MXPA99008635A

MXPA99008635A - System and method for managing internet user access

Info

Publication number: MXPA99008635A
Application number: MXPA/A/1999/008635A
Authority: MX
Inventors: Donald Berteau Charles
Original assignee: Geonet Limited Lp
Priority date: 1997-03-17
Filing date: 1999-09-17
Publication date: 2000-06-05

Abstract

A system and method for managing access to the Internet substantially reduces connection time between an Internet service provider (ISP) server (80) and a user by processing user logon and information requests through signaling links or channels (70) of an intelligent telecommunications network, such as Signaling System 7 (SS7). An ISP access manager (94) receives logon and information requests from the user through the signaling link (e.g., ISDN D channel), and instructs the ISP server (80) to process the requests. Once the server processes an information request by retrieving requested information from a World Wide Web (WWW) site, the ISP access manager (94) causes the ISP server (80) to be connected to the user's computer (30) through a transmission link or channel (50) (e.g., ISDN B channel), and the server (80) downloads the retrieved information to the user. The ISP access manager (94) causes the transmission link (50) to be disconnected if the user does not request additional information within a predetermined time interval after information has been downloaded for a previous request. As soon as the user requests additional information, the ISP access manager (94) causes the transmission link (50) to be reestablished when the server (80) is ready to download the requested information to the user.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING INTERNET USER ACCESS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates, in general, to a system and method for providing user access to the Internet, which maximizes efficiency in the use of telecommunications resources. Access to the Internet is generally achieved through an Internet access service, provided by an organization called Internet Service Provider (ISP, acronym for its designation in English: Internet Service Provider). The ISP provides the network interface and computer service functions that allow the user or subscriber to establish a connection to the Internet; and requests and receives information from the Internet sites of the World Wide Web (WWW, acronym for its designation in English World Wide Web). The rapid increase in the use and popularity of the Internet has created a problem in the telecommunications network. In particular, the current telecommunications infrastructure is not designed for long telephone call retention times that connect users to the ISP. These calls link the subscriber's telephone lines, the switching facilities of the central office and the trunk lines of the network during times that are many times greater than the average durations for which the infrastructure was designed. According to industry reports, the increasing volume of Internet access calls causes a degradation of the service to other users of the telephone system. It has been recommended some solutions that would require a completely new network replacement with respect to the current telephone network, to handle Internet access calls separately from the other telephone calls. Unfortunately, these solutions are not particularly attractive or feasible because they would require a large capital investment in a new infrastructure of the telecommunications network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a solution to the problem mentioned above, by providing a system and a method to provide access to the Internet, which substantially reduces the burden on existing resources in the telecommunications network, without requiring the addition of new ones. network resources. This is achieved by the use of a computer or ISP access controller programming module, in combination with a conventional intelligent telecommunications network, such as an SS7 signal transmission network, which includes dedicated links or channels for signal transmission. ISDN B channels are used as transmission links to communicate voice and digital data, including the type of data communicated between a user or subscriber of the Internet and an ISP; while ISDN D channels are used as signal transmission links to communicate signal transmission information between the various nodes or central offices and the subscribers of the network. To minimize the actual connection time between the ISP and the Internet users through the transmission link or channel, the system and method of the present invention take advantage of the signal transmission links to communicate the requests or connection requests. Internet and information, from a user, to an ISP, without first establishing a transmission link connection between the two. With this arrangement, the total connection time is substantially reduced through the transmission link during an Internet session, thereby reducing the burden imposed by Internet users on the telecommunications network. The ISP access control computer is integrally formed with, or interfaces with, a dedicated service control point in the intelligent telecommunications network that receives user requests for the signal transmission links. The ISP access controller is programmed to handle user connection requests in the following manner. When a user requests to initiate an Internet session through the ISP, by entering a user identification and password, a connection request is transmitted by the signal transmission link through the network, to the ISP access controller, to special processing.

