adapter device 10 and the communication adapter device 20 belong to the same group, and the connection between the tunnel connection unit 14 and the tunnel connection unit 24. Connect the connection. That is, the packet received from the connection with the tunnel connection unit 14 is transferred to the connection with the tunnel connection unit 24, and the packet received from the connection with the tunnel connection unit 24 is transferred to the tunnel connection unit 14. Set to transfer to the connection.

  Thereby, the tunnel between the communication adapter apparatus 10 and the communication adapter apparatus 20 is established (step 209).

(Summary of the embodiment, effects, etc.)
As described above, in the present embodiment, the communication adapter device in a communication system including a communication adapter device and another communication adapter device, having a Web browser, and using the Web browser, the other A tunnel connection means for performing a tunnel connection with a communication adapter device; a data conversion means for converting the received packet into data in a format transmitted and received by the tunnel connection means; A communication adapter device is provided.

  The communication adapter device may further include a determination unit that determines whether to pass the packet to the data conversion unit based on the header information of the packet. The tunnel connection means establishes the tunnel by accessing a communication management device provided on the network, receiving a Web page from the communication management device, and executing a program included in the Web page. You may comprise as follows.

  The tunnel is established by a communication procedure of WebRTC or WebSocket, for example.

  In the present embodiment, for example, a search packet in DLNA can be transmitted as a packet for the search described above, and the communication adapter device automatically relays, so that devices existing on different networks can be obtained. It becomes possible to discover. Communication between discovered devices can also be performed by DLNA between devices on different networks by relaying the communication adapter device.

  In this embodiment, since the communication adapter device prevents connection with an unauthorized device, it is possible to communicate safely in the same way as in the same home even when connecting to devices existing on different networks. Become.

  Also, when building an application that performs P2P communication using general UDP, communication can be performed using tunneling according to the present embodiment, so that it can be built only with the implementation that assumes communication on the same network. Become. Also, P2P communication by TCP can be constructed by using this communication adapter device.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, there is no need for advanced network equipment and specialized knowledge required for VPN, and it is possible to use by simply connecting to the Web service (communication management device 30) and selecting the connection partner. Is possible.

  In addition, by using a determination function provided by the communication adapter device or the communication management device 30, user management can be performed such as preventing unauthorized connection by an attacker and charging according to service usage. .

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and applications are possible within the scope of the claims.

10, 20 Communication adapter device 30 Communication management device 30
40, 50 User terminal 11, 21 NW transmission / reception unit 12, 22 Connection determination unit 13, 23 Data conversion unit 14, 24 Tunnel connection unit 31 Web communication function unit 32 Authentication unit 33 Web data storage unit 34 Connection information storage unit

Claims (7)

The communication adapter device in a communication system comprising a communication adapter device and another communication adapter device,
A tunnel connection unit having a Web browser and performing a tunnel connection with the other communication adapter device using the Web browser;
A data conversion means for converting the received packet into data in a format transmitted and received by the tunnel connection means, and passing the data to the tunnel connection means;
A communication adapter device comprising: The communication adapter device according to claim 1, further comprising: a determination unit that determines whether to pass the packet to the data conversion unit based on header information of the packet. The tunnel connection means establishes the tunnel by accessing a communication management device provided on a network, receiving a Web page from the communication management device, and executing a program included in the Web page. The communication adapter device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that   4. The communication adapter device according to claim 1, wherein the tunnel is established by a WebRTC or WebSocket communication procedure. 5.   The program for functioning a computer as each means in the communication adapter apparatus of any one of Claims 1 thru | or 4. A communication system comprising a first communication adapter device and a second communication adapter device,
The first communication adapter device includes:
A first tunnel connection unit having a web browser and performing a tunnel connection with the second communication adapter device using the web browser;
The second communication adapter device includes:
A second browser connection unit having a Web browser and performing a tunnel connection with the first communication adapter device using the Web browser;
The first communication adapter device converts the received packet into data of a format transmitted and received by the first and second tunnel connection means, and the data is transmitted via the tunnel by the first tunnel connection means. Send
The second communication adapter device receives the data by the second tunnel connection means, converts the data into an original packet, and transmits the packet. A tunnel communication method in a communication system including a first communication adapter device including a Web browser and a second communication adapter device including a Web browser,
The first communication adapter device establishing a tunnel with the second communication adapter device using the Web browser;
The first communication adapter device receives a packet, converts the packet into data in a format to be transmitted / received via the tunnel, and transmits the data via the tunnel;
A tunnel communication method, comprising: the second communication adapter device receiving the data through the tunnel, converting the data into an original packet, and transmitting the packet.

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