Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) technology was initially deployed in local area networks. UPnP technology enables UPnP devices to be added to a UPnP local network without the need for drivers or configuring of the device and/or network. The device and the network can discover each other, the device can be assigned an ID (IP address) by the network, the device and network can exchange information, and then the device and other devices attached to the network can communicate using the associated IP addresses. UPnP has been expanded beyond the physical boundaries of local area networks to enable remote devices to have remote access to the network.
FIG. 1A illustrates an example connection of a remote device (e.g., portable computer, wireless device) 110 to a device 120 connects to a local network (e.g., home network) 130 utilizing UPnP technology. The remote device 110 connects to a router and or gateway 150 of the local network 130 via the Internet 140 and then once connected to the local network 130 connects to the local device 120. Before the UPnP device 110 can be used to remotely access the UPnP network 130 and the UPnP device(s) 120 connected thereto, a Remote Access Server (RAS) has to be established within the local network 130 (e.g., in the router/gateway 150) and the device 110 needs to be established as a Remote Access Client (RAC).
FIG. 1B illustrates a simplified block diagram of example devices 110, 150 configured as a RAC and a RAS respectively and a secure communications link 160 therebetween. The remote device 110 can include a processor 111, a computer readable storage medium 112, and a communication interface 119. The processor 111, the computer readable storage medium 112, and the communication interface 119 are not limited to any particular type, configuration, or number as these may vary based on, among other things, the device 110 and the system the device 110 is operating in. The computer readable storage medium 112 can be in whole or part external to the device 110.
The computer readable storage medium 112 can store processor-executable instructions, which, when executed by the processor 111 cause the processor 111 to perform certain functions and the device 110 to operate in a certain fashion. The processor-executable instructions can include operational instructions 113 and RAC instructions 114. The operational instructions 113 can be used to operate the device 110 and the services performed by the device 110 or the applications running on the device 110. The operational instructions 113 are illustrated as a single block but are in no way limited to a single set of instructions. Rather, the operational instructions 113 can be a plurality of instructions sets necessary to operate the device 110 and the applications running thereon.
The RAC instructions 114 can include Remote Access Transport Agent (RATA) instructions 115 and Remote Access Discovery Agent (RADA) instructions 116. The RATA instructions 115 can provide the secure communications between the device 110 and the router 150 via the communications interface 119. The RADA instructions 116 can maintain discovery information for the device 110 and other local devices connected thereto (RAC discovery information), can synchronize the local RAC discovery information to the router/gateway (configured as a RAS) 150 once communications have been established therebetween, can receive the discovery information for devices local to the RAS 150 (RAS discovery information) and can maintain the RAS discovery information as remote discovery information.
The router/gateway 150 can include a processor 151, a computer readable storage medium 152, and a communication interface 159. The processor 151, the computer readable storage medium 152, and the communication interface 159 are not limited to any particular type, configuration, or number as these may vary based on, among other things, the router/gateway 150 and the system the router/gateway 150 is operating in. The computer readable storage medium 152 can store processor-executable instructions, which, when executed by the processor 151 cause the processor 151 to perform certain functions. The processor-executable instructions can include operational instructions 153 and RAS instructions 154. The operational instructions 153 can be used to operate the router/gateway 150 and the services performed thereby (e.g., routing).
The RAS instructions 154 can include RATA instructions 155, RADA instruction 156, RADA configuration instructions 157, and inbound connection configuration instructions 158. The RATA instructions 155 can provide the secure communications between the router/gateway 150 and the device 110 via the communications interface 159. The RADA instructions 156 can maintain discovery information for devices 120 connected to the local network 130 (RAS discovery information), can receive discovery information for remote devices (configured as a RAC) 110 once communications have been established therebetween (RAC discovery information), can maintain the RAC discovery information as remote discovery information, and can synchronize the local RAS discovery information to the RAC 110 once communications have been established therebetween.
The RADA configuration instructions 157 can enable the operator of the network 130 to limit the local discovery information that the router/gateway 150 provides to RACs. For example, if a secure server was included on the network 130 the instructions 157 could restrict the discovery information associated therewith from being synchronized with remote devices 110. The inbound connection configuration instructions 158 can verify that the RAS can be reached by the Internet (e.g., public IP address) and configure settings to allow the RACs to establish a RATA connection thereto.