At this point, either the ISP server or the ISP access controller processes the communication initiation request by validating the user's identification and password. Then, if the user has already requested information, or when the user requests it (for example, HTML data or FTP file transfer from a WWW site), the ISP server obtains the requested information from the designated site. Once the ISP server has obtained the requested information, the ISP access controller establishes a connection of one or more transmission links between the user and the next available port of the server, and the requested HTML data is downloaded or downloaded from the server. the ISP server to the user's computer. To save additional connection time, the ISP access controller monitors user activity through a random inspection program, installed on the user's computer, and disconnects the transmission link if the user does not request additional information from the ISP server. within a specified time interval. The transmission link connection is restored if the user requests additional information by transmitting the appropriate request to the ISP access controller, through the signal transmission link. This procedure is repeated throughout the user's Internet session, thereby significantly reducing the actual time during which the user's computer is connected through the transmission link to the ISP server.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the figure of the accompanying drawing, Figure 1, which is a block diagram illustrating the architecture of the network. of telecommunications for a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

BEST WAY TO PUT THE INVENTION INTO PRACTICE The present invention employs principles similar to those employed by the inventions described in the previously-issued patents of the applicant, which are US Pat. Nos. 5,423,003 and 5,602,991, both entitled "System for controlling networked computer applications", and these patents they are incorporated here by this reference. Said patents describe systems and associated methods that employ an application control computer, which interfaces with a service control point (SCP, acronym for its English designation: Service Control Point) of an intelligent network, such as a transmission network. of signal SS7, to instruct the SCP to connect a plurality of application computers, located in remote sites, in a highly efficient manner. The present invention employs principles in which a dedicated SCP controls the connections of a server of the Internet service provider (ISP) to the subscriber or user computers, by the use of a computer or programming module controlling the access to the ISP. , which has an interface with, or which is formed integrally with, the SCP, and which gives the SCP connection instructions to the transmission link, which results in an extremely efficient use of the telecommunications network. With reference to Figure 1, a block diagram of a telecommunications network architecture 1, which is configured according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, is illustrated. The architecture 1 of the network is constituted by several conventional switching and processing nodes, which include a plurality of central offices 10, ports 20 interface with the computer system of the ISP and with the user or subscriber computers 30. These elements are connected to each other by a conventional intelligent communications network, which consists of a plurality of links or transmission channels 50 of the ISDN B channel, a conventional signal transmission network SS7 and a plurality of signal transmission channels 70. from ISDN D. A computer 80 of the ISP server is accessed by user computers 30 through transmission links 50 and ports 20. A very important element of network architecture 1 is a computer 90 controlling access to ISP , which preferably comprises a conventional intelligent network SCP 92, which has been modified with a special access controller 94, to facilitate the exchange of requests, messages and commands that are necessary to establish the interconnection of the transmission links 50 between the users 30 and ports 20 of the ISP server interface. Preferably the access controller is a programming module formed integrally with the SCP 92. Alternatively the access controller 94 may be formed as a separate computer that forms an interface between the SCP 92 and the ISP server 80. The programming of the access controller 94 gives the computer 90 access controller to the ISP the ability to establish and interrupt the transmission links 50 of the B channel between the users 30 and the interface ports 20, in a way that allows to better share those elements. Typically, the ISP access controller computer 90 is located in the same facilities as the ISP server 80 and interfaces with it by any suitable means, such as through a local area network (LAN) connection 96. by its designation in English: Local Area Network). Referring now to the specific manner in which the preferred embodiment operates, the ISP server 80, the ISP access control computer 90 and a special random Internet inspection program 100, which is installed in each of the computers 30 of the user, communicate with each other to control the establishment and interruption of connections between the user computers 30 and the interface ports 20 of the ISP, through the links or transmission channels 50. To initiate an Internet session a user activates the Internet random inspection program 100. The random Internet inspection program 100 asks the user for his user identification and password, and sends a connection request message, which includes the user's identification and password data, through the ISDN signal transmission channel 70. D, to the corresponding central office 10. Each of the central offices 10 is programmed according to the functions and capabilities of the advanced intelligent network (AIN, acronym for its English designation: Advanced Intelligent Network). Normally the central office 10 processes the connection request messages and establishes the necessary links for the transmission of channel B, in order to complete the demands. However, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the information (e.g., the telephone number of the ISP server 80) is contained in the connection request message, which causes the central office 10 to divert the message directly to the computer 90 of access control to the ISP, for its special processing. Once the connection request message has been received, the ISP access controller 94 communicates with the ISP server 80 to determine whether the user's identification and password are valid, and whether the user has an active account. Alternatively, the ISP access controller 94 may be programmed to process the information about the user's identification and password on its own. Then the computer 90 access controller to the ISP returns the messages to the user's computer 30, through channel 70 of ISDN D, which indicates a successful communication start, or which indicates invalid password or identification, with what is obtained as a result that the random inspection element 100 is appropriately enrolled for user action. If the communication start succeeds, the user can then enter a request for information (eg, HTML data, FTP file transfer, etc.) which is passed to the ISP server 80 by the ISP 94 access controller . After the server 80 of ISP obtains the HTML data or other requested data from the appropriate WWW site, the ISP access controller computer 90 instructs the central office 10 to establish one or more of the B transmission links 50 between the user and the next available port 20, and communicates to the ISP server 80 that the connection has been established. Next, the HTML data or other requested data is downloaded from the ISP server 80 through the link or the transmission links 50 of the B channel to the user's computer 30, for the user to review them. Once the requested data has been downloaded and are being reviewed by the user, the ISP access controller 94 monitors the connection time of the B channel, and causes the transmission link 50 to be disconnected from the B channel if the user does not asks for additional information within a specified time interval. This greatly reduces the connection time with the B channel when, for example, a user takes a long time to review the previously downloaded information. You can select the specified time interval to be any suitable value (for example, seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, etc.), which balances the mutual relationship between the savings in the time of connection and the process of disconnection / reconnection of the transmission link, to avoid having to disconnect and reconnect too often the transmission link.

