U.S. patent application number 11/787991 was filed with the patent office on 2007-08-16 for network interconnection apparatus, network interconnection method, name resolution apparatus and computer program.
Invention is credited to Hideyuki Asai, Hidenori Kikuchi.
Application Number | 20070189258 11/787991 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 33549975 |
Filed Date | 2007-08-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070189258 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kikuchi; Hidenori ; et
al. |
August 16, 2007 |
Network interconnection apparatus, network interconnection method,
name resolution apparatus and computer program
Abstract
A power source of a LAN terminal at a home such as home server
is turned on from the outside the home via the Internet. A home
gateway apparatus receives such a start request by proxy and
transmits a start instruction packet to corresponding equipment on
the home LAN. Although there is a case where the protocols of an
external network and the home LAN are different from each other,
the home gateway apparatus performs a protocol conversion process
for assimilating discrepancy between the protocols. Moreover, on
the, home LAN, the start instruction packet to the corresponding
equipment may be issued by utilizing a magic packet technique.
Inventors: |
Kikuchi; Hidenori; (Tokyo,
JP) ; Asai; Hideyuki; (Tokyo, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
FROMMER LAWRENCE & HAUG
745 FIFTH AVENUE- 10TH FL.
NEW YORK
NY
10151
US
|
Family ID: |
33549975 |
Appl. No.: |
11/787991 |
Filed: |
April 18, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10900876 |
Jul 27, 2004 |
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11787991 |
Apr 18, 2007 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
370/338 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 12/2803 20130101;
Y02D 30/50 20200801; H04L 61/2514 20130101; H04L 29/06 20130101;
H04L 61/1511 20130101; Y02D 50/40 20180101; H04L 29/08846 20130101;
H04L 29/12367 20130101; H04L 12/10 20130101; H04L 29/1282 20130101;
H04L 61/6013 20130101; H04L 12/12 20130101; H04L 69/08 20130101;
H04L 67/02 20130101; H04L 12/2834 20130101; H04L 67/025 20130101;
H04L 67/28 20130101; H04L 29/12066 20130101; H04L 61/2571 20130101;
H04L 29/12518 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
370/338 |
International
Class: |
H04Q 7/24 20060101
H04Q007/24 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 28, 2003 |
JP |
2003-280782 |
Claims
1-22. (canceled)
23. A name resolution apparatus for solving a name problem with
respect to a host apparatus, to which a network address is
dynamically allocated, on a network space in which a corresponding
relationship between a domain name of said host apparatus and a
network address allocated to said host apparatus is managed by a
DNS server, said name resolution apparatus comprising:
communication means for data communicating on said network; domain
name management means for managing said domain name of said host
apparatus; extraction means for extracting said domain name of said
host apparatus in response to reception from said host apparatus of
a network address dynamically allocated; and registration means for
registering a domain name and network address of said host
apparatus to said DNS server.
24. The name resolution apparatus according to claim 23, further
comprising: authentication means for authenticating a host
apparatus; wherein said name resolution apparatus receives a
network address from a host apparatus after an authentication
process.
25. (canceled)
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] The present document is based on Japanese Priority Document
JP2003-280782, filed in the Japanese Patent Office on Jul. 28,
2003, the entire contents of which being incorporated herein by
reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a network interconnection
apparatus, a network interconnection method, a name resolution
apparatus and a computer program, which are for interconnecting
different systems or networks. More particularly, the present
invention relates to a network interconnection apparatus, a network
interconnection method, a name resolution apparatus and a computer
program, which are for interconnecting an external public wide area
network such as a WAN or the Internet with a home private network
such as a local area network (LAN).
[0004] More specifically, the present invention relates to a
network interconnection apparatus, a network interconnection
method, a name resolution apparatus and a computer program, which
are for accessing a LAN terminal on a home private network from an
external network such as the Internet. More particularly, the
present invention relates to a network interconnection apparatus, a
network interconnection method, a name resolution apparatus and a
computer program, which are for performing a start request to a LAN
terminal on a home private network from an external network such as
the Internet.
[0005] 2. Description of Related Art
[0006] Along with the recent popularization of the Internet,
various digital contents of the network including computer files
and others have been vigorously distributed. Moreover, the
development of broadband communication networks (such as an x
digital subscriber line (x-DSL)), a cable television (CATV) and a
wireless network is remarkable. Also in Japan, the Internet by
means of broadband communication lines has been rapidly popularized
to such a degree that the number of the users of the Internet using
rapid broadband lines such as Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
(ADSL) and a fiber to the home (FTTH) exceeds ten million. Under
such a background, a mechanism for enabling the transmission of the
distribution of rich contents such as music data, image data,
digital data of electronic publications, and moving images without
causing stress to a user.
[0007] Moreover, techniques of a computer and a network have deeply
infiltrated into general homes recently. Home information apparatus
such as a personal computer and a personal digital assistant (PDA),
and various intelligent home appliances such as a television
receiver and video reproducing apparatus are interconnected with
each other through a home LAN. Moreover, such a home LAN is
interconnected with an external wide area network such as the
Internet through a router in many cases. Then, the contents duly
obtained from a server on the Internet are stored in a server on
the home LAN (hereinafter referred to as a "home server"), and
after that the contents are distributed to the other terminals
(clients) in the home through the home LAN.
[0008] The popularization of broadband networks and home LAN makes
it possible to access a home personal computer or a home server
from outside or a place where a user has gone, to enjoy a TV
program which the user has recorded, music, a private photograph
and a moving image, or to control home equipment. This is because a
user can refer and operate them without feeling any stress by
virtue of high speed and wide band broadband lines when the user
accesses his or her home from the outside the home through the
Internet. Moreover, a high speed wide band access environment
called as a public wireless LAN service, which is an Internet
connection environment on the outside the home, has been spread,
and it is expected that server apparatuses and its services for
enabling freely accessing from the outside the home to the inside
the home will be popularized in the future.
