Cloud access to local network addresses

TECHNICAL FIELD

0001The following discussion generally relates to communications over a digital network. More specifically, the following discussion relates to devices, systems, and automated processes to establish communications between networked devices.

BACKGROUND

0002Network communication continues to affect almost every aspect of modern life. In the home environment, for example, it is now commonplace for home appliances, security systems, entertainment devices, lights, thermostats, locks and many other devices to inter-communicate with each other and/or with network services on the Internet. Such devices are also commonplace in offices, factories, restaurants, pubs and other locations. Moreover, many people now carry portable computing devices such as mobile phones, tablets, etc. as they carry on their life at home, work, travel and other places.

0003Often, substantial challenges arise in establishing communications between devices that are located within the same home or office environment. Many homes and offices nowadays include multiple wired and/or wireless local area networks (LANs) behind a common router or firewall, so devices operating on different LANs (or subnets of LANs) within the same environment can have difficulty in locating each other. In particular, devices operating on different LANs (e.g., different WIFI zones, or wired or wireless networks) may not be able to see each other directly, and may not share an intervening router or gateway device that can readily establish connections between the different devices. A mobile phone communicating on a home network via a Wi-fi connection, for example, may not be able to directly communicate with a file, print or media server that is operating within the same home, but that is connected to the network through another wired or wireless network. This often occurs because devices do not have dedicated addresses on the wide area network (WAN), but rather communicate on the WAN using a port on a router or gateway device. Communications between the gateway and the local device make use of local addresses that may not be visible to the WAN, or even to other LANs operating within the home environment. Locating a device on another LAN, then, can be a substantial challenge in practice.

0004It is therefore desirable to create devices, systems and processes to improve network communications between devices operating within a home or other environment. Other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background section. <patcit id="pcit0001" dnum="US2014108650A1"><text>US2014108650A1</text></patcit> and <patcit id="pcit0002" dnum="US2014075488A1"><text>US2014075488A1</text></patcit> discuss various methods for identifying server nodes operating on a data network that are available to a client node.

BRIEF SUMMARY

0005The invention is defined by the appended independent claims 1, 4 and 5.

0006Various embodiments improve network connectivity between devices operating behind a common router or gateway device by initiating outward contact from the device to an address server residing on the Internet (or another wide area network). The server device initially provides its local address (e.g., a network address used for communications on its LAN) as well as any additional addresses of routers, gateways or other network devices residing between the device and it's gateway to the wide area network. When a client device operating behind the same gateway intends to contact the server, the client initially requests the target device's routing information from the address server operating on the WAN. The client can then attempt to reach the target device using one or more of the obtained local addresses that are associated with the target.

0007Various additional examples, aspects and other features are described in more detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

0008Example embodiments will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the following drawing figures, wherein like numerals denote like elements, and: <ul id="ul0001" list-style="none" compact="compact"><li><figref idref="f0001">FIG. 1</figref> illustrates one example of a network environment operating within a home, office or similar location.</li><li><figref idref="f0002">FIG. 2</figref> illustrates data communications occurring within a network environment to facilitate improved location and communication with target devices.</li></ul>

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

0009The following detailed description is intended to provide various examples, but it is not intended to limit the invention or the application and uses of the invention. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theory presented in the preceding background or the following detailed description.

0010According to various embodiments, server devices operating within a home, office or similar network environment initially determine information about their location within the network environment. For example, the server can ascertain a sequence of addresses and port numbers that are used by routers, gateways and other devices that deliver electronic traffic to the server device. This sequence of local addresses (or other information) can be transmitted for storage by an address server operating on the Internet or another wide area network (WAN). When client devices attempt to contact the server, the client can first contact the address server to obtain the sequence of local addresses that are associated with the server devices operating within the local network. This allows the client device to contact a target server device using one or more of the local addresses in the sequence, as desired. By providing a mechanism by which local addresses can be delivered, problems previously associated with locating hosts on the local area network can be overcome, thereby greatly improving device discovery and connect-ability within the local network environment.

