U.S. patent application number 16/404294 was filed with the patent office on 2020-10-15 for method and system for discovering user equipment in a network.
This patent application is currently assigned to Yaana Technologies, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Yaana Technologies, Inc.. Invention is credited to David Grootwassink, Michael P. Hammer, Rajesh Puri, Vaibhav Sharma.
Application Number | 20200329360 16/404294 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000004925839 |
Filed Date | 2020-10-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20200329360 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hammer; Michael P. ; et
al. |
October 15, 2020 |
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DISCOVERING USER EQUIPMENT IN A NETWORK
Abstract
A system and method for discovering user equipment in a network
is disclosed. According to one embodiment, a discovery proxy
periodically scans an access router that serves a target user
equipment and collects an address assignment record of the target
user equipment via the access router. The discovery proxy passes
the address assignment record to a discovery server, and the
discovery server identifies a location of the target user equipment
based on the address assignment record of the target user
equipment.
Inventors: |
Hammer; Michael P.; (Reston,
VA) ; Grootwassink; David; (Safety Harbor, FL)
; Puri; Rajesh; (Fremont, CA) ; Sharma;
Vaibhav; (Milpitas, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Yaana Technologies, Inc. |
Milpitas |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Yaana Technologies, Inc.
Milpitas
CA
|
Family ID: |
1000004925839 |
Appl. No.: |
16/404294 |
Filed: |
May 6, 2019 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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14512283 |
Oct 10, 2014 |
10285038 |
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16404294 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 41/5067 20130101;
H04L 43/0811 20130101; H04L 61/2015 20130101; H04W 8/005
20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04W 8/00 20060101
H04W008/00; H04L 12/24 20060101 H04L012/24 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: periodically scanning an access router that
serves a target user equipment; collecting an address assignment
record of the target user equipment via the access router; passing
the address assignment record to a discovery server; and
identifying a location of the target user equipment at the
discovery server based on the address assignment record of the
target user equipment.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the network is an Internet
service provider network.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising implementing a dynamic
host configuration protocol (DHCP) by the access router and
assigning an IP address of the user equipment.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising, at the discovery
server, communicating with an access selection server at the
discovery server and generating a targeting request to a target
proxy.
5. The method of claim 4, further comprising managing a life-cycle
of the targeting request by the access selection server including
activating and deactivating the targeting request.
6. The method of claim 4, further comprising sending the targeting
request by the target proxy to the access router that serves the
target user equipment.
7. The method of claim 6, further comprising establishing a
connection by the access router to a delivery proxy.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising replicating packets
associated with the target user equipment by the delivery proxy to
a packet analysis server for analyzing the packets.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising sending a
de-provisioning request by the access selection server to the
target proxy.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising connecting the target
proxy to the access router and de-provisioning the target user
equipment.
11. The method of claim 7, further comprising collecting one or
more of user information of a user attached to the access router,
connectivity information between the access router to the target
proxy, and connectivity information between the access router to
the delivery proxy.
12. The method of claim 5, wherein the life-cycle of the targeting
request comprises a series of monitoring activations and
deactivation requests to a series of access routers.
13. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a request
for connectivity status of the target user equipment at a metadata
selection server; generating a data query request to the discover
server; sending connectivity information of the target user
equipment to a metadata analysis server; generating a response to
the request for connectivity status at the metadata analysis
server; and providing the response via the metadata selection
server.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the response is selected from a
group comprising: history of IP addresses that a target user is
connected from and a list of access routers that the target user is
connected to, users who are connected to the target user equipment
using an IP address of the target user equipment; history of
connection requests for the access router; an outage report to a
governing agency; and connectivity periods of the target user.
15. A system comprising: a user equipment; an access router that is
configured to bind with the user equipment; a discovery proxy
configured to periodically scan the access router and collect an
address assignment record of the user equipment via the access
router, a discovery server that is configured to receive the
address assignment record from the discovery proxy and identify a
location of the user equipment based on the address assignment
record of the target user equipment.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the network is an Internet
service provider network.
17. The system of claim 15, wherein the access router implements a
dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) and assigns an IP
address of the user equipment.