[0009] However, when a person accesses and controls a home server
apparatus from the outside a home, it is necessary that power
sources of the home server apparatus and the other terminals
connected to the home LAN are always in the on states. Unlike
operations of a server for business, if the power source of the
server will be constantly on state for a personal use it can be
said that it is a problem from the view of the cost of electricity
expenses and environments.
[0010] Techniques for remotely starting a power source of a LAN
terminal were proposed in the past. However, many of them were for
the use of enterprises, and the use in homes was out of sight.
[0011] For example, an inter-LAN connection apparatus for making it
easy to configure a LAN by remotely controlling power sources of
terminals has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
In this case, a terminal transmits a power start request to an
inter-LAN connection apparatus on the other terminal side through
another inter-LAN connection apparatus and a wide area network.
Then, the inter-LAN connection apparatus, which has received the
power start request, instructs the terminal, which is the
destination of the request, the starting of the power source
through a cable for operation control. According to such a
procedure, the power source of a terminal in a LAN can be turned on
through a wide area network.
[0012] However, in this case, it is necessary to connect the cables
for operation control between the inter-LAN connection apparatus
and the LAN terminals. When a LAN is configured, Ethernet
(registered trademark) LAN cables is generally used, however,when
dedicated cables are used for the control of the power sources,
personal computers or the like as the LAN terminals should be dealt
with like hardware.
[0013] Moreover, in this case, for starting a LAN terminal, firstly
a LAN connection apparatus connected to a certain LAN terminal
which a user wish to start with a cable for operation control is
remotely logged, and then a start instruction is executed in
accordance with a command. The protocol at this time is supposed to
be Telnet, but it is difficult for a general consumer to perform
the procedure in accordance with the Telnet protocol.
[0014] Moreover, there is known a technique called as "Magic Packet
(trademark)" available from AMD Corp. in US (see, for example,
Patent Document 2). The technique has a mechanism of transmitting a
magic packet from a remote LAN terminal to a certain LAN terminal
which a user wish to start on a LAN configured in accordance with
Ethernet (registered trademark) in conformity with Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in order to start the
power source of the received LAN terminal. By means of the magic
packet, there is no need of any specified cables for remotely
starting a terminal.
[0015] However, the magic packet technique operates on a layer 2
network. Consequently, the magic packet cannot be transmitted via a
router, and it is necessary that a LAN terminal transmitting a
start instruction (a transmission source of the magic packet) and a
LAN terminal receiving the start instruction (a destination of the
magic packet) are on the same LAN segment. In other words, the
magic packet technique does not expect a case of starting a power
source from a remote terminal via-a WAN of a layer 3 network over a
LAN segment as the above-mentioned case of accessing a terminal in
a home from the outside a home. For example, in case of via the
public Internet, if a magic packet is transmitted from a remote
terminal, the packet is abandoned because there is no routing
information.
[0016] Moreover, when a magic packet is transmitted, some software
for transmitting the magic packet is necessary to be installed in a
terminal (such as a personal computer) giving a command. It is
necessary to register a machine access control (MAC) address unique
to the terminal to be intended to be started, the a user is obliged
to perform a troublesome operation to register a MAC address
composed of an alphabetic character of 12 digits manually.
[0017] Moreover, the magic packet technology does not regulate a
method or a procedure for confirming whether the intended terminal
to be wished to be started has really started its power source or
not after the transmission of the magic packet. [0018] [Patent
Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei
7-327044 [0019] [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application
Publication No. Hei 10-175201
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0020] The present invention has been made under the above
described circumstances and provides a network interconnection
apparatus, a network interconnection method, a name resolution
apparatus and a computer program, which are preferably
interconnecting an external public WAN network, such as the
Internet, with a home private network, such as a LAN.
[0021] Further, the present invention provides a network
interconnection apparatus, a network interconnection method, a name
resolution apparatus and a computer program, which are enabling a
suitable access from an external network such as the Internet to a
LAN terminal on a home private network.
[0022] Further, the present invention provides a network
interconnection apparatus, a network interconnection method, a name
resolution apparatus and a computer program, which are capable of
performing a suitable start process of a LAN terminal on a home
private network in response to a start request from an external
network such as the Internet.
[0023] Still further, in this broadband age as a background, the
present invention provides a network interconnection apparatus, a
network interconnection method, a name resolution apparatus and a
computer program, which are capable of turning on power sources of
a home server and LAN terminals placed in a home from the outside
the house via the Internet freely and in a simple manner.
[0024] The present invention was made in view of the above
circumstances. A first aspect of the invention is a network
interconnection apparatus for interconnecting an external network
with internal network, the apparatus including: first communication
means for communicating on the external network; second
communication means for communicating on the internal network;
internal network management means for obtaining a configuration in
the internal network and managing correspondence relations among a
unique address of each terminal (e.g. a MAC address) on the
internal network, terminal names to be easily identifiable by a
user, and private network addresses assigned in the internal
network; start request reception means for, receiving by proxy
start requests to terminals on the internal network via the
external network; and start request transfer means for identifying
the terminals of requested destinations of the start requests
received by the start request reception means on a basis of the
correspondence relations to transfer the start requests to the
terminals of the requested destinations via the internal
network.
[0025] According to the network interconnection apparatus of the
present invention, a start process of terminals can be suitably
performed to the start requests from the external network to the
LAN terminals on the home private network. At this time, a remote
user can transmit the start requests to the terminals on the
internal network with a domain name of the network interconnection
apparatus and a terminal name (e.g. computer names supplied by an
operating system such as Windows.TM.) of the start request
destination terminals being designated.