Once the RAS 150 and the RAC 110 are configured, the RAC 110 can initiate contact with the RAS 150 and a Remote Access Transport (RAT) channel 160 can be established therebetween. Once the RAT channel 160 is established, the RADA instructions 116, 156 can synchronize UPnP discovery information between the RAC 110 and RAS 150. After discovery information is synched, the remote device 110 can communicate with the local devices 120 and vice versa in a similar fashion to the local devices 120 communicating therebetween subject to parameters associated with external networks and access points between networks.
FIG. 2 illustrates an example connection between a plurality of remote devices (e.g., portable computer, wireless device) 210, 220 and a local network (e.g., home network) 230 utilizing UPnP technology. The remote devices 210, 220 can be configured as RACs (as illustrated) or can be connected to a network 214, 224 that includes devices configured as RACs. A router or gateway 232 of the local network 230 can be configured as a RAS (as illustrated) or the RAS can be a separate device on the network 230. The remote devices 210, 220 can include media servers 212, 222 or the devices 210, 220 can be connected to the media servers 212, 222 via the respective network 214, 224 (as illustrated). RAT channels 240, 250 can be established between the corresponding RAC 210, 220 and the RAS 232 of the local network 230 via the Internet 260.
A user of the RAC 210 (or other devices connected to the network 214 such as a media server 212) can discover the media server 234 and access content thereon, and a user of a device (e.g., media server 234) on the local network 230 can discover the media server 212 and access content thereon via the RAT channel 240. Likewise, a user of the RAC 220 (or other devices connected to the network 224 such as a media server 222) can discover the media server 234 and access content thereon, and a user of a device on the local network 230 can discover the media server 222 and access content thereon via the RAT channel 250.
FIG. 3 illustrates an example of discovery information aggregated for each of the RACs 210, 220 and the RAS 232 of FIG. 2. The discovery information for the RAS 232 includes information related to the local network 230 including information for the media server 234, information for the remote network 214 including information related to the media server 212 and information for the remote network 224 including information related to the media server 222. The discovery information for the RAC 210 includes information related to its local network 214 including information for the media server 212 and information for the remote home network 230 including information related to the media server 234. The discovery information for the RAC 220 includes information related to its local network 224 including information for the media server 222 and information for the remote home network 230 including information related to the media server 234.
As the RAC 210 does not include information about the network 224 or the devices connected thereto it can not discover the network 224 or the devices 220, 222 connected thereto. Likewise, as the RAC 220 does not include information about the network 214 or the devices connected thereto it can not discover the network 214 or the devices 210, 212 connected thereto. As such, users of devices 210, 212 on the network 214 (user A) can not communicate with the users of devices 220, 222 on the network 224 (user B) or vice versa. That is, there is no RAC to RAC communications vehicle.
Accordingly, if a user A wanted to share some media (e.g., pictures, videos) from their media server 212 with user B they would have to copy the content to media server 234 and then user B could access the content from the media server 234. The same would be the case if user B wanted to share content with user A. Having to copy content to the media server 234 on the local network (home network) 230 is not convenient or efficient and has issues associated therewith. For example, the media server 234 may not have sufficient storage or the users of the network 230 may not want the remote users (users A and B) copying data to the media server 234. Furthermore, the remote users (users A and B) may only want to share their content with certain devices and not everyone having access to the media server 234 and requiring the media server 234 to provide access control for remote content copied thereto would be burdensome.
In order for user A to share content with user B and vice versa without the need to copy the content to the media server 234 that they both have access to, user A (or user B) would need to configure a device within their network 214 (or network 224) as a RAS and would need to identify the RAC 220 (or RAC 210) as an authorized user in order to establish a RAT channel therebetween. The device to be configured as the RAS would need to have a public IP address that could be used to allow access to user B (or user A). Configuring a remote device to be a RAS is not convenient or efficient and has issues associated therewith. For example, the occasions when the remote devices may want to remotely share content may be limited and therefore not justify the configuration effort. Additionally, the remote devices wishing to share content remotely may not be capable of being assigned a public IP address or being reached remotely over the Internet. Furthermore, the remote devices may not have sufficient storage medium capacity or processor capability to store or run the RAS instructions 154. Moreover, the network that the remote device is connected to may not be designed to allow external discovery of network devices (e.g., work network with firewalls).