Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L12/00—Data switching networks
  • H04L12/02—Details
  • H04L12/22—Arrangements for preventing the taking of data from a data transmission channel without authorisation
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L63/00—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security
  • H04L63/08—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for authentication of entities
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L63/00—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security
  • H04L63/10—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for controlling access to devices or network resources

Definitions

• the present invention relates to the field of information handling systems and more particularly, to simplified communications and information access.
• Computer systems are widely, used for providing data processing power to many segments of today's modern society.
• a personal computer system can usually be defined as a system unit having a system processor (often a microprocessor) and associated volatile and non-volatile memory, a display monitor, a keyboard, one or more diskette drives, a fixed disk storage device and an optional printer.
• system processor often a microprocessor
• These personal computer systems are information handling systems which are designed primarily to give independent computing power to a single user (or a group of users in the case of personal computers which serve as computer server systems) and are inexpensively priced for purchase by individuals or small businesses.
• Known computer systems include various hardware components and may be pre-loaded with certain software applications, such as a word processor, an e-mail program, or applications (often called clients) to remotely access content through the Internet.
• One component of the Internet is the World Wide Web ("the Web"), which is a globally connected network that provides access to multiple Web "pages”. Web pages are collections of information that can be viewed by a user through the use of browser application software.
• Browser software is sometimes referred to herein as "a browser,” which is a special-purpose software application program that requests Web pages through a communications link and then renders the requested -content to the user.
• a Web page can incorporate various multimedia content including text, graphics, sounds including music and speech, animation, and video images. Web pages that include sound components can be heard as well as seen using a browser. Web pages are interconnected to one another using hypertext that allows a user to move from any Web page to another Web page, and to graphics, binary files, multimedia files, as well as many other Internet resources.
• the Web operates on a client/server model and allows a server computer system to send Web pages of information to a remote client computer system.
• a server computer system (“server system”) includes a hardware server as well as software Web pages that make up a Web “site” as described below.
• the terms for the hardware "server” and the “site” are sometimes used interchangeably.
• the remote client computer system can render Web pages through the use of a browser, such as Netscape NavigatorTM or Microsoft's Internet ExplorerTM.
• the browser software acts as a client that contacts a ,,...,, whatsoever . ir Web serWer ⁇ and ⁇ eaueets ⁇ nfomiation
• the Web server locates and then sends the information to the
• Web browser which renders the results on the user's computer.
• Web pages are defined using a markup language called Hypertext Markup Language (“HTML”)- HTML provides a standard set of tags that define how a Web page's text, graphics and multimedia files are to be rendered by the browser on the remote 5 client computer. HTML also contains commands for linking a Web page to other Web pages and to other Internet resources.
• HTML Hypertext Markup Language
• personal computers with a general purpose operating system capable of storing and running a plurality of software programs, printing, and full-capability communications with the Internet, and other common personal computer functionality, may be beyond the means of some segments of the world's 10 population. In many cases, these population segments may not even have access to electrical power or land- based telecommunications, or such infrastructure if it exists may not be reliable. In other cases, they may not possess the skill or knowledge to operate typical, general purpose computer systems. As such, it is desirable to provide a device possessing simple and reliable communications and information access capabilities to a larger segment of the world's population which cannot afford or support current general purpose computer systems.
• the present invention provides an apparatus and a system for a simple, low cost, multipurpose communications and data information access device (hereinafter referenced as "multipurpose communication device"), suitable for distribution and operation within the economic and infrastructure constraints commonly encountered in underdeveloped countries, and capable of establishing and maintaining a connection to one or 20 more wireless networks capable of supporting voice, video, and data communications.
• multipurpose communication device a simple, low cost, multipurpose communications and data information access device
• the invention relates to an environment for managing accounts between an Internet service provider and a plurality of multipurpose thin client communication devices.
• Each of the multipurpose thin client communication devices including an associated unique ID.
• the environment includes a server access point wherein the access point allows the plurality of multipurpose thin client communication devices to interact 25 with the Internet service provider, a validation module which validates whether a multipurpose thin client communication device should have access to the Internet, and a determining module which determines whether a multipurpose thin client communication device is a valid system based upon a plurality of criteria.
• the Internet service provider uses the determination to manage a business portion of a relationship with a multipurpose thin client communication device user.
• the invention in another embodiment, relates to an apparatus for enabling a plurality of multipurpose communication devices to connect to an Internet service provider which includes a processor, a communication device coupled to the processor and non-volatile storage coupled to the processor.