18. The system of claim 15 further comprising an access selection
server and a target proxy, wherein the discovery server
communicates with the access selection server to generate a
targeting request to the target proxy.
19. The system of claim 18, wherein the access selection server
manages a life-cycle of the targeting request and activates and
deactivates the targeting request.
20. The system of claim 18, wherein the target proxy sends the
targeting request to the access router that serves the user
equipment and manages provisioning connectivity to the access
router.
21. The system of claim 20 further comprises a delivery proxy,
wherein at the request of the targeting request from the target
proxy, the access router establishes a connection to the delivery
proxy.
22. The system of claim 21 further comprise a packet analysis
server, wherein the delivery proxy replicates packets associated
with the user equipment to the packet analysis server, and the
packet analysis server analyzes the packets.
23. The system of claim 22, wherein the access selection server
sends a de-provisioning request to the target proxy.
24. The system of claim 23, wherein the target proxy connects to
the access router and de-provisions the user equipment.
25. The system of claim 22, wherein the access selection server
sends a monitor request to the discovery server and receives from
the discovery server one or more of user information of a user
attached to the access router, connectivity information between the
access router to the target proxy, and connectivity information
between the access router to the delivery proxy.
26. The system of claim 19, wherein the life-cycle of the targeting
request comprises a series of monitoring activations and
deactivation requests to a series of access routers.
27. The system of claim 15, further comprising: a metadata
selection server; and a metadata analysis server, wherein the
metadata selection server receives a request for connectivity
status of the target user equipment and generates a data query
request to the discover server, wherein the discover server sends
connectivity information of the target user equipment to the
metadata analysis server, wherein the metadata analysis server
generates a response to the request for connectivity status; and
wherein the metadata selection server provides the response.
28. The system of claim 27, wherein the response is selected from a
group comprising: history of IP addresses that a target user is
connected from and a list of access routers that the target user is
connected to, users who are connected to the target user equipment
using an IP address of the target user equipment; history of
connection requests for the access router; an outage report to a
governing agency; and connectivity periods of the target user.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.
No. 14/512,283, filed Oct. 10, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,285,038,
which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
FIELD
[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to network
communications and, more particularly, to a method and system for
discovering user equipment in a network.
BACKGROUND
[0003] An Internet service provider (ISP) builds a packet network
to enable users to access various services over the Internet.
Unlike a network that evolved from a telephony network, some ISPs
do not support voice, email, and other services in-house. The ISPs
control the network access by users by provisioning a security
mechanism in an access node (e.g., a network router, a switch) and
user equipment (UE) (e.g., a cable-modem). However, small ISPs may
lack a sophisticated security mechanism such as an operation
support system (OSS) and a subscriber management system that a
large telephone company typically implements.
[0004] Some ISPs provide wireless access to user devices via a
point-to-point radio link from a directional antenna on a building
roof to a radio tower. Other ISPs may rely on wireless hotspots
with omnidirectional antennas to connect users. A user may be a
credit-card holder who uses a credit-card transaction to substitute
an authentication to the network.
[0005] Some ISPs may distribute subscriber-related information to
an access edge of their network, however the distribution of
subscriber-related information presents challenges to an ISP
network operator for identifying and isolating packet traffic of a
specific user. Furthermore, the ISP networks must support various
types of access nodes and UE nodes. The distribution of
subscriber-related information further makes it difficult for the
ISP network operator to manage their network while providing
security to the users and meeting regulatory compliance
obligations.
SUMMARY
[0006] A system and method for discovering user equipment in a
network is disclosed. A system and method for discovering user
equipment in a network is disclosed. According to one embodiment, a
discovery proxy periodically scans an access router that serves a
target user equipment and collects an address assignment record of
the target user equipment via the access router. The discovery
proxy passes the address assignment record to a discovery server,
and the discovery server identifies a location of the target user
equipment based on the address assignment record of the target user
equipment.
[0007] The above and other preferred features, including various
novel details of implementation and combination of elements, will
now be more particularly described with reference to the
accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims. It will be
understood that the particular methods and apparatuses are shown by
way of illustration only and not as limitations. As will be
understood by those skilled in the art, the principles and features
explained herein may be employed in various and numerous
embodiments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The accompanying drawings, which are included as part of the
present specification, illustrate the various embodiments of the
present disclosed system and method and together with the general
description given above and the detailed description of the
preferred embodiment given below serve to explain and teach the
principles of the present disclosure.
