IP Library Granted Patent US 12,238,517
Granted Patent B1
US 12,238,517 · App. 17/592,317 · Granted Feb 25, 2025

Systems and methods for managing network connectivity with netreach

Inventors: Darshak Thakore (Broomfield, CO); Craig Pratt (Louisville, CO); Joshua F. Redmore (Longmont, CO); John C. Bahr (Superior, CO); Brian A. Scriber (Lafayette, CO); Brian Stahlhammer (Denver, CO); Martha Lurie Lyons (Sunnyvale, CA)
Assignee: Cable Television Laboratories, Inc.
H04W12/06H04W8/18H04W12/72H04W84/18
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,238,517
App. No.
17/592,317
Granted
Feb 25, 2025
Kind
B1
Abstract

A system for micro-segmented networking is provided. A system controller is programmed to a) store a plurality of micro-segmented network accounts and a plurality of subscriber accounts, b) receive a request from a user device to activate a first micro-segmented network associated with a first subscriber account, c) authenticate the first subscriber account based on the subscriber information, d) activate the first micro-segmented network, including a plurality of device slots for a plurality of devices, e) transmit, to the user device, first device slot authentication information for a first device slot of the plurality of device slots; f) receive, from a first device connecting to the wireless network, the first device slot authentication information; g) authenticate the first device slot authentication information; and h) in response to authenticating the first device slot authentication information, connect the first device to the first micro-segmented network.

Claims (36)

1. A system for micro-segmented networking, the system comprising a system controller comprising at least one processor in communication with at least one memory device, wherein the system controller is in communication with a first wireless network, and wherein the system controller is programmed to:

store a plurality of subscriber accounts, wherein each subscriber account of the plurality of subscriber accounts is associated with a respective micro-segmented network of a plurality of micro-segmented networks;

receive a request from a user device to activate a micro-segmented network that is associated with a first subscriber account of the plurality of subscriber accounts, wherein the request includes subscriber information associated with the first subscriber account;

authenticate the first subscriber account based on the subscriber information;

activate a first micro-segmented network of the plurality of micro-segmented networks that is access point agnostic and is associated with the first subscriber account, at least partially by assigning a respective virtual local area network (VLAN) to a user associated with the first subscriber account, the first micro-segmented network including N device slots for potential connection of a maximum of N devices to the first micro-segmented network, wherein N is a predetermined integer that is greater than one and is at least partially a function of the first subscriber account;

transmit, to the user device, first device slot authentication information for a first device slot of the N device slots;

receive, from a first device connecting to the first wireless network, the first device slot authentication information;

authenticate the first device slot authentication information; and

in response to authenticating the first device slot authentication information, connect the first device to the first micro-segmented network.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first micro-segmented network is hosted on the first wireless network.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the system controller is further programmed to transmit the first device slot authentication information to the first wireless network.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the first wireless network is a mesh network comprising a plurality of access points and wherein the first device connects to the first micro-segmented network via a connected access point of the plurality of access points.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system controller is further programmed to host the first micro-segmented network with the first device and a second micro-segmented network of the plurality of micro-segmented networks with a second device, wherein the first device and the second device are both connected to the first wireless network.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the first device on the first micro-segmented network is not visible to the second device on the second micro-segmented network.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the user device is connected to the first wireless network.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the user device is not connected to the first wireless network.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first device slot authentication information includes a Service Set Identifier (SSID) and a password, wherein the SSID is unique for devices on the first micro-segmented network, and where the password is unique for the first device slot.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system controller is further in communication with a second wireless network, and wherein the first device is connected to the first micro-segmented network via the first wireless network and a second device is connected to the first micro-segmented network via the second wireless network.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system controller is further programmed to generate a SSID and passwords for the first micro-segmented network.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the system controller is further programmed to transmit the SSID and passwords for the first micro-segmented network to the first wireless network.

13. A method for micro-segmented networking, wherein the method is implemented by a computer device comprising at least one processor in communication with at least one memory device, wherein the computer device is in communication with a first wireless network, and wherein the method comprises:

storing a plurality of subscriber accounts, wherein each subscriber account of the plurality of subscriber accounts is associated with a respective micro-segmented network of a plurality of micro-segmented networks;

receiving a request from a user device to activate a micro-segmented network that is associated with a first subscriber account of the plurality of subscriber accounts, wherein the request includes subscriber information associated with the first subscriber account;

authenticating the first subscriber account based on the subscriber information;

activating a first micro-segmented network of the plurality of micro-segmented networks that is access point agnostic and is associated with the first subscriber account, at least partially by assigning a respective virtual local area network (VLAN) to a user associated with the first subscriber account, the first micro-segmented network including N device slots for potential connection of a maximum of N devices to the first micro-segmented network, wherein N is a predetermined integer that is greater than one and is at least partially a function of the first subscriber account;

transmitting, to the user device, first device slot authentication information for a first device slot of the N device slots;

receiving, from a first device connecting to the first wireless network, the first device slot authentication information;

authenticating the first device slot authentication information; and

in response to authenticating the first device slot authentication information, connecting the first device to the first micro-segmented network.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising transmitting the first device slot authentication information to the first wireless network.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising hosting the first micro-segmented network with the first device and a second micro-segmented network with a second device, wherein the first device and the second device are both connected to the first wireless network.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first device on the first micro-segmented network is not visible to the second device on the second micro-segmented network.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first device slot authentication information includes a Service Set Identifier (SSID) and a password, wherein the SSID is unique for devices on the first micro-segmented network, and where the password is unique for the first device slot.

