Method and apparatus for authentication and payment for devices participating in Jini communities
View Patent ↗Architectures that enable different types of security devices to operate interchangeably in very large network environments for authentication and metered access to services are described. The system relies on a lease-based access to the network services. The leasing model supports a smart card type payment for services allowing for payments to be automatically forwarded from the smart card type device to the service whenever a service is leased. To lease a service, the requesting service must first be authenticated using devices like cellular phones, smart cards, Personal Data Assistants, or similar devices that have processing and memory capabilities and in some instances, wireless communication capabilities. Services may enter or exit the environment at will. Devices and services in this environment have public certificates that are used for authentication. Services may customize access to its products to make them available only to desired services.
1. A method comprising:
providing a federation of computers and computing devices, said federation appearing as a single system to a user of said federation;
providing a first service, said first service participating in said federation;
initiating a request for said first service; said request being initiated by said user via a second service, said second service participating in said federation;
requesting authentication of said second service, said authentication being requested by said first service;
presenting authentication, said authentication being presented by said second service;
verifying said authentication, said authentication being verified by said first service; and
granting access to said first service, thereby enabling said second service to said first service.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising collecting payment for said first service via said federation.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said second service is a cellular phone.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said second service is a Personal Data Assistant.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said second service is a smart card.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said requesting authentication further comprises:
generating a digital signature; and
verifying said digital signature with a public certificate.