• the communication device interacts with the plurality of multipurpose communication devices and the Internet service provider.
• the nonvolatile storage includes an account management module and a browser module. The account management
• 35 module enables the Internet service provider to manage accounts for each of the plurality of multipurpose plurality of multipurpose communication devices to individually connect to the Internet service
• the invention in another embodiment, relates to a client server architecture for providing low cost information access which includes a plurality of multipurpose thin client communication devices wherein each 5 of the multipurpose thin client communication devices including an associated unique ID and a server access point.
• the server access point allows the plurality of multipurpose thin client communication devices to interact with an Internet service provider.
• the server access point includes a validation module to validate whether a thin client multipurpose communication device should have access to the Internet and a determining module to determine whether a thin client multipurpose communication device is a valid system based upon a plurality of 10 criteria.
• the present invention can be used to wirelessly conduct voice communications and information access through a wide area information network, such as the Internet, while providing a predetermined subset of information access and voice communication capabilities that are linked to a unique user identifier.
• Figure 1 shows a block diagram of a system for providing a low cost multipurpose communication 20 device to a plurality of users.
• Figure 2 shows a system block diagram of a multipurpose communication device.
• Figure 3 shows a block diagram of an access point.
• Figure 4 shows a block diagram of the software of the multipurpose communication device.
• Figure 5 shows a block diagram of the software of an access point.
• Figure 6 shows a flow chart of the operation of account management of the system for providing a low cost multipurpose communication device to a plurality of users.
• FIG. 1 a block diagram of an environment 100 for providing a low cost multipurpose communication device to a plurality of users is shown. More specifically, a plurality of multipurpose 30 communication devices 110 are coupled to a thin client access point (AP) 120 via a wireless communication link 802.1 Ix or 802.16.
• the thin client access point 120 is coupled to a thin client access point (AP) 120 via a wireless communication link 802.1 Ix or 802.16.
• the distribution network 130 can concentrate the access point channels 122 and be coupled to Internet Service Provider (ISP) 140 using one or more communications links 132 which may comprise but are not limited 5 to, a leased telephone line, a wireless connection, a broadband connection, or any communication link capable of supporting voice and data communications.
• ISP Internet Service Provider
• the distribution network can include one or more wireless interfaces including but not limited to 802.11, GSM, ISDN, EDGE, or GSM 3.0, 802.16 interfaces or one or more wired interfaces including but not limited to V.90 models, ISDN, XDSL forming a mesh network.
• Internet Service Provider 140 is coupled to the Internet, or other information networks, through one or 10 more broadband communications links 142, which may comprise but is not limited to, a wired connection, a direct link such as a digital subscriber line (DSL), Tl dedicated line, integrated services digital network (ISDN) or cable connection, a wireless connection such as a cellular 802.16 or satellite network, local data transport system such as Ethernet or token ring over a local area network, or any communication link capable of supporting data communications to an information network.
• Internet or other information network 150 provides 15 access to a plurality of Web servers 160.
• the environment 100 provides a system for providing low cost information access to a plurality of users.
• a user that wishes to access information on the Internet uses the multipurpose communication device 110 to link to an access point 120.
• the communication device 110 runs "thin client” software which essentially implements a communications protocol with "thin client applications” running in the access point.
• An example 20 of a "thin client application” is a "thin client web browser”.
• the multipurpose communication device 110 includes communication hardware and software that allows the multipurpose communication device 110 to establish a communications link with the access point 120.
• the access point 120 includes hardware and software that allows the communication device 110 to establish a communication link with Internet service provider 140.
• the Internet service provider 140 executes
• the multipurpose communication device 110 communicates the commands to the "thin client" running in the access point.
• the command could be a request for information, such as a search for documents pertaining to a specified topic, or a specific Web page.
• the Web Browser thin client application interprets the command into a command
• the Internet service provider 140 executes an application program that monitors and services requests for information located on a plurality of Web servers 160.
• the application program forwards the request via the Internet 150 to the appropriate Web server 160 which responds with the requested information to the Internet Service Provider 140 (ISP), which in turn transmits the information to the appropriate access point which in turn transmits the information to the ISP.
• ISP Internet Service Provider 140
• Each Web server 160 on the Internet has a known address that the user supplies to the Web browser to connect to the appropriate Web server 160. If a type of information is requested the user can access a server I jVhJCh ripins ⁇ ai ⁇ iseare ⁇ af rfflgr ⁇ pi;::which will respond with addresses of many pages, each containing information of the type requested. Because Web servers 160 can contain more than one Web page, the user will also specify in the address which particular Web page he wants to view.