[0026] While a host apparatus such as a Web server has a fixed
network address (IP address), the global network address on the
external-network of the network interconnection apparatus is
dynamically assigned. Accordingly, name resolution means for
managing a correspondence relation between the domain name and the
global network address of the network interconnection apparatus may
be disposed on the external network. When a start request is
transmitted from the remote user, it is possible to send the start
request to the network interconnection apparatus by means of the
name resolution means.
[0027] Moreover, the start request transfer means may perform a
protocol conversion in order to assimilate discrepancy of the
protocols between the external network and the internal
network.
[0028] Moreover, the start request transfer means may transfer the
start requests to the start request destination terminals via the
internal network by means of the magic packet.
[0029] Moreover, the network interconnection apparatus of the
present invention may further include authentication processing
means for performing a predetermined authentication procedure to an
access requesting source via the external network. In such a case,
in response to a success of the authentication procedure, the start
request reception means can receive the start requests by proxy
and/or the start request transfer means can transfer the start
requests to the requested destination terminals.
[0030] Moreover, the network interconnection apparatus of the
present invention may further include start state confirmation
means for confirming the start state of each terminal on the
internal network. The network interconnection apparatus can confirm
the start states on the internal network by means of, for example,
a ping program for issuing an IP packet to the LAN terminals by
means of an Internet control message protocol (ICMP) to confirm an
answer.
[0031] It is required for a user to register in advance at home the
LAN terminals which the user wishes to start at home. Accordingly,
the network interconnection apparatus of the present invention may
further include pre-processing means for performing previous
registration procedures on the internal network with respect to the
terminals to be started in response to the start requests from the
external network among the terminals managed by the internal
network management means.
[0032] In such a case, in the network interconnection apparatus,
only the case where the start request destination terminals are
previously registered to the start requests from the external
network, the start request reception means receives the start
requests by proxy, and/or the start request transfer means
transfers the start requests to the requested destination
terminal.
[0033] Moreover, the network interconnection apparatus of the
present invention may further include internal network information
providing means for providing start state presenting means of for
presenting the start state of each terminal on the internal
network, start execution instruction means for instructing the
execution of the start of each terminal, and start confirmation
means for confirming of the start of each terminal, to a start
requesting source via the external network.
[0034] The internal network information providing means provides
the start state presenting means, the start execution instruction
means, and the start confirmation means in, for example, the format
of Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML). In such a case, on the remote
terminal side, an operation screen for the performance of the
presentation of the start states of the LAN terminals, the
instruction of the execution of the starts, and the confirmation of
the starts is provided in the form of a Web page. Consequently, a
terminal to access the network interconnection apparatus via the
external network can use a network interconnection service of the
present invention only by being provided with a standard Web
browser.
[0035] Moreover, on the operation screen having the format of the
Web page, the internal network information providing means provides
an operational environment enabling the operations of the
presentation of the start states of the terminals, the instruction
of the execution of the starts, and the presentation of the
confirmation of the starts, all utilizing terminal names which the
user can easily identify. In such a case, the names of the LAN
terminals of which the power sources can be started from the
outside among the LAN terminals connected in a home are displayed
by their nicknames such as computer names.
[0036] Moreover, a second aspect of the present invention is a
computer program described in a computer readable format in order
to execute a process for interconnecting an external network and an
internal network to each other on a computer system, the program
including: an internal network management step of obtaining a
configuration in the internal network and managing correspondence
relations among a unique address of each terminal on the internal
network, terminal names to be easily identifiable by a user, and
private network addresses assigned in the internal network; a start
request reception step of receiving by proxy start requests to
terminals on the internal network via the external network; and a
start request transfer step of identifying the terminals of
requested destinations of the start requests received at the start
request reception step on a basis of the correspondence relations
to transfer the start requests to the terminals of the requested
destinations via the internal network.
[0037] The computer program according to the second aspect of the
present invention defines a computer program described in the
computer readable format in order to implement a predetermined
process on a computer system. In other words, by the installation
of the computer program according to the second aspect of the
present invention on the computer system, cooperative operation is
exhibited on the computer system, and operation effects similar to
those of the network interconnection apparatus of the first aspect
can be obtained.
[0038] According to the present invention, it is possible to
provide a network interconnection apparatus, a network
interconnection method, a name resolution apparatus and a computer
program, all enabling the suitable start process of the LAN
terminals on a home private network with respect to start requests
to the LAN terminals from an external network such as the
Internet.
[0039] The network interconnection apparatus according to the
present invention can be packaged as a home gateway apparatus
including a broadband router function. For example, it becomes
possible to turn the power source on state of a LAN terminal such
as a home server at home from the outside the home via the
Internet.
[0040] By the installation of a Web server function into such a
home gateway apparatus, a remote user who performs an access from
the outside a home can execute a start instruction of a home
apparatus via the Internet by means of a Web browser normally
installed in a personal computer or the like.
[0041] While a general Web server holds a fixed IP address, it is
supposed that an IP address assigned by an ISP is dynamically
changed in such a home gateway apparatus. Accordingly, a name
resolution server equipped with a name resolution function of the
home gateway apparatus, which registers the IP address assigned
dynamically to the home gateway apparatus into a domain name
service (DNS) server, is located on the Internet, and thereby it
becomes possible to access the home gateway apparatus only by means
of a domain name.
[0042] The Web server on the home gateway apparatus can limit
accesses from the outside by an authentication function in order
that only the certain users who have been allowed to connect can
perform the start instructions of the LAN terminals at home. That
is, when a remote user connects with a home gateway apparatus, the
user is requested to enter user ID and a password, and an
authentication process is executed.
