Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W60/00—Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L61/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
  • H04L61/35—Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming involving non-standard use of addresses for implementing network functionalities, e.g. coding subscription information within the address or functional addressing, i.e. assigning an address to a function
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L61/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
  • H04L61/45—Network directories; Name-to-address mapping
  • H04L61/4557—Directories for hybrid networks, e.g. including telephone numbers
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L61/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
  • H04L61/50—Address allocation
  • H04L61/5076—Update or notification mechanisms, e.g. DynDNS
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W4/00—Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
  • H04W4/02—Services making use of location information
  • H04W4/029—Location-based management or tracking services
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W4/00—Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
  • H04W4/18—Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W8/00—Network data management
  • H04W8/18—Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W24/00—Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W4/00—Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
  • H04W4/02—Services making use of location information

Definitions

• the invention relates to a method, an apparatus, and a computer program element for detecting a data network connectable mobile computing device.
• a possible solution for identifying mobile computing devices is to install a service program on the device itself which can send out information about the device and its properties to a central server.
• service programs can in principle be switched off by the user. Additional installation and maintenance effort is involved.
• the user log on process could be run via a central registration mechanism.
• installation and maintenance efforts are also high for such a registration mechanism, as well as all devices would have to be told to register with this particular machine.
• a method for detecting a data network connectable mobile computing device Information related to the location of a connect requesting device is determined. This determined location information is compared to a stored location information associated to this device. Finally, the device is detected as a mobile device when at least the stored location information is different to the determined location information.
• This method can be run automatically at some place or on some node in the data network.
• the method can typically be operated as part of or in combination with a network management system or a component of a network management system.
• Emphasis is on detecting devices of mobile character respectively exploring which device connected to the data network is a mobile one. Thus, the mobile character of a device is explored.
• Basic idea is to maintain a record mapping location information to device identifiers. Once a device shows up at a different location than before, the device is likely to be a mobile device, and accordingly the device might be registered as a mobile device, e.g. in a table record.
• This method allows to identify online the inventory of an organization or a company.
• the detected inventory can be classified into mobile and non-mobile computing devices, wherein mobile computing devices are typical portable computing devices such as laptops, personal digital assistants, smart phones, digital cameras, wearable computers and network embedded devices. These devices have to be equipped with a wired or a wireless interface to the data network to be registrable for the mobile device detection engine, as an appearance of the device in the network draws sooner or later the attention of the classification engine to the device.
• the term mobile device detection engine is used as a synonym for the apparatus according to one aspect of the invention performing the method as described herein.
• the mobile device detection engine can e.g. monitor at least segments of the network for registration requests of devices. Triggered by such a registration request, the detection/classification process is initiated and can result in a classification of the device as a mobile device, or as another device, or a device that did not appear in the network during a monitoring session so far.
• the scope of the protection is not limited to determine location information of devices during their registration session:
• the mobile device detection method might also look for devices already being connected and having had a connect requesting session in the past but still being logged to the network.
• the primary point of contact for the device - which primary point of contact might e.g.
• a router can deliver some regional information the device is located in.
• This information might be implicit information such as that a WLAN access point covers a limited geographical area, a DHCP server is responsible for connect requesting devices in a specific geographical domain or a specific administrative domain which limited administrative domain in turn results in most of the times in a limited geographic domain.
• This primary point of contact is typically accessed first by a device asking to register to the data network. As long as such devices are registered somewhere, e.g. at the primary point of contact while being registered to the data network, and provided that the location related information is also accessible while being registered - which means that e.g.
• a record is kept at each DHCP server providing information which device is currently registered with the DHCP server or that e.g. a record is kept centrally for all DHCP servers of an administrative domain which record lists all the registered devices and assigned DHCP servers - the method as proposed cannot not only be executed during the registration period but also later on by accessing the data which can deliver location related information. However, if information such as which device accessed the data network where from is still accessible even after a device deregistered from the data network - e.g. by keeping a log file of all registered devices during a session -, the method can also be executed independent from any current registration processes by accessing log files at primary points of contacts or centrally maintained log files.
• log files can for example be accessed via the data network at times of low network traffic, in particular when different resources like DHCP servers have to be accessed for retrieving location related information.
• the device has to at least attempt or have attempted to register to the data network, as the device must be visible to at least some data network entity, which in turn might be accessed for information derivation purposes by the mobile device detection engine.