In addition, the ISP access controller 94 can be programmed to assign different disconnection time intervals to the different users, based on the user's Internet usage profiles, for example, which are stored in a look-up table in the access controller 94. When the user requests to download additional information from the ISP server 80, the Internet random inspection program 100 sends the request to the access controller 94 to the ISP, and the ISP server 80 obtains the requested information from the the WWW. Then the computer controlling access to the ISP means that, through the central office 10, one of the transmission links 50 of channel B between the user and the next available port is quickly restored, and communicates to the ISP 80 server that the connection has been made, so that the ISP server 80 can download the information obtained to the user's computer 30. This connection and disconnection process is repeated until the user leaves the communication, at which point the access controller 94 to the ISP will terminate the user's session. It should be noted that, as long as the user has not formally left the communication, the ISP access controller 94 will retain information about the user's identity and password, so that it is not necessary to re-enter the information each time Additional information is requested from a WWW site. To accommodate cases in which a user wishes to transfer one or more files to the ISP server 80, the random inspection program 100 will send a connection request directly to the access controller 94 to the ISP. For example, if a user wishes to send email messages, he must transmit them via one of the transmission links 50 to the ISP server 80. In these circumstances, when the user "sends" the message or the e-mail messages, the random inspection program 100 automatically sends a connection request to the ISP access controller 94, which connects the user through one of the links or transmission channels 50, with the next interface port 20 available. As before, after having sent the messages to the ISP server 80, the ISP access control computer 90 causes the transmission link 50 to be disconnected if no further messages are sent or if no additional information is requested within a period of time. predetermined time In summary, the present invention substantially reduces the connection time between a user and the ISP server during an Internet session, establishing the transmission link only when the ISP server is ready to download the information requested, for the user. This is achieved by transmitting all requests for user information to the ISP server through the signal transmission link, rather than through the transmission link, as was done in previous conventional networks. The substantial connection time during which the server ISP is obtaining the requested information from a WWW site, or while waiting for the user to request additional information, it is thus eliminated through the use of the present invention. While the invention has been described in terms of a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that numerous variations and modifications could be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention, as defined in the claims that follow. For example, while the preferred embodiment is specifically described for use with an SS7 signal transmission network, which includes the ISDN channels B and D, the invention could be easily adapted for use with any communications network employing transmission links of Dedicated signal, which are separated from the voice and data transmission links.