[0043] A user previously registers LAN terminals which the user
wishes to start by external accesses on a home LAN. Then, when
start requests to the LAN terminals are performed from the outside,
LAN apparatuses registered in advance are displayed as a list, and
consequently the remote user can start desired equipment by simple
operations of performing clicks on the Web browser among the
displayed equipment. The home gateway apparatus sends start
instruction packets to the corresponding equipment on the home LAN
in response to such start requests.
[0044] There is the case where the protocols of the external
network and the internal network are different from each other. In
such a case, the home gateway apparatus performs a protocol
conversion process for assimilating the protocol discrepancy.
Moreover, the start instruction packet to the equipment on the home
LAN may be issued by means of the magic packet technique.
[0045] Moreover, the Web server of the home gateway apparatus
provides the function of confirming whether the equipment have
started or not after the sending of the start instruction packets
to the remote user. For example, the Web server sends an inquiry
packet to the corresponding equipment in response to pressing of an
update button on the Web browser screen. At this time, Web server
confirms that the equipment has started when an answer packet is
returned from the equipment, and displays, for example, "power ON"
on the common gateway interface (CGI) of the Web. Moreover, when no
response packets are returned, the Web server determines that the
equipment has not started, and displays "power OFF" on the CGI of
the Web.
[0046] It is necessary that the LAN terminals to be wished to be
remotely started at home are previously registered in the home
gateway apparatus. For simplifying the registration operation, the
information of the computer names and the MAC addresses of the LAN
terminals connected on the home LAN is collected and held as a
database on the setting screen of the home gateway apparatus. The
MAC addresses of the LAN terminals can be obtained by, for example,
a DHCP process. When user registers them, because the computer
names and the MAC addresses are displayed in a pull-down menu on
the setting screen of the home gateway apparatus, the user can
simply perform the registration operation by selecting in the menu
the LAN terminal which the user wish to start.
[0047] The further objects, features and advantages of the present
invention will be apparent from more detailed description based on
the embodiments of the present invention, which will be described
later, and the attached drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0048] FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a configuration of a
communication system according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0049] FIG. 2 is a view schematically showing a basic configuration
of a home LAN;
[0050] FIG. 3 is :a view schematically showing a hardware
configuration of an information processing apparatus operating as a
host apparatus of home LAN terminals such as home servers and
clients;
[0051] FIG. 4 is a view schematically showing a hardware
configuration of an information processing apparatus operating as a
home gateway apparatus;
[0052] FIG. 5 is a view schematically showing a hardware
configuration of an information processing apparatus operating as
host apparatus on the Internet such as a remote terminal and a name
resolution server;
[0053] FIG. 6 is a view schematically showing a functional
configuration of a home gateway apparatus;
[0054] FIG. 7 is a view for illustrating a resolving processing
procedure of a name problem using a name resolution server;
[0055] FIG. 8 is an operation sequence diagram showing an
authentication processing procedure which a home gateway apparatus
executes for a remote access;
[0056] FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of a screen
configuration of a list of a LAN terminal;
[0057] FIG. 10 is a view for illustrating an operation of a start
instruction proxy packet transmission function;
[0058] FIG. 11 is a view for illustrating an operation procedure of
a home gateway apparatus performing LAN terminal state
confirmation; and
[0059] FIG. 12 is a view showing a configuration example of a
management setting screen of the home gateway apparatus.
DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT(S)
[0060] In the following, the attached drawings will be referred to
while the embodiments of the present invention are described in
detail.
A. System Configuration
[0061] FIG. 1 schematically shows the configuration of a
communication system of an embodiment according to the present
invention. The communication system can suitably perform a start
process in response to a start request to a LAN terminal on a home
private network from a wide area network (WAN) such as the
Internet.
[0062] As shown in the drawing, the Internet and the home LAN are
interconnected with each other via a home gateway apparatus as an
implemented form of a network interconnection apparatus according
to the present invention. The home gateway apparatus is connected
to the Internet via, for example, a broadband line such as ADSL or
FTTH.
[0063] On the home LAN, a personal computer at the home, a home
server storing contents downloaded via the Internet (or moved from
a record medium) such as a moving image and music, and private
contents including a photograph, a video and others, and LAN
terminals in the other forms are connected. Incidentally, for
avoiding the complexity of the drawing, only one LAN terminal is
drawn.
[0064] The Internet has grown to a huge network as a result of the
repetitions of interconnections of servers located on each
universities, research institutes and the like in an autonomous
manner and literally becomes the network of networks. The Internet
includes the public switched telephone networks of respective
carriers, public wireless LAN's and the like. On the Internet,
various host apparatus such as information provision servers (not
shown) for providing various information contents and name problem
resolution servers (which will be described later) for resolving
name problems at the time of network accesses are connected.
[0065] In the present embodiment, by the installation of the Web
server function into the home gateway apparatus, a remote user
accessing from the outside a home can executes a start instruction
to home equipment via the Internet by means of a Web browser, which
is normally installed in a personal computer or the like.
[0066] For example, a user (a remote user) who operates a remote
terminal at a place where the user has gone remotely access the
home gateway apparatus located in his or her own house via the
public wireless LAN and the Internet.
[0067] At this time, in the home gateway apparatus, it is supposed
that an IP address assigned by the ISP is dynamically changed.
Accordingly, a name resolution server equipped with a name
resolution function of the home gateway apparatus, which registers
the IP address assigned dynamically to the home gateway apparatus
into the DNS server, is located on the Internet, and thereby it
becomes possible to access the home gateway apparatus only by means
of a domain name.
[0068] The home gateway apparatus performs a predetermined
authentication process (which will be described later) for
confirming the authenticity of the remote user. The remote terminal
which has succeeded in the authentication procedure can perform a
start request of a home LAN terminal.