[0009] FIG. 1 illustrates system architecture of an exemplary ISP
network, according to one embodiment;
[0010] FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of an exemplary ISP
network including a management system, according to one
embodiment;
[0011] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary discovery process of target
user equipment in an ISP network, according to one embodiment;
[0012] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary process for monitoring
connectivity status of target user equipment in an ISP network,
according to one embodiment; and
[0013] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary computer architecture that
may be used for the present system, according to one
embodiment.
[0014] It should be noted that the figures are not necessarily
drawn to scale and that elements of structures or functions are
generally represented by reference numerals for illustrative
purposes throughout the figures. It also should be noted that the
figures are only intended to facilitate the description of the
various embodiments described herein. The figures do not describe
every aspect of the teachings described herein and do not limit the
scope of the claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0015] A system and method for discovering user equipment in a
network is disclosed. A system and method for discovering user
equipment in a network is disclosed. According to one embodiment, a
discovery proxy periodically scans an access router that serves a
target user equipment and collects an address assignment record of
the target user equipment via the access router. The discovery
proxy passes the address assignment record to a discovery server,
and the discovery server identifies a location of the target user
equipment based on the address assignment record of the target user
equipment.
[0016] In the following description, for purposes of clarity and
conciseness of the description, not all of the numerous components
shown in the schematic are described. The numerous components are
shown in the drawings to provide a person of ordinary skill in the
art a thorough enabling disclosure of the present system and
method. The operation of many of the components would be understood
to one skilled in the art.
[0017] Each of the additional features and teachings disclosed
herein can be utilized separately or in conjunction with other
features and teachings to provide a detachable frame for a mobile
computer. Representative examples utilizing many of these
additional features and teachings, both separately and in
combination, are described in further detail with reference to the
attached drawings. This detailed description is merely intended to
teach a person of skill in the art further details for practicing
preferred aspects of the present teachings and is not intended to
limit the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, combinations
of features disclosed in the following detailed description may not
be necessary to practice the teachings in the broadest sense and
are instead taught merely to describe particularly representative
examples of the present teachings.
[0018] Moreover, various features of the representative examples
and the dependent claims may be combined in ways that are not
specifically and explicitly enumerated in order to provide
additional useful embodiments of the present teachings. In
addition, it is expressly noted that all features disclosed in the
description and/or the claims are intended to be disclosed
separately and independently from each other for the purpose of
original disclosure, as well as for the purpose of restricting the
claimed subject matter independent of the compositions of the
features in the embodiments and/or the claims. It is also expressly
noted that all value ranges or indications of groups of entities
disclose every possible intermediate value or intermediate entity
for the purpose of original disclosure, as well as for the purpose
of restricting the claimed subject matter. It is also expressly
noted that the dimensions and the shapes of the components shown in
the figures are designed to help understand how the present
teachings are practiced but are not intended to limit the
dimensions and the shapes shown in the examples.
[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates system architecture of an exemplary ISP
network, according to one embodiment. User equipment (UE) 115 is
connected to the Internet 150 via an Internet service provider
(ISP) network 140. The ISP network 140 includes Internet edge
routers 111a and 111b, access routers 113a, 113b, and 113c, and
core routers 112a and 112b. However, it is noted that the ISP
network 140 can include any number of Internet edge routers, access
routers, and core routers without deviating from the scope of the
present disclosure. Internet edge routers 111a and 111b connect the
ISP network 140 to the Internet 150 at various points that may be
geographically separated depending on the size of the ISP network
140. Access routers 113a, 113b, and 113c provide a protocol for
managing addressing and connectivity in the network (e.g., dynamic
host control protocol (DHCP)) and connect the UE 115 to the ISP
network 140. Core routers 112a and 112b connect and aggregate data
traffic from the access routers 113a, 113b, and 113c to the
Internet edge routers 111a and 111b. The ISP network 140 provides
alternate paths of the UE 115 to the Internet 150 using various
edge routers, core routers, and access routers to support higher
reliability of service to the access routers 113. For simplicity,
the term, "router" is herein used to represent different network
transport elements within the ISP network 140.