• the data network itself is preferably an Internet Protocol (IP) based network, such as e.g. the Internet, or an Intranet, or any subdivision of.
• IP Internet Protocol
• the data network might also be any other local or wide area network for transmitting data.
• the information whether a device registered to the network can be considered as a mobile device can also be used for other purposes such as usage reporting, network profiling, accounting, charging or billing.
• mobile devices can also be automatically kept track of.
• the steps are performed automatically by support of computing means.
• the device detection and classification can be performed automatically. Neither the registered devices nor any applied access mechanisms have to be changed for performing the mobile device detection as proposed.
• location information can be gathered during the connect request procedure or even on when the device is or already was connected to the data network, as mentioned before.
• location related information can be gathered during the connect request procedure or even on when the device is or already was connected to the data network, as mentioned before.
• location information can represent any area provided that other areas are specified by other location information. In this respect, the location is primarily defined in relation to other locations.
• a device registers to the data network by addressing a request to a DHCP server which in more general words acts as an Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation server.
• IP Internet Protocol
• a device typically does not have a fixed IP address assigned, but sends a request to the DHCP server every time it wants to register to the data network.
• a DHCP server is responsible for providing an IP address to devices located in a certain building, a certain area, a certain organization, a more rough location, or a precise location, etc. Then, the fact that this DHCP server is addressed means that the device is located within the responsibility of this particular DHCP server. In turn, the DHCP server itself represents a location information that is assigned to the device being registered.
• the DHCP server identity can e.g. act as information being relevant to the location of a device requesting an IP address from this DHCP server.
• the device can be regarded as mobile.
• Mobile devices can therefore automatically be detected by e.g. looking at the IP address assignment profile via DHCP.
• the mobile device detection engine then needs access to different DHCP servers, in case a single DHCP server represents one access point and thus one specific location.
• routers or other network devices in general which are responsible for handling data packets or take over other network services.
• a router is typically responsible as a first point of contact for routing data packets generated by devices that are close to the router, a certain router can also represent a location information that is assigned to the connect requesting device.
• the mobile device detection engine preferably accesses one or more sources of location information such as DHCP servers, routers, DNS severs or other network entities.
• sources of location information such as DHCP servers, routers, DNS severs or other network entities.
• tables comprising data of presently connected devices or log files comprising data of previously connected devices are accessed.
• location information can also be derived from analyzing the device's communication on a wireless LAN. Any method suitable can be applied.
• the coverage of a defined WLAN access point may be of sufficient resolution such that the access point may represent the location related information needed.
• the signal strength at the device's location may be taken as location information.
• the device itself might be capable of determining its own location and provide the classification entity with the relevant location data periodically or upon request. Making use of the global positioning system (GPS) might support location detection efforts for the device.
• GPS global positioning system
• a registration relay agent forwards the device registration request to a dedicated DHCP server.
• the relay agent may use the agent circuit ID sub-option (see "DHCP Relay Agent Information Option', RFC 3046, IETF, January 2001) to communicate this information.
• geographic location information in the form of a location object including latitude, longitude and altitude is provided by the client itself to a DHCP server or a DHCP relay agent.
• one or more of the proposed location determination schemes can be applied in parallel, access to the relevant information sources provided.
• identifiers In order to compare a previous location of a device to an actual one, it is preferred to use identifiers in order to identify the devices.
• a DHCP server needs to use some unique identifier to associate a cliant with its registration.
• a preferred identifier can be a device's machine access code (MAC) address.
• MAC machine access code
• Another possibility is the manufacturer's serial number or a DNS name.
• MAC address of a connect requesting device is visible to the first point of contact, and as many network entities such as DHCP servers or routers keep records or log files of MAC addresses, it is preferred to identify a device by way of its MAC address and to access the MAC address lists in the respective network entities.
• a stored table can be searched for this device. This table comprises location information that is associated to device identifiers. This table is an element of the mobile device detection engine that provides the information at which location a device was previously detected.
• the look-up table is preferably amended by inserting the device identifier of the new device together with the determined location information in order to reflect the current state of device locations.
• the device identifier is already stored in the look-up table which means that the corresponding device registered with the data network at least once in previous times
• the associated location information as stored in the look-up table is compared to the location information that as actually determined. In case these location information match, the device has probably accessed the data network for several times from the same location. The device might then probably classified as a non-mobile device such as a desktop computer, a tower computer or a server computer. However, this classification / registration is wrong, when the device is a mobile device that does not change its position over a long period of time.