• the address also known as a universal resource locator (URL), is a series of numbers that indicate the server and the location of the page on the server, analogous to a post office address. For simplicity, a domain name system was developed that allows users to specify servers and documents using easy to remember names instead of numbers. A URL may further specify a particular page in a group of pages belonging to a content provider by including additional information at the end of a domain name.
• Internet URL links can be defined and pre-configured in a Browser running on a particular access point 120 to target areas of interest including but not limited to Web based e-mail, search engines, news, weather services and predetermined sources of information.
• the information presented on the display device of the multipurpose communication device 110 comes from the Browser running on the access point it is connected to, thus the web links are visible on the communication device 110.
• the combination of one or more multipurpose communication devices 110 and the internet service provider 140 provides a system for providing voice communications to a plurality of users via a voice over internet protocol (VOIP).
• VOIP voice over internet protocol
• a user that wishes to communicate via voice communications uses the multipurpose communication device 110 which contains a microphone and simple speaker.
• the microphone is connected to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and the speaker is connected to a digital-to-analog (DAC).
• ADC analog-to-digital converter
• DAC digital-to-analog
• a VOIP application is run in the access point (AP) (instead of a browser), the digital information is interpreted as voice packets and sent to the ISP along with telephone number signaling information.
• the ISP recognizes that this is a telephone call and converts the packets to the internet protocol (IP) packets and interprets the signaling information to direct the IP packets over the internet to a "called" party.
• IP internet protocol
• the multipurpose communication device 110 includes a thin client controller 202 which is coupled to digital input devices 205 such as a keyboard, touch sensor pad, touch screen, joy stick type device, etc.
• the thin client controller 202 is also coupled to a wireless communication device 211 such as a GSM/GPRS cellular transmitter/receiver or an 802.1 Ix or 802.16 IP transmitter/receiver.
• the thin client controller 202 is also coupled to digital output devices 214 such as a display device, including but not limited to a multi-line display, a graphical display, etc.
• the thin client controller 202 also includes non-volatile storage on which thin client software 240 is stored.
• the thin client software includes software for interpreting the input commands as well as rendering rtt n i ,,.ou ⁇ ! P ⁇ 'iri:?iforeatip ⁇ t thgt.is..re.(jjeiMfd from the access point 120.
• the thin client software also includes a unique user identifier (UUID).
• the UUID 250 may be stored for example on a read only memory device (ROM) or on a hardwired integrated circuit within the thin client controller.
• the thin client software also include software for controlling the communication device 211, analog interface circuits (ADC or DAC) and analog signal processing 5 circuits associated with the microphone and speaker subsystems.
• the client controller 220 also includes RAM for storing executing programs and related data. The thin client controller and software combination also implement the necessary digital signal processing to process the data to/from the DAC/ADC, respectively.
• Implementation of the controller 202 is based on a cost/functionality tradeoff assessment.
• memory within the controller 202 is not intended to be accessible by the end user, but may be 10 modified at time of manufacture. In either case, the memory interface is typically un-terminated to reduce cost and power consumption.
• the controller 202 is a low cost and low power application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).
• ASIC application specific integrated circuit
• the analog I/O devices 207 and 216 of the multipurpose communication device 110 include an integrated headphone and microphone jack for an external headset capable of supporting audio 15 playback or full duplex audio for applications like voice over IP (VOIP).
• VOIP voice over IP
• the microphone 216 and speaker 207 may be integrated into the thin client multipurpose communication device 110.
• the multipurpose communication device 110 could be portable and therefore battery powered.
• the batteries may be rechargeable using an external AC/DC adapter in conjunction with on board regulators capable of providing sufficient power to provide all required voltages to the system.
• the thin client access point 120 is essentially a thin client server dedicated to serving the multipurpose communication devices connected to that AP.
• the primary components of a thin client server AP are its processor 302, memory 306, such as random access memory (RAM) and I/O controller 304 which interfaces I/O devices with the system bus 312.
• the AP does not typically have a dedicated keyboard and display, but can have connectors for such I/O devices 305.
• the thin client AP is
• the communication interfaces are connected to the I/O controller 304. Assuming the communication channels for the thin clients 110 and distribution networks 130 are different, there will be more than one communications transceiver - a communications device 311 for communicating with the thin client and a communications device 313 for communicating with the distribution network. It is possible that one interface can serve both the thin clients 110 and distribution networks 130.