Claims

NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION CLAIMS

1. A system for controlling user access to the Internet, characterized in that it comprises: a) an intelligent telecommunications network that includes: 1) a plurality of switching nodes; 2) a plurality of transmission links for interconnecting the plurality of switching nodes; 3) a service control point for selectively interconnecting the plurality of switching nodes with the selected links among the plurality of transmission links; 4) a plurality of signal transmission control links for transmitting signal transmission information between the service control point and each of the switching nodes; b) an Internet Service Provider (ISP) server, connected to one of the switching nodes; c) a plurality of user computers, each connected to different nodes of said plurality of switching nodes; each of the user computers including means for communicating Internet connection requests through a corresponding link of said signal transmission links, to the service control point; and d) an ISP access controller, connected to the ISP server, to receive Internet connection requests from the user computers, through the signal transmission control links and the service control point; and to supply said connection requests to the ISP server; said access controller further including means for instructing the service control point that causes the ISP server to interconnect with the plurality of user computers through the corresponding transmission links.

2. The system according to claim 1, further characterized in that the access controller further includes means for instructing the service control point that causes the corresponding transmission link to be disconnected if said user computer has not requested information from the user. said server within a predetermined period of time.

3. The system according to claim 2, further characterized in that the predetermined time period is variable from one user to another.

4. The system according to claim 1, further characterized in that the access controller is formed integrally with the service control point.

The system according to claim 4, further characterized in that the service control point comprises a communications computer system, and said access controller comprises a program module in the communications computer system.

6. - The system according to claim 1, further characterized in that the intelligent telecommunications network is based on the signal transmission system

7. The system according to claim 6, further characterized in that each of the links of The transmission is an ISDN B channel, and each of the signal transmission links comprises an ISDN channel D.

8. The system according to claim 1, further characterized in that the access controller is connected to the ISP server by means of of a local area network connection.

9. The system according to claim 1, further characterized in that each of the user computers further includes means for sending a request to the access controller, for connecting said user computer to the ISP server, with one of the Transmission links in response to a request entered by a user, to send an information file to said ISP server.

10. The system according to claim 1, further characterized in that the intelligent communications network additionally includes at least one central office to receive requests for connection to the Internet, from the user computers; including the central office means to detect requests for connection to the Internet and divert these requests to the service control point for processing.

11. - The system according to claim 1, further characterized in that the access controller to the ISP additionally includes means to: 1) instruct the ISP server to obtain the information requested by one of the user computers, from a site of Internet; and 2) instructing the service control point to make at least one of the transmission links connect between the ISP server and said user computer, after the ISP server has obtained the information and is ready to download the information to one of said user computers.

12. The system according to claim 1, further characterized in that the access controller to the ISP includes means for receiving a validate the communication initiation requests, received from the user computers through the signal transmission links.

13. A method for controlling user access to the Internet, characterized in that it comprises the steps of: a) providing a transmission link and a signal transmission link for selectively interconnecting a user's computer with a server of the service provider of Internet (ISP); b) initiating an Internet session between the user's computer and the ISP server by transmitting a communication initiation request to the ISP server, through the signal transmission link; and c) connecting the ISP server to the user's computer through the transmission link in response to the communication initiation request.

14. The method according to claim 13, further characterized by additionally comprising the weight of: d) disconnecting the transmission link if a request for information is not received from the user's computer within a predetermined period of time.

15. The method according to claim 13, further characterized in that the connection step further comprises: 1) transmitting an information request to the ISP server through the signal transmission link; 2) have the ISP server obtain such information from a remote site; 3) connect the ISP server to the user's computer through the transmission link, after the ISP server has obtained the information; and 4) download the information from the ISP server to the user's computer.

16. The method according to claim 15, further characterized in that it comprises the step of: d) disconnecting the transmission link if an additional request for information is not received from the user's computer within a predetermined period of time.

17. The method according to claim 16, further characterized in that the predetermined time period is selected based on a usage profile of said user.

18. - The method according to claim 13, further characterized in that the step of initiating an Internet session further comprises: 1) providing an ISP access controller to selectively connect the ISP server to the user's computer, through the link of transmission; 2) transmit the communication initiation request through the signal transmission link to the access controller; and 3) processing the request to initiate communication with the access controller.

