System and method for managing virtual user domains
View Patent ↗The present invention addresses the previous of lack of subscriber identity tracking and management for residential broadband lines and provides customized access and enhanced IP services for a subscriber's household members (virtual user domain) and his/her circle of extended families, relatives, and friends (multiple virtual user domains). Rather than treating a broadband link as a single connection with a single set of services and quality constraints, the present invention enables the subscriber to create multiple user profiles per broadband link; tailor activities such as web services to a specific user and group profile; provide restricted access to minors (e.g. allow only age appropriate content to be viewed); and facilitate connection at multiple access points on a carrier's edge network.
1. A method of causing a residential gateway to provide user-centric data services across a single broadband communications link, the method comprising:
managing, at the residential gateway, a virtual user domain for accessing the single broadband communications link, different virtual user domains being established with respect to the single broadband communications link such that data from a public network is accessed via the single broadband communications link and the residential gateway based on usage characteristics of plural users;
authenticating, at the residential gateway, a first user of the plural users to provide a first user-specific data access control to the first user across the single broadband communications link; and
authenticating, at the residential gateway, a second user of the plural users to provide a second user-specific data access control to the second user across the single broadband communications link.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the single broadband communications link comprises a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) connection.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the single broadband communications link comprises a cable modem connection.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein, in the residential gateway, the second user-specific data access control is compared to the first user-specific data access control by a logical OR to control whether the first user may access services through the single broadband communication link.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein, in the residential gateway, the second user-specific data access control is compared to the first user-specific data access control by a logical AND of the first user-specific data access control and a domain specific data access control to control whether the first user may access services through the single broadband communication link.
6. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the authenticating further comprises:
providing a user identity and a password.
7. The method as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the authenticating further comprises:
providing a user identity and a password from the residential gateway to a remote device and receiving, at the residential gateway, a response from the remote device.