0011<figref idref="f0001">FIG. 1</figref> illustrates an example of a network environment 100 in which a client 102 and a server 104 operate behind a common router device 110. In this example, router 110 connects a home environment made up of several local area networks (LANs) to the Internet or another wide area network 105. Each LAN is managed by a separate router device 110, 111, 112, 113. In the illustrated example, the two devices 102, 104 are separated by three different router devices 111, 112, 113. Each device 110-114 corresponds to wired or wireless router or gateway devices, for example, or to any number of other network control devices, as appropriate. Device 110 may be a home gateway that communicates with a cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL) or similar modem, for example, to directly connect to the WAN 205. Devices 111-112 may correspond to Wi-Fi gateways, virtual private network (VPN) gateways, wired or wireless router devices, firewalls and/or other devices as desired. Each device 110-114 is typically implemented as a computing device with conventional processor, memory, input/output and similar features that operate under the control of software or firmware instructions to execute the various functions described herein, as desired.

0012In the example illustrated in <figref idref="f0001">FIG. 1</figref>, it can often be a substantial challenge for the two nodes to find each other and establish a direct connection even though client 102 and server 104 operate on the same local environment 100 behind router 110. This is partially due to the different address domains used by the different routers 110-113 in environment 100. Moreover, one or more routers 110-113 may not be configured to forward discovery broadcasts from client 102 on other networks, particularly if the discovery broadcast is a proprietary or otherwise unique format, thereby making device discovery across multiple LANs more difficult. Since router and gateway configuration can be complex for many users, particularly in the home environment, it can be desirable to use a different mechanism for clients and servers to find each other that does not rely upon specific configuration of devices 110-114 operating within environment 100.

0013To that end, server 104 initially gathers information about its logical position within network environment 100 and forwards the gathered information to an external address server 120 for storage and subsequent retrieval. Typically, network routers and gateways are configured to allow most outgoing traffic to network 105 even if incoming traffic is severely restricted. That is, most router devices (e.g., router 110) are configured by default to permit wide access for outgoing traffic while preventing access to the internal network by incoming traffic. Similarly, most internal routing devices 111-113 will allow relatively open access to communications heading toward wide area network 105.

0014It is therefore relatively straightforward for server 104 to create an outgoing connection 144 to address server 120 operating on network 105 that can be used to transmit one or more addresses that are known to server 104. Similarly, client 102 can place a subsequent outgoing request 142 to the address server 120 to request addresses associated with any servers 104 operating on the same local environment 100. By storing network addresses associated with server 104 (including network addresses used on the internal network environment 100) with an external address server 120, then, the client 102 can more conveniently obtain local addressing information about the server 104. These local addresses, in turn, can be used to create direct connections 140 between client 102 and server 104 via the local network environment 100 even though local addresses are not directly shared between different LANs, and/or even though different LAN addresses are incompatible between different LANs operating on the same home environment, as appropriate.

0015<figref idref="f0001">FIG. 1</figref> illustrates one example of a client 102 attempting to connect to a server 104 operating within the same network environment 100. Other network schemes using different numbers of router/gateway devices arranged in other topologies are possible.

0016In the example illustrated in <figref idref="f0001">FIG. 1</figref>, server 104 uses an internet protocol (IP) address of 192.168.1.2 on its immediate network behind router 111. Router 111 uses an address of 10.20.1.2 on its "public" side network, which is hosted by router 112. Router 112, in turn, uses a "public" side address of 10.102.10.2 on the network shared with WAN gateway 110 and router 113. In one embodiment, server 104 initially determines its network location by performing TRACEROUTE or similar analysis to one or more nodes on network 110, such as server 120. The resulting TRACEROUTE data will identify addresses used by router 111, router 112, router 110 and any additional routing nodes in forwarding traffic to server 120 on network 105.

0017In various embodiments, server 104 can further increase its visibility to clients on other networks by issuing a BIND command (or the like) to one or more of its intervening routers 111, 112, 110. The BIND command will establish a port number with the bound router that can be used to forward messages to server 104. Server 104 may attempt to bind to router 111 or router 112 to obtain a port number on address 10.20.1.2 (router 111) or 10.20.1.1 (router 112) that can be used to receive messages on the 10.20.1.x network. Similarly, server 104 may additionally or alternatively attempt to BIND to the 10.102.10.x network via router 112 and/or router 110, as desired, to obtain an address on the 10.102.10.x network as well. Once the server 104 establishes one or more port numbers and/or addresses with another router, this information can be forwarded to the address server 120 for storage in a database 124.