19. A method for controlling user access to the Internet, characterized in that it comprises the steps of: a) providing a transmission link and a signal transmission link for interconnecting a user's computer with an Internet service provider's server (ISP); b) transmit a request for first information, located at a remote site, from the user's computer to the ISP server, through the signal transmission link; c) obtain the first information from the remote site to the ISP server; d) connect the ISP server to the user's computer through the transmission link; and e) downloading the first information from the ISP server to the user's computer through the transmission link.

The method according to claim 19, further characterized in that it further comprises the step of: f) disconnecting the transmission link if a request for additional information is not received from the user's computer within a predetermined period of time after having downloaded the first information from the ISP server to the user's computer.

21. An apparatus for controlling user access to the Internet, characterized in that it comprises: a) means for receiving a first request related to the Internet, from a user's computer, through a signal transmission link of an intelligent network of communications; b) means to process the request related to the Internet; and c) means for making the Internet service provider (ISP) server connect to the user's computer through a transmission link in said intelligent communications network.

22. The apparatus according to claim 21, further characterized in that the first request related to the Internet comprises a request for information based on the Internet, to be obtained from the Internet through the ISP server; and the means for processing said request additionally comprises means for passing said request to the ISP server for obtaining the information based on the Internet, and for downloading said information through the transmission link, to the user's computer.

23. The apparatus according to claim 22, further characterized in that the first Internet-related request additionally includes a request to initiate communication with the Internet; and the means for processing said request further comprises means for processing the communication initiation request before passing the information request to the ISP server.

24. The apparatus according to claim 23, further characterized in that the communication start request includes an identification and a user password.

25. The apparatus according to claim 23, further characterized in that it additionally comprises: f) means for causing the connection of the transmission link between the ISP server and the user's computer to be disconnected if a second related request is not received. with Internet, from the user's computer, within a predetermined period of time after the first request related to the Internet has been processed.

26. The apparatus according to claim 25, further characterized in that the predetermined time is variable, depending on a profile of the user; and the information relating to said user profile is stored in a memory of said apparatus.

The apparatus according to claim 25, further characterized in that it additionally comprises: g) means for causing a transmission link connection between the ISP server and the user's computer to be re-established if a second request related to Internet from the user's computer, through a signal transmission link.

28. - The apparatus according to claim 27, further characterized in that it additionally comprises means for retaining the information regarding the request to start communication, until a request to exit communication is received from the user's computer; wherein the means to cause the transmission link connection to be reestablished is done without having to process the communication initiation request again.

29. The apparatus according to claim 22, further characterized in that the means for making the ISP server connect to the user computer causes the ISP server to connect to the user's computer through a link of transmission in an intelligent communications network, after the ISP server obtains the information based on the Internet.

30. The apparatus according to claim 21, further characterized in that it further comprises: f) means for causing a transmission link connection to be disconnected between the ISP server and the user's computer, if a second request is not received; related to the Internet from the user's computer, within a predetermined amount of time after the first request related to the Internet has been processed.

31. The apparatus according to claim 30, further characterized in that the predetermined time is variable, depending on a profile of the user; and the information relating to the user profile is stored in a memory of said apparatus.

32.- The apparatus according to claim 30, further characterized in that it further comprises: g) means for causing a transmission link connection between the ISP server and the user's computer to be reestablished, if a second related request is received; with Internet from said user's computer, through a signal transmission link.

33. The apparatus according to claim 31, further characterized in that the means for making the ISP server connect to the user's computer additionally comprise means for instructing a central office to establish in an intelligent network, a transmission link connection between the ISP server and the user's computer.

34. The apparatus according to claim 21, further characterized in that the Internet-related request further comprises a request from the user's computer, indicating that the user's computer wishes to transfer information to the ISP server; and the means for making the ISP server connect to the user computer respond to said request, by having the ISP server connect to the user's computer through the transmission link of the intelligent communications network, to facilitate the transfer of information from the user's computer to the ISP server, through the transmission link.

The apparatus according to claim 21, further characterized in that each of the means is incorporated in the programming contained in an access control computer, which has an interface with a service control point of the intelligent network.