• the device has mobile properties, i.e. it is portable and made for mobile usage.
• a non-mobile device might be relocated and appear as a mobile device dependent on the algorithm that determines the condition when a device is classified as a mobile device.
• the final algorithm for detecting a mobile device as such can vary. It certainly will be based in one way or another on the fact that a determined location differs from a previous stored location. This is a criterion that at least has to be fulfilled for detecting a device as a mobile device. Other additional criteria might have to be fulfilled before a device will be registered as a mobile device. According to a preferred embodiment, a registration as a mobile device might be considered only when a different device locations can be detected for several times, even a number n of times within a specified time limit. Such mechanism ensures that e.g. a non-mobile device that is once relocated within a year will not be regarded as a mobile device. Vice versa, such mechanism might prevent to classify a mobile device as a non mobile device when this device is primarily operated from one location and transferred only on e.g. a monthly basis.
• the stored location information is preferably replaced by the actual, determined location information.
• the actual location information might be stored in addition to the previous location information. This is beneficial for algorithms which execute the classification based on information of the past.
• an apparatus for detecting a mobile computing device connectable to a data network comprising a control unit for executing a method as described in any one of the method related claims, and there is provided a computer program element comprising computer program code for executing any one of the previously described methods when being loaded into a digital processing unit of a computer which computer program elements can also show distributed properties.
• the apparatus forms a unity with a DHCP server, i.e. DHCP functions as well as mobile device detecting functions are running on the same server hardware which is advantageous as the DHCP functionality might be a valuable source for providing location related information.
• DHCP DHCP functions
• mobile device detecting functions are running on the same server hardware which is advantageous as the DHCP functionality might be a valuable source for providing location related information.
• the apparatus according to the invention might also be integrated into a router.
• the apparatus further needs information from other network entities in order to determine location information
• respective interfaces such as an interface to an IP address allocation server, an interface to a router, or even an interface to devices themselves for asking the devices for location related information.
• the invention embodied in its aspect of a computer program element can preferably provide additional code means for detecting and/or administrating computing inventory.
• Implementing this aspect of the invention into an inventory detection software enriches conventional inventory detection software by the additional mobile device detection function.
• FIG. 1 a diagram of a system comprising an apparatus according to the present invention
• FIG. 2 a schematic diagram of a part of a data network illustrating a particular way of determining the location of a device.
• FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of a system comprising an apparatus according to the present invention.
• DHCP servers A, B and C represent the first points of contact for all the devices of e.g. company X when requesting connectivity to a data network DN which represents the corporate Intranet. Every connect request causes the allocation of a dynamic IP address to the requesting device by the respective DHCP servers A, B, and C.
• a device needs a numeric identifier, i.e. an IP address.
• a device can be assigned a fixed IP address or a dynamic IP address. In the latter case the address is assigned automatically and may change over time or after restarting the device.
• a well-known protocol to request a dynamic IP address is DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). Dynamic IP addresses are a flexible way of assigning JP addresses to devices that often change locations within a building of a company or organization.
• each one of the DHCP servers A, B and C is responsible for one of three sites U, V, W the company X maintains.
• site U is served by DHCP server A
• site V by DHCP server B
• site W by DHCP server C.
• DHCP servers A, B, and C provide access to the data network DN which is schematically represented by a backbone.
• Device 1 is located at site U and is connected via DHCP server A
• device 2 is located at site V and is connected via DHCP server B
• device 3 is located at site W and connected via DHCP server C.
• Every DHCP server maintains a look-up table in which the MAC addresses of devices are mapped to IP addresses allocated these devices by the DHCP server upon request.
• These look-up tables are referenced as LTA, LTB and LTC for the respective DHCP servers A, B and C.
• Reference MDDE represents a mobile device detection engine for classifying a data network connectable computing device as a mobile computing device.
• the mobile device detection engine MDDE operates within the administrative domain of company X, which means that the task assigned to the mobile device detection engine MDDE is to detect devices that connect to the company wide data network as mobile devices. The detection result might later be used for creating an automatically established inventory.
• the mobile device detection engine MDDE is a separate server according to Figure 1 which provides a classification entity look-up table CELT.
• location information LOC is mapped to device identifiers which device identifiers are represented by MAC addresses.
• the location information LOC is represented by the various DHCP server IDs: As every DHCP server serves for a different site of company X, each DHCP server represents a defined geographical area, i.e. the area / the sites U, V or W it is responsible for.