[0069] However, the user is required to register LAN terminals
which the user wishes to start by external accesses on a home LAN
previously. The details of a previous registration procedure will
be described later.
[0070] The home gateway apparatus receives such start requests by
proxy, and sends start instruction packets to the corresponding
equipment on the home LAN. Although, there is the case where the
protocols of the external network such as the Internet and the home
LAN are different from each other, the home gateway apparatus
performs a protocol conversion process for assimilating the
discrepancies between the protocols. Moreover, on the home LAN, the
start instruction packets to the corresponding equipment may be
issued by means of the magic packet technique.
[0071] Moreover, the home gateway apparatus has a start state
confirmation function for confirming the start state of each
terminal on the home LAN. For example, a ping program in which an
IP packet is issued to the LAN terminals by means of an ICMP to
confirm an answer can be used for the confirmation of the start
states on the internal network.
[0072] Moreover, the home gateway apparatus provides to the remote
user a start state presentation function of each terminal on the
home LAN, a start execution instruction function to each terminal,
and a start confirmation function to each terminal. In the present
embodiment, start state presenting means, start execution
instruction means and start confirmation means are provided in an
HTML format. Consequently, on the remote terminal side, only by
installing a standard Web browser, the presentation of the start
states of the LAN terminals, the instruction of the execution of
the starts, and the confirmation of the starts can be preformed via
a Web page.
[0073] The details of the start state presentation function, the
start execution instruction function and the start confirmation
function of the LAN terminals will be described later.
B. Configuration of Each Apparatus
[0074] FIG. 2 schematically shows a basic configuration of a home
LAN. As shown in the same drawing, the home LAN constructed in a
house is connected with an external network such as the Internet
via a home gateway.
[0075] A plurality of home LAN terminals such as a home server and
clients is located on the home LAN via, for example, a hub (a
concentration device).
[0076] The home server obtains and stores contents from a content
server (not shown) on the external network via the home gateway
apparatus, and distributes the contents within the home. The home
server can obtain contents through means other than the network
such as a package medium and the reception of broadcasts. Moreover,
the home server can accumulate private contents such as photographs
and videos. In the drawing, although only one home server is drawn,
a plurality of home servers may be constituted by every kind of
contents.
[0077] The contents accumulated in the home server are commonly
owned by a user group such as a home user who has a predetermined
content using right and authentification. Each client terminal on
the home LAN requests and obtains desired contents from the home
server for a use.
[0078] Moreover, any user having the predetermined content using
right or the authentification can access home LAN terminals such as
a home server via the home gateway apparatus after a predetermined
authentication procedure, even if the user is in a remote
environment such as from a remote terminal on the Internet.
[0079] FIG. 3 schematically shows a hardware configuration of an
information processing apparatus operating as a host apparatus of
home LAN terminals such as a home server and clients.
[0080] The apparatus is configured to include a processor 10 as a
main component. The processor 10 executes various kinds of
processes on the basis of programs stored in a memory 20 under an
execution environment provided by an operating system (OS).
Moreover, the processor 10 controls various kinds of peripheral
equipment connected through a bus 30. The peripheral equipment
connected to the bus 30 is as follows.
[0081] The memory 20 is composed of, for example, a semiconductor
memory such as a dynamic RAM (DRAM). The memory 20 is used to load
program codes to be executed by the processor 10, or to store
working data of an execution program temporarily.
[0082] A display controller 21 creates a display image in
conformity with a rendering command sent from the processor 10 to
transmit the display image to a display device 22. The display
device 22 connected to the display controller outputs to display an
image on a screen in conformity with display image information sent
from the display controller 21.
[0083] An input-output interface 23 is connected to a keyboard 24
and a mouse 25, and transfers input signals from the keyboard 24
and the mouse 25 to the processor 10 via the bus 30.
[0084] A network interface 26 is connected to a home network (hub),
and further is connected to an external network such as the
Internet via the home gateway apparatus to control data
communication through the Internet. That is, the network interface
26 transfers data transmitted from the processor 10 to another
apparatus on the Internet, and receives data transmitted through
the Internet to transfers the data to the processor 10.
[0085] A hard disk drive (HDD) controller 27 is connected to a
large capacity external storage device 28 such as a HDD, the HDD
controller 27 controls the input and the output of data to and from
a connected HDD 28. The HDD 28 stores program of the operating
system (OS), application programs and driver programs, all being to
be executed by the processor.
[0086] When the host apparatus is the home server, a server
application for executing, for example, the authentication process
of each client on the network, or the provision of contents is
installed on the HDD 28. Moreover, the contents to be provided to
another home LAN terminal or another remote terminal are
accumulated on the HDD 28.
[0087] Moreover, when the host apparatus is a client, a client
application for executing the use of contents such as the
reproduction of the contents provided from the server, or the Web
browser is installed.
[0088] Such a kind of host apparatus can be built by the use of a
general computer system such as a personal computer. Incidentally,
for constituting the host apparatus, many circuit components are
needed in addition to those shown in FIG. 3, but the circuit
components are well known to those skilled in the art, and the
circuit components do not configure the subject matter of the
present invention. Accordingly, the circuit components are omitted
in the present specification. Moreover, for avoiding the complexity
of the drawing, it is to be noted that only a part of the
connections among each hardware block is shown.
[0089] FIG. 4 schematically shows a hardware configuration of an
information processing apparatus operating as the home gateway
apparatus. The home gateway apparatus can also be built by means of
a general computer system. In the following, different points from
the configuration of FIG. 3 will be chiefly described. The home
gateway apparatus has a basic function of the connection among
networks, and does not perform the interactive inputs of a user.
Consequently, user interfaces such as a display, a keyboard and a
mouse are not mandatory.