0018Client 102 suitably transmits a query message to server 120 to obtain contact information for any servers 104 operating in environment 100. In various embodiments, address server 120 recognizes servers 104 operating in the same network environment 100 as client 102 by a shared address on network 105. That is, any devices operating behind router 110 will typically exhibit a common IP address (182.71.244.110 in the <figref idref="f0001">FIG. 1</figref> example) on network 105. Address server 120 can use this shared IP address to identify clients 102 and/or servers 104 that are located behind the same gateway device 110.

0019Address server 120 responds to queries from one or more clients 102 by providing the sequences of address information 125 from database 124 for any servers 104 operating on the same network environment 100 as client 102. Address information can include the addresses used by routers 110-112 to forward traffic to server 104, the address/port number pairs for any bound connections associated with server 104, and/or any other information as desired. Note that the different devices will typically exhibit different port numbers associated with the common WAN address; these unique port numbers may be stored by address server 120 and returned to clients 102 with subsequent address requests to facilitate connections using the shared-IP-but-unique-port-on-the-WAN, if desired.

0020Client 102 can then attempt to contact server 104 within the local environment using one or more of the addresses/port numbers associated with the server 104 that are provided by address server 120, as desired. The addresses provided by address server 120 may be tried in series or parallel until a successful connection 140 between client 102 and server 104 is achieved. Connections may be attempted using, for example, network address translation (NAT) hole punching or the like.

0021In various embodiments, connection 142 from client 102 to address server 104 does not take place via router 110. A cellular phone client 102, for example, may establish connection 142 via a mobile telephone connection using a separate digital network. Client 102 will typically provide a local address or other information that can be used to associate client 102 with the WAN address on network 105 that is used by router no so that address server 120 can identify relevant servers 104 operating on the relevant network, but this information need not be provided via the home network itself. In further embodiments, address server 120 could maintain a device or user identifier associated with client device 102 and/or a user of client device 102 in a database. This identifier can be associated with a known address on network 105, or a known server 104 (e.g., a television receiver or digital video recorder that is registered to the same user's account). In such embodiments, address server 120 could use the network address of the known server 104 to identify other servers 104 that are operating on the same network environment 100.

0022In still further embodiments, clients 102 and servers 104 may be registered with a user account or the like so that it is not necessary to compare the WAN addresses of the different devices. To the contrary, address server 120 may be able to identify one or more server devices 104 that are associated with the same user account as client 102 and automatically forward the local addresses that are known for those devices, regardless of whether the addresses match the addresses associated with the client 102.

0023Conversely, address server 120 may compare more than one address submitted by client 102 to identify any matches. Even if matches are not identified behind the WAN address, servers having matching addresses may be identified behind one or more local addresses, if desired. This may allow local connections to be established even in home environments that have multiple WAN connections, as desired.

0024Generally speaking, server 120 is implemented as a network server system using conventional processors, memory, interfaces and other computing hardware under the control of an appropriate operating system and application software. Equivalently, server 120 may be implemented using any sort of "cloud-based" hardware, such as the Amazon Web Services product available from Amazon.com, or any other cloud service such as Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Adobe Cloud, VMware, IBM Cloud, Rackspace, Red Hat and/or the like.

0025Both client 102 and server 104 can be implemented using conventional data processing hardware, software, firmware, etc. In various embodiments, server 104 may be a digital video recorder (DVR), IP television client or other network appliance that provides video streams to one or more client devices 102. To that end, server 104 may be implemented with conventional processors, memory or mass storage, network interfaces and other computing hardware as appropriate. Similarly, client device 102 may be implemented with any sort of mobile phone, tablet, personal computer, streaming media client, web browser device or the like. Client device 102 will typically include conventional processor, memory and interface hardware as well as appropriate operating systems and application software as appropriate.