• the DHCP server ID is used as location information in the classification entity CE.
• the actual classification entity look-up table CELT illustrates that device 1 is located in the domain of DHCP server A, that device 2 is located in the domain of DHCP server B, and that device 3 is located in the domain of DHCP server C.
• the classification entity look-up table CELT receives this information by communicating with the DHCP servers A, B and C. This communication is indicated by straight line arrows.
• any update of the classification entity look-up table CELT might be performed in different ways.
• Each DHCP server might automatically notify the classification entity CE upon every new connect request it receives, and therewith transmit the device identifyer.
• the DHCP servers would have to be adapted with such a communication protocol.
• the mobile device detection engine MDDE request the DHCP server for the relevant data which comprise at least a list of registered device identifiers.
• the mobile device detection engine MDDE updates its classification entity look-up table CELT.
• the classification engine can thereby access lookup-tables LTA, LTB or LTC of DHCP servers which look-up LTA, LTB or LTC tables only show the actual connected devices. However, the history of connected devices which were allocated an IP address to can also be stored.
• the mobile device detection engine MDDE can access this log file in an alternative embodiment, e.g. on a daily or weekly basis, and update its own classification entity look-up table CELT, and therefore detect devices with mobile properties each time after having accessed the log files of all the assigned DHCP servers.
• the mobile device detection engine MDDE Upon notification, upon access to the look-up tables, or upon access to log files, the mobile device detection engine MDDE updates the classification entity look-up table CELT and adds a new entry for each device that was not listed yet in the classification entity look-up table CELT. As the mobile device detection engine MDDE does not know yet whether this device is a mobile one or not, the register of mobile devices is not amended yet.
• the device In case a device is already listed and assigned to the DHCP server as listed in the classification entity look-up table CELT, the device is probably a stationary device and will not be added to the list of mobile devices.
• device 1 is a mobile device and was moved from the domain of DHCP server A to the domain of DHCP server C, indicated there by dotted lines.
• a comparison routine which compares the location entry of a listed device with the determined location of the connect requesting device will recognize that the actual location - or in case a log file is the source of information the last available location - is different to the entry in the classification entity look-up table CELT.
• this paiticular device will be subject to an entry in a list MD of mobile devices provided at mobile device detection engine MDDE.
• the mobile device detection engine MDDE can also communicate with the devices themselves, indicated by dotted line arrows in Figure 1. This is preferred when devices are capable to deliver location information themselves.
• the mobile device detection engine MDDE maintains a databases of all MAC addresses. Whenever it is detected that a certain MAC address shows up from different locations one knows that it is a mobile device. The location can be determined the way described above. As a nice side effect one can also detect new devices that are not supposed to connect to the network at all.
• the DHCP server either sends the MAC address or records it itself. This is preferred to detect devices that show up only for a very short period. But in order to do anything on the network they need to obtain an JP address and therefore they first contact the DHCP server.
• Devices DV7, DV8, DV9 and DV10 are connected at ports 7, 8, 9, 10 of a switch SW.
• the switch is connected to routers Rl and R2.
• the switch SW comprises a logic that forwards all messaged from ports 7 and 8 to router Rl, whereas all messages coming from ports 9 and 10 are forwarded to router R2. Accessing now information provided by routers Rl and R2, it can be detected whether device DV7 is connected to one of the ports 7 and 8, or whether it is connected to ports 9 or 10.
• packets coming from device DV7 would either end up at router Rl or at router R2.
• a location change of a device might be detected, as the data packets of the same device might end up at different routers subject to the port they are connected to and thus the location they are connected at as different ports of a switch might serve different plugs at different locations.
• Location information can, furthermore, be provided by DHCP relay agents on routers or by the client themselves.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
• Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)
• Small-Scale Networks (AREA)
• Data Exchanges In Wide-Area Networks (AREA)

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• 2004
  • 2004-08-20 JP JP2006525194A patent/JP4534233B2/ja not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2004-08-20 WO PCT/IB2004/002711 patent/WO2005025137A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2004-08-20 EP EP04744311.4A patent/EP1661316B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2004-08-20 KR KR1020067003237A patent/KR100843541B1/ko not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2004-09-06 CN CNB2004100687763A patent/CN100539511C/zh not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 2006
  • 2006-03-03 US US11/367,526 patent/US7908379B2/en active Active

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