• ROM Read Only Memory
• HDD Hard Disk Drive
• BIOS 320 operating system 330
• communications software 340 unique user identifier
• UUID unique user identifier
• thin client applications 360 are stored on the non- volatile storage for downloading to the RAM and execution by the 35 processor 302.
• the UUID 350 may be stored for example on a read only memory device (ROM) or on a hardwired integrated circuit.
• ROM read only memory
• 306 is based on a cost/functionality tradeoff assessment.
• the non- volatile storage 307 of the thin client AP includes a boot ROM device to store and boot from the BIOS 320.
• the ROM device may be field updateable using patch RAM via software operations conducted over a wireless communications link.
• the software mechanism to update the BIOS 320 is 5 a part of a system software update process and is invisible to the user.
• multiple mechanisms for placing the multipurpose communication device 110 into an HDD image recovery mode exist.
• One such method is by pressing a button.
• This button is a hidden button that a user would not normally know is there and which is impossible to accidentally press.
• An example of this is a button that requires a paper clip or similar small object to be pushed into a hole on the enclosure to activate 10 the button.
• Image recovery may be accomplished via software operations conducted over a wireless communications link and may be transparent to the user.
• the multipurpose communication device thin client software 240 includes an input command module 410, an output command module 412, a wireless communication module 414 and a UUID module 416.
• the thin client software does not include application software such as browser software. 15
• the browser functionality provided on the multipurpose communication device 110 is provided via the access point 120.
• the input command module 410 includes a simple protocol to interpret and encapsulate commands provided by the I/O input devices such as a keyboard, touch screen or microphone and relay those commands to the thin client AP 120.
• the output command module also includes a simple protocol to interpret commands 0 received from the thin client AP 120 and render the data received from the thin client AP 120 on the output devices such as the display 214 and speaker 207.
• the wireless communication module 414 includes the media access control (MAC) software necessary to send and receive information to and from the access point 120 and the software necessary to encrypt and decrypt the packets which are exchanged between the thin client and the AP.
• MAC media access control
• An example of such software is IEEE 802.11 security software.
• the access point software includes a plurality of silos 510a, 510b, etc which interact virtually with the access point hardware 512 via a hypervisor 514 (also known as a virtual machine monitor or VMM).
• the access point hardware may be based on processors which have hardware support for virtualization such as AMD processors with "Pacif ⁇ ca" technology.
• Each of the silos 510 includes an instantiation of operating system 330, one or more applications 360 such as a web browser 520, an account 0 management module 518 and a security module 522.
• the browser functionality provided on each of the multipurpose communication devices 110 is provided via the web browser within each silo.
• one of the silos functions as a system management silo (e.g., 510a) and also includes a software update module 530 and an image recovery module 532.
• the Operating System 330 may be, but is not limited to, a Windows-based operating system or a Linux- 5 based operating system.
• the Windows operating systems or Linux operating systems uniquely have several configurable operating parameters that may affect the performance of the system. Regardless of the operating ,. partly., . ,... crust, ⁇ systemimplemented ⁇ alkindhadual operating system characteristics can be evaluated for their value versus w" fc... ss . ⁇ > % till!' wjf iur (w ⁇ ' " ⁇ r»»f" ⁇ f -* ⁇ »« performance impact on a system using the processor 302 implemented in the access point 120. These configuration settings can be pre-conf ⁇ gured in the installed image.
• the access point 120 is shipped with all software applications 360 that are needed 5 for access point 120 and the multipurpose communication device 110 communicating with the access point 120 to function as a thin client/server pair.
• the access point 120 is not designed for application software to be installed by the user.
• Applications can typically be added or updated via the update module 530 accomplished via software operations conducted over a communications link by the system administrator and may be transparent to the user.
• the access point 120 enables software image maintenance for various scenarios, including operating system security patches, application patches, BIOS updates, new drivers and/or applications, etc.
• a mechanism for patch management can be included within the software.
• Operating system maintenance can be alternatively managed directly with the operating system vendor's infrastructure. For example, Windows can be maintained using the
• the access point 120 includes the ability to browse the Internet and save bookmarks, and possibly other data on the system, limited by available non-volatile memory and user privileges.
• the access point also includes the ability to allow multiple communication devices 110 to browse the Internet and save bookmarks and other 20 data on the access point.
• User configuration settings are stored on the access point 120. All of the user's data is stored in a location that a user has direct access to without the need to know how to navigate a file system. This user data is isolated from the rest of the operating system to prevent corruption of the data by a virus or programs in other silos or other means. In the event of a full system image recovery, the user data is persistent and not overwritten unless a catastrophic disk hardware failure occurs.