[0090] A LAN communication interface 31 is connected to the home
LAN (hub). Moreover, a WAN communication interface 32 is connected
to the external network such as the Internet. The home gateway
apparatus controls the data communication between the home LAN and
the external network, and provides a relaying function among the
home LAN terminals and a remote terminal. Moreover, when
communication protocols are different between networks, the home
gateway apparatus performs a protocol conversion.
[0091] The home gateway apparatus includes a unique domain name.
However, while the host apparatus such as the Web server has a
fixed IP address, the home gateway apparatus does not have any
fixed IP addresses, and the IP address is dynamically assigned at
every start.
[0092] On the HDD 28 (or on a nonvolatile storage device having
another form), an application for implementing a gateway function
between the home LAN and a WAN, a start instruction processing
application for performing the start state presentation, the start
execution instruction and the start confirmation of the home LAN
terminals, a Web server application for providing those start
instruction processing procedures to the remote terminal in Web
base, a start LAN terminal registration application for registering
LAN terminals to be started by remote accesses, and the like are
installed. Moreover, a correspondence table between the MAC address
information of each home LAN to be obtained at the DHCP process and
a computer name, authentication information such as a user name and
a password, both necessary for the authentication process to be
executed at a remote access from a remote terminal, and the like
are also stored in the HDD 28.
[0093] FIG. 5 schematically shows a hardware configuration of an
information processing apparatus operating as a host apparatus on
the Internet such as a remote terminal and a name resolution
server. These host apparatuses on the Internet can be also built by
means of a general computer system. In the following, different
points from those shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 will be chiefly
described.
[0094] The WAN communication interface 32 is connected to an
external network such as the Internet. When the host apparatus is a
name resolution server or another server, the host apparatus is
always connected to the Internet. The host apparatus such as a Web
server owns a fixed IP address. On the other hand, in case of a
remote terminal, the remote terminal is suitably connected to the
Internet via, for example, an access point (AP) of a contracted
provider, and IP addresses are dynamically assigned
sequentially.
[0095] When the host apparatus is a name resolution server, in the
HDD 28, a name resolution server application for registering IP
addresses to be assigned to the home gateway apparatus dynamically
into the DNS server is installed.
C. Functions of Home Gateway Apparatus
[0096] The home gateway apparatus of the present embodiment
performs a start process on a home LAN in response to a start
request from a remote terminal on a wide area network such as the
Internet to a LAN terminal on the home private network. That is,
the home gateway apparatus receives such a start request by proxy,
and sends a start instruction packet to a corresponding equipment
on the home LAN. There is the case where the protocols of the
external network such as the Internet and the home LAN are
different from each other, but the home gateway apparatus performs
a protocol conversion process for assimilating the discrepancy of
the protocols.
[0097] The home gateway apparatus is composed of the following
functional configuration (see FIG. 6). [0098] (1) basic function
[0099] (2) Web server function [0100] (3) start instruction
function [0101] (4) starting LAN terminal registration function
[0102] In the following, each function will be described.
C-1. Basic Function
[0103] The home gateway apparatus according to the present
embodiment is equipped with a broadband router function, which is
used widely for broadband lines. Here, the broadband router
function means to include both of a WAN interface and a LAN
interface.
[0104] By means of the WAN interface, the connection to broadband
lines such as ADSL and FTTH is performed. By means of a PPP over
Ethernet (PPPoE) function for obtaining a user ID, password
authentication, and a global IP address by an Internet service
provider (ISP), the connection to the Internet is performed. The
PPPoE is a standard for checking the user name and the password of
a user in such a case of a dial-up connection (PPP connection) on a
network of Ethernet.TM.) or the like.
[0105] Moreover, the LAN interface includes a DHCP server function
for distributing private IP addresses to the LAN terminals
connected to the home LAN, and dynamically distributes the private
IP addresses to the plurality of LAN terminals. Hereupon, the
dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) is one of the protocol
groups of TCP/IP. The DHCP is a protocol for assigning an IP
address dynamically to each client at the time of a start and for
withdrawing the IP address at the time of an end. In the DHCP
process, the information of the address of a default gateway, a
domain name, a subnet mask and the like can be also informed to a
client. In the present embodiment, the home gateway apparatus holds
mapping information of the MAC addresses of the LAN terminals, the
distributed IP addresses and the computer name as a correspondence
table.
[0106] A physical interface is conformed with IEEE 802.3 Ethernet,
and equipped with a plurality of connection ports in order to
enable the connection of a plurality of LAN terminals.
[0107] Moreover, the home gateway apparatus includes a network
address translator (NAT) function for converting a private IP
address to a global IP address as a routing function between a LAN
and a WAN, and a network address port translation (NAPT) function
for enabling a plurality of terminals to be simultaneously
connected to the Internet. According to the latter function, it
becomes possible to commonly own a global IP address as one of
network address transformations (NAT's) with a plurality of host
apparatuses in a system by changing port numbers in addition to the
IP addresses.
[0108] Incidentally, it is supposed that the power source of the
home gateway apparatus according to the present embodiment is
required always in the on state at a home similar to many broadband
routers.
C-2. Web Server Function
[0109] The Web server function is one of the important functions
for implementing the present invention in a more suitable form, and
is an application to be necessary for a remote terminal to access
the home gateway apparatus from the outside the house via the
Internet. That is, the home gateway apparat us provides start
services (which will be described later) of home LAN terminals as a
Web server, the remote terminal is not required to be equipped with
specific software and hardware. If the remote terminal is only
equipped with a generic Web browser to be used for Web surfing of
the Internet ordinarily, it becomes possible to perform the
connection to the home gateway apparatus.
[0110] In the present embodiment, the home gateway apparatus
includes the following functions as a Web server.
