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US6023734A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Establishing direct communications between two hosts without using a high performance LAN connection

Assignee: International Business Corp
•
Filing: 1997-08-29
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Granted: 2000-02-08
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Expires: 2017-08-29
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Abstract

Abstract In a computing network environment having a gateway device that is connected on one side to at least one local area network and on other side to a plurality of initiating hosts, a method of establishing direct communication between a first initiating host and a second initiating host through the gateway device without necessity of involving the local area network in this communication and its related data transmission. The method comprising the steps of first obtaining the addresses and information of all connected hosts needed for establishing communication and storing it in a memory location accessible to said gateway device in form of a port-sharing table. The gateway device will be handling all requests for communication setups between hosts. Upon receiving of a request for establishing communication between two initiating hosts, the gateway device retrieving all information for establishing of successful communication from said port-sharing table and setting up the desired communication directly between the two initiating hosts without any need to route the communication or the data through the local area network.

Inventors

  • 👤 Bruce H. Ratcliff
  • 👤 Stephen R. Valley

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-03 11:12
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L12/00; H04L12/28; H04L12/46

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 26
Claim 1
Independent Claim 183 words
In a computing network environment having a gateway device, said gateway device being electrically connected on one side to at least one network and on another side to a plurality of initiating hosts, a method of establishing direct communication between two initiating hosts of said plurality of initiating hosts through said gateway device, said method comprising: during an initialization step, said gateway device obtaining information pertaining to addresses of at least said two initiating hosts including device types and other information for setting up of a successful communication; storing said information obtained during said initialization step in a memory location accessible to said gateway device in form of a port-sharing table; said gateway device receiving a request for a communication setup from one initiating host of said two initiating hosts; and upon receiving said request for establishing communication between said two initiating hosts, said gateway device retrieving information for establishing a successful communication from said port-sharing table and setting up said communication directly between said two initiating hosts without any need to route said communication or data through said at least one network.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 183 words
In a computing network environment having a gateway device, said gateway device being electrically connected on one side to at least one network and on another side to a plurality of initiating hosts, a method of establishing direct communication between two initiating hosts of said plurality of initiating hosts through said gateway device, said method comprising: during an initialization step, said gateway device obtaining information pertaining to addresses of at least said two initiating hosts including device types and other information for setting up of a successful communication; storing said information obtained during said initialization step in a memory location accessible to said gateway device in form of a port-sharing table; said gateway device receiving a request for a communication setup from one initiating host of said two initiating hosts; and upon receiving said request for establishing communication between said two initiating hosts, said gateway device retrieving information for establishing a successful communication from said port-sharing table and setting up said communication directly between said two initiating hosts without any need to route said communication or data through said at least one network.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 14 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said communication platform is a channel attached platform.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 13 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said communication platform is an integrated platform.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 15 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said communication platform is an open systems adapter platform.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 13 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said computing environment uses TCP/IP communication protocol.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 13 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said computing environment uses UDP/IP communication protocol.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 18 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said gateway device is connected to a plurality of local area networks.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 25 words
The method of claim 7, wherein said local area networks each are of different type and associated with them are different and independent communication platforms.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 19 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said gateway device is electronically connected to at least one wide area network.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 19 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said computing environment is a loosely coupled environment having a plurality of hosts.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 30 words
The method of claim 10, wherein said gateway device has the ability to communicate with multiple hosts in said loosely coupled environments without passing data on said local area network.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 14 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said computing environment uses Novell IPX communication protocol.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 207 words
In a computing network environment having a gateway device, said gateway device being electronically connected from one end to at least two initiating hosts and at the other end to at least one network through which a plurality of hosts are connected to said gateway device, said computer environment using a Multi-path channel communication protocol, a method of allowing any one initiating host to establish communications with any other initiating host, said method comprising: during an initialization step, said gateway device obtaining information pertaining to addresses of at least said one initiating host and said other initiating host including device types and other information for setting up of a successful communication; storing said information obtained during said initialization step in a memory location accessible to said gateway device in form of a port-sharing table; said gateway device receiving a request for a communication setup from an initiating host; and upon receiving of said request for establishing communication between said one and the other initiating hosts, said gateway device obtaining information for establishing of a successful communication from said port-sharing table and setting up said communication directly between said one and the other initiating hosts without any need to route said communication through said at least one network.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 207 words
In a computing network environment having a gateway device, said gateway device being electronically connected from one end to at least two initiating hosts and at the other end to at least one network through which a plurality of hosts are connected to said gateway device, said computer environment using a Multi-path channel communication protocol, a method of allowing any one initiating host to establish communications with any other initiating host, said method comprising: during an initialization step, said gateway device obtaining information pertaining to addresses of at least said one initiating host and said other initiating host including device types and other information for setting up of a successful communication; storing said information obtained during said initialization step in a memory location accessible to said gateway device in form of a port-sharing table; said gateway device receiving a request for a communication setup from an initiating host; and upon receiving of said request for establishing communication between said one and the other initiating hosts, said gateway device obtaining information for establishing of a successful communication from said port-sharing table and setting up said communication directly between said one and the other initiating hosts without any need to route said communication through said at least one network.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 13 words
The method of claim 13, wherein said communication platform is an integrated platform.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 15 words
The method of claim 13, wherein said communication platform is an open systems adapter platform.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 13 words
The method of claim 13, wherein said computing environment uses TCP/IP communication protocol.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 13 words
The method of claim 13, wherein said computing environment uses UDP/IP communication protocol.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 13 words
The method of claim 13, wherein said computing environment uses VTAM communication protocol.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim 18 words
The method of claim 13, wherein said gateway device is connected to a plurality of local area networks.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim 25 words
The method of claim 19, wherein said local area networks each are of different type and associated with them are different and independent communication platforms.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim 19 words
The method of claim 13, wherein said gateway device is electronically connected to at least one wide area network.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim 19 words
The method of claim 13, wherein said computing environment is a loosely coupled environment having a plurality of hosts.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim 30 words
The method of claim 21, wherein said gateway device has the ability to communicate with multiple hosts in said loosely coupled environments without passing data on said local area network.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim 14 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said computing environment uses Novell IPX communication protocol.

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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2003-02-07 2003-08-09 2004-02-08 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2007-02-07 2007-08-09 2008-02-08 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2011-02-07 2011-08-09 2012-02-08 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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