[0020] According to one embodiment, the present system and method
provides a management system 160. The management system 160 may be
externally located from the ISP network 140 and connected to the
ISP network 140 via the Internet 150 or internally located within
the ISP network 140. The management system 160 locates the UE 115
that is connected to the ISP network 140 by requesting the access
router 113b that is attached to the target UE 115 to send
information or data traffic related to the UE 115. The management
system 160 processes the received information or data traffic
related to the UE 115 and determines the location as well as the
connectivity status of the target UE 115. The target UE 115 may be
attached to any access router within the ISP network 140 at any
given time or move from one access router to another access
router.
[0021] FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of an exemplary ISP
network including a management system, according to one embodiment.
The ISP network includes a UE 210, an access router 220, and a DHCP
router 221. There may be several UEs, access routers, and DHCP
routers within the ISP network without deviating from the scope of
the present disclosure. Each UE may be connected to one or more
access routers. More than one UEs may be connected to a single
access router.
[0022] According to one embodiment, the present system and method
provides a management system 160 including a discovery proxy 222, a
target proxy 223, and a delivery proxy 224. The management system
160, particularly the discover proxy 222, is capable of handling a
wide variety of router types, registration protocols, registration
record types, address types, and connectivity data record types.
Therefore, the management system 160 is capable of working over an
ISP network that evolved through mergers and acquisitions, thus
comprises various network protocols and types. The management
system 160 may be located inside or outside of an ISP network. If
the management system 160 is located outside an ISP network, as
illustrated in FIG. 1, the management system 160 communicates with
the access router 220 via at least one Internet edge router and/or
a core router (not shown). The access router 220 may incorporate a
DHCP node 221 as represented by a dashed line 250, or the DHCP node
221 may be implemented in a separate node from the access router
220. The DHCP node 221 may be located on a host that is accessible
by multiple access routers. The DHCP standard is defined and
managed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
[0023] The discovery proxy 222 periodically scans the access
routers and DHCP nodes to collect address assignment records of
attached UEs with their associated identities and addresses, and
passes the address assignment records to a discovery server 230.
Using the address assignment records of the UEs, the discovery
server 230 performs the UE location discovery function (LDF). The
discovery proxy 222 watches for state changes of the attached UEs
by inspecting DHCP logs, authentication, authorizing and accounting
(AAA) logs, and other log and status information available in the
ISP network. For example, the discovery proxy 222 supports a
dynamically provisioned user network such as coffee shop hotspots
and hotel networks.
[0024] The discovery server 230 searches for a record of a target
UE (e.g., UE 210) over its data repository, correlates the state
change information of the target UE, and links the identity and
address to the target UE. Once a state change is detected, the
discovery server 230 triggers an access selection server 231 to
submit a targeting request to the ISP network. The access selection
server 231 has a UE access selection function (ASF) and submits the
targeting request to the ISP network through a target proxy 223.
The target proxy 223 has the permission and a protocol to access a
specific access router 220 that serves the target UE 210. The
access router 220 establishes a connection to the delivery proxy
224 that maintains a permanent connection to a packet analysis
server 232.
[0025] According to one embodiment, the discovery proxy 222, the
target proxy 223, and the delivery proxy 224 may be located on
separate physical nodes, combined in a single physical node, and
any combination of proxy functions may be implanted on a particular
physical node. Likewise, the discovery server 230, the access
selection server 231, and the packet analysis server 232 may be
located on separate or any combination of physical servers.
Furthermore, the servers may be operated inside an ISP network, or
remotely outside the ISP network in a partner network (e.g., a
trusted third party network).
[0026] According to one embodiment, the management system 160
further comprises a metadata selection server 233 and a metadata
analysis server 234. The metadata selection server 233 and the
metadata analysis server 234 are connected to each other and to the
discovery server, respectively. The metadata selection server 233
receives a request for connectivity status of the user equipment
210 from a requesting system and sends a response to the requesting
system. The requesting system may be internal or external to the
ISP network. The discovery server 230 maintains a repository of
connectivity information of user equipment to the network and sends
the connectivity information of a target user equipment to the
metadata analysis server 234. The metadata analysis server 234
provides the analysis of the connectivity status of the target user
equipment to the metadata selection server 233 that responds to the
requesting system. The process of providing connectivity status of
a target user equipment is discussed in further detail below with
reference to FIG. 4.