C-2-1. Name Resolution Function
[0111] While an ordinal Web server holds a fixed IP address, such a
home gateway apparatus would be supposed to be under dynamic
changes of the IP address assigned by an ISP. In the present
embodiment, a resolution function of a name problem is made to be
available on the Internet. As a result, a remote terminal can
access the home gateway apparatus by using only a domain name.
[0112] As the name resolution, for example, the following two
patterns are possible.
(1) using a dynamic DNS service provided by the ISP
[0113] In this case, the home gateway apparatus is not required to
be equipped with a specific function. Accordingly, the description
about this case is omitted in the present specification.
(2) resolving name using a name resolution server
[0114] The name resolution method is realized by locating a server
for the name resolution on the Internet, and by registering an IP
address into the name resolution server at every obtaining of the
IP address by the home gateway apparatus.
[0115] FIG. 7 is referred to while a name problem resolving
processing procedure using the name resolution server is
described.
Step 1)
[0116] The home gateway apparatus performs authentication with the
name resolution server. The name resolution server determines the
home gateway apparatus is connected or not according to the result
of the authentication process. A user ID and a password of the home
gateway apparatus for the authentication are held in the name
resolution server as a database in advance, and the home gateway
apparatus executes an authentication request using the user ID and
the password to the name resolution server.
Step 2)
[0117] After the success of the authentication, the home gateway
apparatus informs the name resolution server of a global IP address
dynamically given to the WAN interface connected to the broadband
line. The timing of the information of the IP address is instant
execution at the time of the addition of a new IP address.
Step 3)
[0118] When the name resolution server receives the information of
the IP address from the home gateway apparatus, the name resolution
server refers to an inside database to extract a domain name given
in advance to the home gateway apparatus. Next, the name resolution
server registers the domain name and the informed IP address in a
DNS server managing a corresponding network space. The DNS server
registers the information related to the informed domain name and
the global IP address into the own database.
[0119] By the registration of the global IP address dynamically
allocated to the home gateway apparatus together with the domain
name into the DNS server, the access to the home gateway apparatus
using a normal domain name service is possible on the Internet.
Step 4)
[0120] The remote terminal inquires the domain name of the home
gateway apparatus from the DNS server.
Step 5)
[0121] The DNS server refers to the latest database, and answers
the remote terminal the IP address of the home gateway
apparatus.
Step 6)
[0122] The remote terminal executes a remote access to the obtained
IP address.
[0123] When the name resolution server is used, the protocol
between the name resolution server and the home gateway apparatus
is supposed to be SIP (IETF RFC3261). In this case, the home
gateway apparatus is equipped with an SIP client function, and the
name resolution server is equipped with an SIP server function.
There is a trust relation between the home gateway apparatus and
the name resolution server, and user authentication is performed.
Moreover, the transmission and the reception of registration
information is encoded to secure security.
[0124] Incidentally, the session initiation protocol (SIP) is a
signaling protocol at an application layer, and regulates a
transmission method and a transmission procedure between two or
more nodes to set a session. The SIP has a high affinity with other
protocols to be used for the DNS, a simplified directory access
protocol (LDAP) and the like, all being used in the Internet.
C-2-2. Remote Access Authentication Function
[0125] The Web server on the home gateway apparatus can limit
external accesses by the authentication function in order that only
certain users allowed to connect can perform a start instruction of
a LAN terminal in a home. That is, when a remote user connects to
the home gateway apparatus, a user ID and a password are required
to enter, and an authentication process is executed.
[0126] FIG. 8 is referred to while an authentication processing
procedure which the home gateway apparatus executes to a remote
access is described.
Step 11)
[0127] The home gateway apparatus is remotely accessed from a
remote terminal through a Web browser.
Step 12)
[0128] The home gateway apparatus-displays an authentication screen
for authenticating by using a user ID and a password. The user ID
and the password are previously set in the home gateway apparatus
on the home LAN by the user.
Step 13)
[0129] A user ID and a password are entered on a Web browser screen
from the remote terminal.
Step 14)
[0130] The home gateway apparatus executes the authentication of
the user ID and the password.
Step 15)
[0131] When the authentication by the home gateway apparatus is OK,
a ready-to-start LAN terminal list is displayed.
C-3. Start Instruction Function
[0132] The home gateway apparatus receives a start request by proxy
from the remote user who succeeded the authentication, and sends a
start instruction packet to the corresponding equipment on the home
LAN. Moreover, the home gateway apparatus provides to the remote
user the start state presentation function of each terminal on the
home LAN, the start execution instruction function to each
terminal, and the start confirmation function to each terminal.
These functions are provided to the remote terminal by the Web
server function in the HTML format. The remote terminal which has
succeeded in the authentication can use the functions if only
equipped with a standard Web browser.
C-3-1. Ready-To-Start LAN Terminal List Display Function
[0133] When the user ID and the password are determined as
acceptable by the remote access authentication function, a list of
LAN terminals which are ready to start is displayed as a Web
screen.
[0134] FIG. 9 shows a configuration example of the screen of the
ready-to-start LAN terminal list. As shown in the same drawing, the
following information is displayed to each LAN terminal. [0135] (1)
nickname
[0136] The names of the LAN terminals of which the power source can
be started from the outside among the LAN terminals connected
within the home are displayed by nicknames such as computer names.
[0137] (2) states of LAN terminals (power on state, power off
state)
[0138] Whether the states of the corresponding LAN terminals are
power on or power off is displayed. [0139] (3) start
execution/start button
[0140] When this button is clicked from the Web browser of the
remote terminal, a LAN terminal which the user wishes to start
starts. [0141] (4) state confirmation/confirmation button
[0142] It is a button for dynamically confirming which the power
source of the LAN terminal is currently on or off.