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein the computer device is further in communication with a second wireless network, and wherein the first device is connected to the first micro-segmented network via the first wireless network and a second device is connected to the first micro-segmented network via the second wireless network.

19. The method of claim 13 further comprising generating a Service Set Identifier (SSID) and passwords for the first micro-segmented network.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising transmitting the SSID and passwords for the first micro-segmented network to the first wireless network.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 14, 2022
From: SCRIBER, BRIAN A.; STAHLHAMMER, BRIAN; PRATT, CRAIG; THAKORE, DARSHAK; BAHR, JOHN C.; REDMORE, JOSHUA F.; LYONS, MARTHA LURIE
To: CABLE TELEVISION LABORATORIES, INC.
Reel/Frame 058999/0233 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63240498 · Sep 3, 2021
Provisional Application 63145165 · Feb 3, 2021
References Cited (71)
US 6996714B1 · Halasz et al. · 2006 [cited by applicant]
US 7484008B1 · Gelvin et al. · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 9027138B2 · Glenn et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 9215075B1 · Poltorak · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 9342661B2 · Cholas et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 9419842B1 · Galliher, III et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 9531835B2 · Wynn · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 9686199B2 · Anand · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 10404752B2 · Apsangi et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 10749796B2 · Dowlatkhah et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 11284258B1 · Wei · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 11533341B2 · Sood et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 11671829B1 · Radhakrishnan · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 11683687B2 · Myers · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 11689524B2 · Arora · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 11693946B2 · Bradley · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 11777917B2 · Erickson · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 20030126233A1 · Bryers · 2003 [cited by examiner]
US 20040019786A1 · Zorn et al. · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US 20070234419A1 · Shouno · 2007 [cited by examiner]
US 20080229399A1 · O'Neil · 2008 [cited by examiner]
US 20100100930A1 · King · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20100235514A1 · Beachem · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20100262988A1 · Bauer et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20110143757A1 · Oh · 2011 [cited by examiner]
US 20110196837A1 · Savunen et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110216709A1 · Noldus · 2011 [cited by examiner]
US 20110302248A1 · Garrett et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20120173356A1 · Fan · 2012 [cited by examiner]
US 20120174212A1 · Dart · 2012 [cited by examiner]
US 20120210001A1 · Ryerson et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120297470A1 · Kwon · 2012 [cited by examiner]
US 20130111550A1 · Naveh · 2013 [cited by examiner]
US 20130268999A1 · Kiang · 2013 [cited by examiner]
US 20140068261A1 · Malek · 2014 [cited by examiner]
US 20140123211A1 · Wanser et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140162629A1 · Tipton et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140281029A1 · Danforth · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140283120A1 · Mao · 2014 [cited by examiner]
US 20140289515A1 · Sorotokin · 2014 [cited by examiner]
US 20150249548A1 · Rasband et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150347769A1 · Espinosa · 2015 [cited by examiner]
US 20160134488A1 · Straub · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20160234213A1 · Kim · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20160350095A1 · Ramachandran et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20160373319A1 · Littlejohn et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20170048700A1 · Huang · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20170150362A1 · Clemenson · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20170308395A1 · Cook et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170311368A1 · Kandur Raja · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20180024537A1 · Chauvet et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180034817A1 · Milton · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 20180123932A1 · Shaw et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180316730A1 · Schaefer et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20190021125A1 · Bischinger · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190149987A1 · Moore · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20190268762A1 · Bestermann · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20200394332A1 · Jakobsson · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20210076216A1 · Hotchkiss · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 20210144517A1 · Bernat et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20230025898A1 · Kaplan · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 20230141055A1 · Kim · 2023 [cited by examiner]
WO 2018015425A1 · 2018 [cited by applicant]
Ahearne et al., “Software Defined Control of Tunable Optical Transceivers using NETCONF and YANG”, 2018 European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC): Network Softwarisation (NET) pp. 81-86 (Year: 2018). [cited by applicant]
Bifulco et al., “A practical experience in designing an OpenFlow controller”, 2012 European Workshop on Software Defined Networking, pp. 61-66 (Year: 2012). [cited by applicant]
Karmakar et al., “On the Design and Implementation of a Security Architecture for End to End Services in Software Defined Networks,” 2016 IEEE 41st Conference on Local Computer Networks, pp. 519-522 (Year: 2016). [cited by applicant]
Medved et al., “OpenDaylight: Towards a Model-Driven SDN Controller Architecture”, IEEE Conferences [ Jun. 1, 2014] Proceeding of IEEE International Symposium on a World of Wireless, Mobile and Multimedia Networks 2014 … [cited by applicant]
Namal et al., IEEE 2014 Eighth International Conference on Next Generation Mobile Applications, Services and Technologies, SDN Core for Mobility Between Cognitive Radio and 802.11 Networks, pp. 272-281 (Year: 2014). [cited by applicant]
Nguyen et al., “Software-defined model for IoT clusters: enabling applications on demand”, 2018 IEEE, pp. 776-781 (Year: 2018). [cited by applicant]
Boussard et al., 2015 IEEE, 27th International Teletraffic Congress, “Software-Defined LANs for Interconnected Smart Environments”, pp. 219-227 (Year: 2015). [cited by applicant]
Lamb et al., IEEE 2014, 6th International workshop, “Towards Robust Trust in Software Defined Networks,” pp. 166-171 (Year: 2014). [cited by applicant]