0026<figref idref="f0002">FIG. 2</figref> illustrates an example process 200 that can be used to automatically locate server 104 and/or establish a connection between client 102 and server 104. The various functions shown in <figref idref="f0002">FIG. 2</figref> may be performed under the direction of software and/or firmware instructions that are stored in digital memory or mass storage for execution by one or more processors.

0027As noted above, each server device 104 operating within a network environment 100 initially determines its own network information as appropriate (function 202). In various embodiments, the determination is performed using a UNIX/LINUX-type TRACEROUTE function that identifies routing devices along a path from a source to a destination. In various embodiments, a TRACEROUTE from server 104 to address server 120 (or any other service on network 105) will identify the different routers 110-112 residing within the local environment 100, as well as any relay nodes within network 105. The server 104 may attempt to bind to one or more of the identified routers 110-112; alternatively, the server 104 may simply report the addresses of the intervening routers without separately binding to the router, as desired. Generally, the network information 125 will include a sequence of network addresses and/or port numbers that have been identified for relaying network traffic to server 104. These addresses may be conventional IP addresses/port numbers; equivalent embodiments could support any number of additional or alternate protocols and address formats, as desired, including IPv6 addresses or the like.

0028Network information 125 is forwarded to address server 120 in any manner (function 204). In various embodiments, server 104 is able to make an outgoing network connection via the WAN 105 via router 110. Network information 125 may be delivered using HTTP PUT statements, FTP/TFTP file transfers, SMTP or other messaging, or in any other manner. In some embodiments, address server 120 provides an application program interface (API) that accepts in network information 125 in XML, SOAP or similar format. Address server 120 stores the received information 125 in database 124 for subsequent retrieval.

0029Upon receipt of a subsequent request message 206 transmitted by client 102, the address server 120 suitably identifies any server(s) 104 operating within the same network environment 100 as client 102 (function 208), obtains the stored address information for each identified server 104, and forwards the retrieved address information 125 back to the requesting client 102 (function 210). As noted above, the address server 120 may identify relevant servers 104 through a shared WAN address corresponding to router 110, or in any other manner. Address information 125 about the identified server(s) may be formatted for storage, retrieval and/or delivery in any appropriate manner, including any sort of XML, SOAP, REST or other formats.

0030The client device 102 appropriately selects one of the available servers 104 based upon user selection, or in any other manner (function 212). In various embodiments, the client 102 could automatically select a server 104 based upon the closest server 104 (e.g., fewest network hops to connect), based upon the last server 104 contacted by the client 102, or in any other manner.

0031The client device 102 then attempts to connect to the selected server 104 to establish a data connection (function 214). In various embodiments, the network information 125 received for the server 104 includes a sequence of network addresses within environment 100 that are associated with the server 100. The client 102 can initiate contact with the server 104 by sending connection request messages to one or more of the addresses in the sequence. Other embodiments may use further techniques (e.g., network address translation (NAT) "hole punching") to guess connection port numbers or to otherwise attempt to establish connections with the identified address. Addresses in the sequence may be contacted in series or in parallel, as desired for the particular embodiment. In at least one implementation, client 102 sends connection request packets to each of the addresses/ports identified in the received network information 125 in hopes that at least one connection request will be received by server 104. Server 104 may be programmed to ignore subsequent requests from a client 102 if multiple requests are received; further embodiments could allow server 104 to choose which of the various connection requests to respond to based upon the first request received, or any other indicia that one connection address may be favored over another.

0032When communications are established between the client 102 and server 104 using the local network environment 100, then a data connection 216 can be established. The data connection 216 may be used for media streaming in some embodiments; equivalent embodiments could use the connection for file transfers, video gaming, IPTV and/or any other purposes as desired.

0033The general concepts set forth herein may be modified in any number of ways. Although the network environment is often described herein as a "home" environment, equivalent concepts could be applied to offices, schools, factories, restaurants and bars, and/or any number of other environments that make use of multiple local area networks. Moreover, the concepts described herein with respect to contacting video servers to establish video streaming could be equivalently applied for other applications or purposes, such as internet television (IPTV), video gaming, home or office control, file or print sharing and/or any other applications as desired. The aforementioned embodiments are meant to be examples useful for understanding the invention. The present invention is only defined by the appended claims.