[0027] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary discovery process of target
user equipment in an ISP network, according to one embodiment.
Various proxies and servers may be used, independently or in any
combination, to allow each discovery function to scale
independently according to a processing speed and memory capacity
required to perform each function.
[0028] The UE 210 in an ISP network performs a network entry
process that involves a request for address assignment to an access
router 220. In operation 301, the UE 210 makes an address
assignment request for a network entry to the access router 220 by
providing equipment-related identities and credentials and receives
an IP address and other host configuration parameters from the
access router 220. The host configuration parameters may include a
supporting DHCP server (not shown) that assigns the IP address of
the UE 210. The address assignment (or address binding) information
between the UE 210 and the access router 220 is maintained as long
as the UE 210 connects with the access router 220.
[0029] In operation 302, the discovery proxy 222 periodically
contacts each of the access routers in the network and requests an
update to the address assignment data between the access router 220
and the UE 210. The discovery proxy 222 is provisioned with a list
of routers to monitor and credentials to authenticate itself to
each of the routers. In addition, the discovery proxy 222 provides
a secure link to other proxies or servers within the ISP network or
cloud-based servers or hosts that are remotely located outside the
ISP network.
[0030] In operation 303, the discovery proxy 222 passes the address
assignment data between the UE 210 and the access router 220 to a
discovery server 230. According to one embodiment, the discovery
proxy 222 does not store the data collected from the access router
220, but instead sends the data to the discovery server 230 where
the address assignment data is stored in a data store. The
discovery server 230 processes the received address assignment data
from the access router 220 and performs a search and
cross-referencing with other sources of data that correlates with
the name and addressing identities of the UEs. Examples of other
sources of data included, but are not limited to, data received
from authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) nodes,
operations support systems (OSS), and business support systems
(BSS).
[0031] In operation 304, a management system or a third party
service provides a monitoring request for monitoring a particular
user's data traffic to the access selection server 231. The
management system provides a target identity such as a name of an
address that may not be directly visible to the access router 220.
The access selection server 231 manages a life-cycle of the
monitoring request and activates and deactivates the monitoring
request. The life-cycle of monitoring the user may span multiple
connection activations and deactivations that may result from
either intermittent connectivity while stationary or due to
mobility where the user connects to a sequence of access routers.
Thus, a single request to monitor a user, may translate into a
series of monitoring activations/deactivation requests to a series
of access routers, herein referred to as dynamic triggering.
[0032] In operation 305, the access selection server 231 provides a
monitor request to the discovery server 230 to perform a series of
mappings to discover the identity and IP address of the access
selection server 231 that serves the target UE 210 in the network,
and returns the access selection server 231 with parameters to
provision the target UE 210. The parameters that the discovery
server 230 sends to the access selection server 231 in response to
the monitor request include, for example, but not limited to, the
connectivity information between the access router 220 and the
target proxy 223, and between the access router 220 and the
delivery proxy 224, and the user information on the UE 210. Using
these parameters, the access selection server 231 determines that
the user on the UE 210 attached to the access router 220 can be
activated by the target proxy 223 to deliver to the delivery proxy
224.
[0033] In operation 306, the access selection server 231 formulates
and sends a provisioning request to the target proxy 223. The
target proxy 223 performs the same ISP network internal and
backhaul security functions as the other proxies. The target proxy
223 then connects to the selected access router 220 and manages the
provisioning connectivity to the access router 220 in operation
307. The provisioned information includes the identity of the
delivery proxy 224 and the packet analysis server 232, information
to correlate the delivered packet stream with the correct target
request, and required signature and encryption parameters, as
needed.
