The claimed invention herein provides a simple, economical, and safe way to connect a new class of Internet-ready devices and appliances to the Internet without the use of a personal computer (PC). The claimed invention herein provides an Internet dial-tone, so to speak, to applications ranging from toys and entertainment consoles to electronic books and health equipment just as a traditional telephone jack provides a plain old telephone system (POTS) dial-tone for phones, modems, and fax machines. The invention herein features a modem, network stack, and application protocols alleviating the need for sophisticated logic within attached devices. With one-touch, appliances can quickly and easily connect to the Internet.
1. An apparatus for a user to connect an Internet-ready device to the Internet by an Internet connection independent means, comprising:
at least two connection ports, wherein the first port connects to an Internet conduit, and the second port connects to said Internet-ready device capable of communicating utilizing Internet-related protocols;
a user interface, allowing a user to initiate passing information between said Internet-ready device and said Internet, and having associated indicators to indicate to said user that said passing of information that was initiated by said user is complete;
a protocol handler block for receiving and handling messages from said user interface and from said Internet-ready device, and for sending on said handled messages to a network stack block;
said network stack block for handling an associated subset of said handled messages, and sending on to a physical connection block; and
said physical connection block for connecting to said Internet.
2. The apparatus in claim 1 , wherein said indicators range from simple LED's to small LCD screens, cursor controls, and keyboards and/or keypads.
3. The apparatus in claim 1 , further comprising a standard telephone jack connection.
4. The apparatus in claim 1 , wherein said physical connection block comprises a data modem.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein said data modem ranges from 2400 bps to 56 kbps, or wherein said data modem is an xDSL or cable modem.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 , further comprising a pass through port whereby an existing POTS appliance may be connected.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said network stack block handles all network, transport layer, and data link layer protocols needed for Internet connectivity.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said protocol handler provides any of the following application protocols: POP3, SMTP, HTTP, FTP, and DNS.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , whereby said apparatus is built as a standalone device.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 , whereby said apparatus is built to be embedded into other devices.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said data modem is a cable modem.
12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said apparatus is capable of being added to at least one of:
set-top-boxes;
Ethernet hubs; and
hubs that are attached to new home networking standards.
13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said connection between said Internet-ready device and said Internet is closed in that said user never intervenes to provide additional information.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein said closure of said Internet permits an Internet connection only to a website specified by said Internet-ready device.
15. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a rating system, wherein said Internet-ready device passes a rating level to the Internet, whereupon only data not violating said rating level is passed back to said Internet-ready device.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein said rating system is RSAC.
17. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising security schemes to prevent accessing information of unauthorized sites.
18. The apparatus of claim 17 , further comprising a key code for passing from said Internet-ready device to said Internet, whereupon a pre-agreed upon algorithm is used to generate a response, whereupon said response is sent back to said Internet-ready device, thereby authenticating said Internet connection to said Internet-ready device.
19. The apparatus of claim 18 , used in reverse to prevent unauthorized Internet-ready devices from accessing a particular site.
20. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said initiating passing information between said Internet-ready device and said Internet is by said user pressing a button, thereby providing a one-touch operation.
21. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising raw socket support.
22. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein said raw socket support further comprises at least one of:
support for multiple sockets;
ability to set target and source port numbers; and
TCP or UDP transport layers.
23. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said protocol handler comprises a micro controller.
24. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein said micro controller provides Base64 and/or quoted printable data decoding.
25. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein said micro controller communicates directly with said Internet-ready device and with a raw socket.
26. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising multiple Internet-ready device connectors.
27. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising auto BAUD rate detection for RS-232 type connections.
28. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said Internet-ready device is embedded into an Internet-capable telephone.
29. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said Internet-ready device includes a toy which emits sounds that are updated utilizing said Internet.
30. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said Internet-ready device includes an electronic book.
31. A method for a user to connect an Internet-ready device to the Internet by an Internet connection independent means, comprising:
providing at least two connection ports, wherein the first port connects to an Internet conduit, and the second port connects to said Internet-ready device capable of communicating utilizing Internet-related protocols;
providing a user interface, allowing a user to initiate passing information between said Internet-ready device and said Internet, and having associated indicators to indicate to said user that said passing of information that was initiated by said user is complete;
providing a protocol handler block for receiving and handling messages from said user interface and from said Internet-ready device, and for sending on said handled messages to a network stack block;
providing said network stack block for handling an associated subset of said handled messages, and sending on to a physical connection block; and
providing said physical connection block for connecting to said Internet.
32. The method in claim 31 , wherein said indicators range from, simple LED's to small LCD screens, cursor controls, keypads and/or keyboards.
33. The method in claim 31 , further comprising providing a standard telephone jack connection.
34. The method in claim 31 , wherein said physical connection block comprises a data modem.
35. The method of claim 34 , wherein said data modem ranges from 2400 bps to 56 kbps, or wherein said data modem is an xDSL and cable modem.
36. The apparatus of claim 35 , further comprising a pass through port whereby an existing POTs appliance may be connected.
37. The method of claim 31 , wherein said network stack block handles all network, transport layer, and data link layer protocols needed for Internet connectivity.
38. The method of claim 31 , wherein said protocol handler provides any of the following application protocols: POP3, SMTP, HTTP, FTP, and DNS.
39. The method of claim 31 , whereby standalone capability is provided.
40. The method of claim 31 , whereby embeddable capability into other devices is provided.
41. The method of claim 31 , wherein said data modem is a cable modem.
42. The method of claim 31 , further providing connectivity to at least one of:
set-top-boxes;
Ethernet hubs; and
hubs that are attached to new home networking standards.
43. The method of claim 31 , wherein said connection between said Internet-ready device and said Internet is closed in that said user never intervenes to provide additional information.
44. The method of claim 31 , further providing a rating system, wherein said Internet-ready device passes a rating level to the Internet, whereupon only data not violating said rating level is passed back to said Internet-ready device.
45. The method of claim 44 , wherein said rating system is RSAC.
46. The method of claim 31 , further providing security schemes to prevent accessing information of unauthorized sites.
47. The method of claim 46 , further providing a key code for passing from said Internet-ready device to said Internet, whereupon a pre-agreed upon algorithm is used to generate a response, whereupon said response is sent back to said Internet-ready device, thereby authenticating said Internet connection to said Internet-ready device.
48. The method of claim 47 , used in reverse to prevent unauthorized Internet-ready devices from accessing a particular site.
49. The method of claim 31 , wherein said initiating passing information between said Internet-ready device and said Internet is by said user pressing a button, thereby providing a one-touch operation.
50. The method of claim 31 , further providing raw socket support.
51. The method of claim 50 , wherein said raw socket support further comprises at least one of:
support for multiple sockets;
ability to set target and source port numbers; and
TCP or UDP transport layers.
52. The method of claim 31 , wherein said protocol handler comprises a micro controller.
53. The method of claim 52 , wherein said micro controller provides Base64 and/or quoted printable data decoding.
54. The method of claim 52 , wherein said micro controller communicates directly with said Internet-ready device and with a raw socket.
55. The method of claim 31 , further providing multiple Internet-ready device connectors.
56. The method of claim 31 , further providing auto BAUD rate detection for RS-232 type connections.