C-3-2. Start Instruction Proxy Packet Transmission Function
[0143] The home gateway apparatus according to the present
embodiment includes a function of receiving a start instruction,
which is normally instructs to a LAN terminal in a home, by proxy
from a remote terminal to execute the instruction, i.e. start
instruction proxy packet transmission function.
[0144] FIG. 10 illustrates an operation of the start instruction
proxy packet transmission function. In case of via the Internet,
the remote terminal cannot directly transmit any start packets to
the LAN terminals in the house. Accordingly, the remote terminal
executes the command to the home gateway apparatus, and the home
gateway apparatus transmits the start packets as a proxy. The
operation procedure of the start instruction proxy packet
transmission function is as follows.
Step 21)
[0145] The start button of a desired LAN terminal in the
ready-to-start LAN terminal list shown in FIG. 9 is clicked from
the remote terminal.
Step 22)
[0146] After the above action, the home gateway apparatus transmits
a start packet magic packet from the LAN interface to the desired
LAN terminal.
Step 23)
[0147] The LAN terminal which has received the start packet starts.
The result is reflected on a terminal state display screen (see
FIG. 9).
C-3-3. State Confirmation Function
[0148] This function is for confirming whether the desired LAN
terminal is in a power on state or in a power off state now. The
operation procedure of the LAN terminal state confirmation by the
home gateway apparatus is as follows (see FIG. 11).
Step 31)
[0149] The confirmation button of a desired LAN terminal in the
ready-to-start LAN terminal list shown in FIG. 9 is clicked
thorough the remote terminal
Step 32)
[0150] The home gateway-apparatus converts its command, and
transmits a continuity confirmation packet from the LAN interface
of the home gateway apparatus to the desired LAN terminal. The
continuity confirmation packet in conformity with the ICMP (RFC
792/RFC 1812) protocol, which is widely used in a TCP/IP network,
transmits an Echo-Request packet to the LAN terminal. The Internet
control message protocol (ICMP) is a protocol for informing a
sender of the occurrence of an irregular state in a network and a
resulted error. As applications using ICMP, ping and trace rout can
be cited.
Step 33)
[0151] When the power source of a LAN terminal is on state, a
response packet (Echo-Reply) is transmitted to the home gateway
apparatus. When LAN terminals is off state started, no replies are
returned.
Step 34)
[0152] When the packets of the LAN interface and the Echo-Reply are
received, the home gateway apparatus determines that the power
source of the desired LAN terminal is on state, and displays "POWER
ON STATE" in the state column of the LAN terminal. On the contrary,
when no Echo-Reply packets are returned from the LAN terminal after
the transmission of the Echo-Request packet, the home gateway
apparatus displays "POWER OFF STATE".
C-4. Starting LAN Terminal Registration Function
[0153] It is necessary for a user to register in advance the LAN
terminals which the user wishes to start in a home. The home
gateway apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a
function of performing the previous registration procedure of the
terminals which start in response to start requests from a remote
terminal among the home LAN terminals. The home gateway apparatus
receives by proxy only the start requests to the previously
registered home LAN terminals, and transfers the start requests to
the requested destination terminals.
[0154] At the time of the registration, the home gateway apparatus
includes the Web server function which is connectable only from the
LAN interface, and the registration process can be performed on a
Web browser.
[0155] The information necessary for the starts of the LAN
terminals is possibly only the MAC addresses of the LAN terminals
to be wished to start. For example, in case of using commercially
available software, which transmits a magic packet, the MAC
addresses of the LAN terminals to be wished to start is normally
registered by manual.
[0156] However, in case of the manual registration of the MAC
addresses, the MAC addresses, each having 12 digits, of the LAN
terminals to be wished to start should be referred to, and then the
MAC addresses should be registered on the home gateway apparatus.
Such operations are troublesome. Therefore, the present embodiment
is implemented by the following method for simplifying the
registration operations.
C-4-1. Stringing Database Function
[0157] When the home gateway apparatus adds private IP addresses to
LAN terminals by means of the DHCP function, the MAC addresses and
the terminal names of the LAN terminals can be obtained. For
example, when the operating system "Windows" of Microsoft
Corporation in US is used, the computer names provided by Windows
can be obtained at the time of the DHCP process. The home gateway
apparatus collects the information of the collected computer names
and the MAC addresses to perform the stringing of the information,
and holds the information as database information.
C-4-2. Simple Registration Function
[0158] FIG. 12 shows a configuration example of a management
setting screen of the home gateway apparatus. On the screen, the
following setting operations can be performed. [0159] (1) Nickname
Setting
[0160] It is possible to set preferable names to the LAN terminals
to be wished to start arbitrarily. [0161] (2) Registration
[0162] Here, the LAN terminals to be wished to start are
registered. In case of the selection in a list, computer names can
be selected in a pull-down menu to be registered in place of using
MAC addresses. Thereby, the registration can be simply performed.
However, if the MAC addresses are wished to be manually registered,
it is possible to set them by manual registration. [0163] (3) User
ID/Password
[0164] A user ID and a password at the time of accessing remotely
is set here. Incidentally, it may be set to prohibit the remote
access when no user ID and no password are set. [0165] (4) Start
Test
[0166] It is a function of starting desired LAN terminals in the
home LAN in place of remote starting. Before the execution from a
remote place, the operation can be confirmed at a home.
[0167] In the above, specific embodiments have been referred to
while the present invention have been described in detail. However,
it is apparent that the skilled in the art can modify or substitute
the embodiments without departing from the spirit and the scope of
the present invention. That is, the form of exemplification has
been disclosed with regard to the present invention, the
restrictive interpretation of the contents of the present
specification should not be made. Claims should be referred to for
the judgment of the scope of the present invention.
* * * * *