[0034] In operation 308, copies of packets flow between the access
router 220 and the packet analysis server through the delivery
proxy 224. The delivery proxy 224 provides reliable and loss-free
connectivity for data streaming between the access router 220 and
the packet analysis server 232. The packet analysis server 232
performs various analyses of the UE packets. For example, a user
complains that his/her voice over IP (VoIP) voice audio is poor,
and the packet analysis server 232 determines that another user's
gaming application is hogging the bandwidth and suggests the user
to implement some form of quality of service (QoS) controls to
improve the voice quality of his/her VoIP application. In operation
309, the management system submits a target release request to the
access selection server 231. Similar to the provisioning process,
the access selection server 231 formulates and sends a
de-provisioning request to the target proxy 223 in operation 310.
The target proxy 223 connects to the selected access router 220 and
de-provisions the target UE 210 in operation 311. After the
de-provisioning of the target UE 210, the access router 220 removes
the monitoring function and stops the replicated packet flow to the
delivery proxy 224.
[0035] In some embodiments, the access selection server 231 may
have additional provisioning and de-provisioning flows to the
delivery proxy 224 or the packet analysis server 232 to provide the
correlation information to the delivery proxy 224 or the packet
analysis server 232 instead of the access router 220.
[0036] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary process for monitoring
connectivity status of target user equipment in an ISP network,
according to one embodiment. In operation 401, the metadata
selection server 233 receives a request from an external system
(not shown) including a type and one or more parameters to identify
a target user equipment in the ISP network. In operation 402, the
metadata selection server 233 sends a data query request to the
discovery server 230. In operation 403, the discovery server 230
the requested data subset to the metadata analysis server 234. In
operation 404, the metadata analysis server 234 sends the data
results to the metadata selection server 233. In operation 405, the
metadata selection server 233 sends the response including an
answer to the requesting external system.
[0037] The discovery server 230 maintains a repository of
connectivity information of target user equipment to the network.
Using the connectivity information of target equipment, the
discovery server 230 can discover various information about the
target user equipment, for example, but not limited to: [0038]
history of IP addresses that a target user is connected from and a
list of access routers that the target user is connected to. [0039]
users who are connected to a target user equipment using the IP
address of the target user equipment. [0040] history of connection
requests for an access router (e.g., to determine the status of the
access router) [0041] an outage report to a governing agency (e.g.,
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)). [0042] connectivity
periods of the target user to adjust billing, as needed.
[0043] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary computer architecture that
may be used for the present system, according to one embodiment.
The exemplary computer architecture may be used for implementing
one or more components described in the present disclosure
including, but not limited to, the present content curation system.
One embodiment of architecture 500 includes a system bus 501 for
communicating information, and a processor 502 coupled to bus 501
for processing information. Architecture 500 further includes a
random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device 503
(referred to herein as main memory), coupled to bus 501 for storing
information and instructions to be executed by processor 502. Main
memory 503 also may be used for storing temporary variables or
other intermediate information during execution of instructions by
processor 502. Architecture 500 may also include a read only memory
(ROM) and/or other static storage device 504 coupled to bus 501 for
storing static information and instructions used by processor
502.
[0044] A data storage device 505 such as a magnetic disk or optical
disc and its corresponding drive may also be coupled to
architecture 500 for storing information and instructions.
Architecture 500 can also be coupled to a second I/O bus 506 via an
I/O interface 507. A plurality of I/O devices may be coupled to I/O
bus 506, including a display device 508, an input device (e.g., an
alphanumeric input device 509 and/or a cursor control device
510).
[0045] The communication device 411 allows for access to other
computers (e.g., servers or clients) via a network. The
communication device 411 511 may include one or more modems,
network interface cards, wireless network interfaces or other
interface devices, such as those used for coupling to Ethernet,
token ring, or other types of networks.
[0046] While some specific embodiments of the present disclosure
have been shown, the present disclosure should not be interpreted
to limit the scope of the present disclosure to these embodiments.
For example, most functions performed by electronic hardware
components may be duplicated by software emulation. Thus, a
software program written to accomplish those same functions may
emulate the functionality of the hardware components in
input-output circuitry. The present disclosure is to be understood
as not limited by the specific embodiments described herein, but
only by scope of the appended claims.
[0047] Embodiments as described herein have significant advantages
over previously developed implementations. As will be apparent to
one of ordinary skill in the art, other similar apparatus
arrangements are possible within the general scope. The embodiments
described above are intended to be exemplary rather than limiting,
and the bounds should be determined from the claims.
* * * * *