• each of the multipurpose communication devices 110 is provided via the browser module 520 of the access point 120.
• Each multipurpose communication device 110 includes a separate instantiation of the browser module and user data in its own silo 570b, c, ... in the AP 120.
• each multipurpose communication device 110 may have unique user data stored within the access point 120.
• the security module 522 in each silo 510a, b, c, ... provides security functionality between the access 30 point 120 and the thin client communications devices, and between the AP 120 and the Internet service provider 140 for all of the communication devices 110.
• the operating system supports secure virtualization to ensure isolation between user programs and data.
• One such operating system Windows Vista and its successor, UnityTM from MicrosoftTM, relies on a trusted platform module (TPM) 1.2 to provide secure storage for keys used in encrypting stored data, authenticating users and transmitting secure packets.
• TPM trusted platform module
• Internet service provider 140 to provide a low cost multipurpose communication device to a plurality of users is , ( ,.,,. ,,. thorough depression ... j ghqwp jf ⁇ . ⁇ pecifi ⁇ fly ⁇ a u$er..starts an Internet session with the multipurpose communication device 110 by accessing the Internet with the multipurpose communication device 110 at step 610.
• a connection with the Internet service provider 140 is established via the communication device 110 and the access point 120.
• the user then provides a user name and a password to the Internet service provider at step 620.
• the Internet service 5 provider 140 determines whether the user is an authenticated/authorized user at step 622. If the user is not an approved user, the Internet service provider denies access to the Internet at step 624. If the user is an approved user, the Internet service provider approves the session at step 626 and the user is connected to the Internet via the Internet service provider 140.
• the multipurpose communication device 110 10 provides the UUID to the Internet service provider 140 in the background, without user knowledge or intervention at step 630.
• the Internet service provider determines whether the multipurpose communication device is an authentic/authorized device at step 632.
• the Internet service provider 140 may determine whether the multipurpose communication device 110 is a valid system based upon a plurality of criteria, including but not limited to, whether payment for the multipurpose communication device is up to date, whether the multipurpose 15 communication device 110 has been reported stolen, whether there are duplicate copies of the same device (thus indicating that unauthorized copies of the device have been made), and whether the location from which the device is establishing the connection corresponds to an expected location.
• the Internet service provider 140 can use this determination to manage the business portion of the relationship with the user. For example, if the multipurpose communication device 110 was assigned to a user, this determination can determine 0 whether the terms of the assignment are being followed. If the system is a valid system, then the user is connected to the Internet via the Internet service provider at step 626.
• the Internet service provider 140 may then monitor the Internet session based upon certain criteria such as a length of time that the connection is in effect at step 640. Based upon the monitoring, the Internet service provider 140 can periodically determine whether the connected multipurpose communication device 110 is an 5 authentic/authorized system at step 642. If the connected multipurpose communication device 110 is an authentic/authorized system, then the Internet service provider 140 continues to approve the session at step 626. If the connected multipurpose communication device 110 is not a valid system, then the Internet service provider 140 terminates access to the Internet at step 644.
• the above-discussed embodiments include modules that perform certain tasks.
• the modules discussed herein may include hardware modules or software modules.
• the hardware modules may be implemented within application specific circuitry or via some form of programmable logic device.
• the software ⁇ r> ii"'" '" IP” w& ⁇ teSi'ijjay mclud6"S ⁇ rijpfej batch, or other executable files.
• the modules may be stored on a machine-readable or computer-readable storage medium such as a flash memory card.
• Storage devices used for storing software modules in accordance with an embodiment of the invention may also include a semiconductor-based memory, which may be permanently, removably or remotely coupled to a microprocessor/memory system.
• the 5 modules may be stored within a computer system memory to configure the computer system to perform the functions of the module.
• Other new and various types of computer-readable storage media may be used to store the modules discussed herein.
• those skilled in the art will recognize that the separation of functionality into modules is for illustrative purposes. Alternative embodiments may merge the functionality of multiple modules into a single module or may impose an alternate decomposition of functionality of modules. 10 For example, a software module for calling sub-modules may be decomposed so that each sub-module performs its function and passes control directly to another sub-module.
• the communication channels may be wired or wireless in general, even though the embodiment depicted herein assumed wireless channels.

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• Computing Systems (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Information Transfer Between Computers (AREA)
• Small-Scale Networks (AREA)
• Data Exchanges In Wide-Area Networks (AREA)

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  • 2006-11-29 CN CNA2006800452977A patent/CN101322351A/zh active Pending
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