36. The apparatus according to claim 35, further characterized in that the program of the access controller computer is contained in the service control point of the intelligent network.

37. The apparatus according to claim 35, further characterized in that it additionally comprises: d) a plurality of user computers; and e) an intelligent communications network, including: 1) a plurality of signal transmission links, which connect the user computers with the access control computer; 2) a central office to receive requests for connection to the transmission link, from the access control computer; and 3) a plurality of transmission links for transferring information between the user computers and the ISP server; and f) a communications link that interfaces with the ISP server access control computer, to transfer Internet-related requests from the ISP server access control computer.

38. - The apparatus according to claim 37, further characterized in that the communications link comprises a connection to the local area network.

39. The apparatus according to claim 37, further characterized in that the intelligent network is an ISDN network; the signal transmission links comprise ISDN D channels and the transmission links comprise ISDN B channels.

The apparatus according to claim 37, further characterized in that the means for making the ISP server connect to the computer The user additionally comprises means for instructing the central office to establish a transmission link connection between the ISP server and the user's computer.

41.- A method for controlling the access of users to the Internet, characterized in that it comprises the steps of: a) receiving a first request related to the Internet, from a user computer, through a signal transmission link of an intelligent network of communications; b) process said request related to the Internet; and c) causing the Internet service provider (ISP) server to connect to the user's computer through a transmission link in an intelligent communications network.

42. The method according to claim 41, further characterized in that the first request related to the Internet comprises a request for information based on the Internet, so that it is obtained from the Internet by the ISP server; and the step of processing the request further comprises passing the request to the ISP server, in response to which the ISP server obtains the information based on the Internet, and downloads the information, through the transmission link, to the user's computer .

43.- The method according to claim 42, further characterized in that the first Internet-related request additionally includes a request to start communication on the Internet; and the step of processing the request further comprises processing the communication initiation request before passing the information request to the ISP server.

44. The method according to claim 43, further characterized in that the communication start request includes a user identification and password; and the step of processing said communication initiation request further comprises verifying the user's identity and password.

The method according to claim 44, further characterized in that it further comprises the step of causing a transmission link connection to be disconnected between the ISP server and the user computer if a second request related to the Internet is not received. from the user's computer, within a predetermined amount of time after having processed the first request.

46. - The method according to claim 45, further characterized in that the predetermined time is variable, depending on a user profile.

47. The method according to claim 45, further characterized in that it further comprises the step of causing a transmission link connection to be restored between the server ISP and the user's computer if a second request related to the Internet is received from the user's computer, through a signal transmission link.

48. The method according to claim 47, further characterized in that the transmission link is reestablished without having to reprocess the communication start request, if a request to exit communication from the user's computer has not been received. , since said first request related to Internet was processed.

49. The method according to claim 41, further characterized in that it further comprises the step of causing a transmission link connection to be disconnected between the server ISP and the user's computer if a second request for Internet-related information is not received from the user's computer, within a predetermined amount of time after the first request related to the Internet has been processed.

50. - The method according to claim 49, further characterized in that the predetermined time is variable, depending on a user profile.

51.- The method according to claim 49, further characterized in that it comprises the step of having a transmission link connection between the ISP server and the user computer restored if a second request related to the connection is received. Internet from the user's computer, through the signal transmission link.

52. The method according to claim 41, further characterized in that the step of making the ISP server connect to the user's computer comprises: instructing a central office in an intelligent network, establishing a connection link of transmission between the ISP server and the user's computer.

53. The method according to claim 41, further characterized in that the first Internet-related request comprises a request to transfer information from the user's computer to the ISP server; and the step of making the server connect ISP to the user's computer further comprises instructing a central office, in an intelligent network, to establish a transmission link connection between the ISP server and the user's computer, to allow the transfer of the information from the user's computer to the ISP server through the transmission link.

54. - The method according to claim 53, further characterized in that the first Internet-related request additionally includes a request to initiate communication with the Internet; and the step of processing said request comprises processing the communication initiation request before instructing the central office to establish a transmission link connection between the ISP server and the user's computer. The method according to claim 54, further characterized in that the communication start request includes a user identification and password; and the step of processing said communication initiation request further comprises verifying the user's identification and password.