Device monitoring in accessing network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11943211-B2
Application number	US-202117320845-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 14, 2021
Priority date	May 14, 2020
Publication date	Mar 26, 2024
Grant date	Mar 26, 2024

Abstract

An apparatus and method are provided for monitoring a behavior of a communication device by using network controllers and network manager. The communication device is included in a network comprising a set of communication devices and a network manager allowing access by the communication devices to a communication network. A communication device may send a broadcast message to available network controllers and a network manager. The communication device may also send a service request to the network manager, the service request being routed by the network manager to a communication network and sent in broadcast by the network manager to the network controllers. Using the service request as the basis for a first report on behavior of the communication device, the communication device may additionally verify the first report by a report by network controllers based on the service request received from network manager.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory including computer program code;
the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
send a message including a query for an available network controller and network manager,
receive information from the available network controller and the network manager, and
exchange cryptographic keys between the apparatus, the available network controller and the network manager,
wherein the message sent by the apparatus comprises a public key (CD-Pk) of the apparatus and information from the available network controller is received with a public key (Pk-N) of the available network controller, the public keys being used for encrypting communication between the apparatus and the network controller.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is further configured to cause to:
send a service request via the network manager to a communications network and in the message to the network controller, the service request serving as a basis for a first report on behavior of the apparatus to be sent by the network manager.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the apparatus is further configured to cause to:
store the sent service request and a hash of the service request for future validation.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the apparatus is further configured to cause to:
establish connection with the available network controller having received the service request in the message from the network manager, and
send the stored service request previously sent to the network manager to the available network controller, for the network controller to create a report based on the service request to be sent by the network controller for a validation of the first report by a blockchain network.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the apparatus is further configured to cause to: send the stored hash of the service request in addition the service request for network controller to create a report for the validation of the first report.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the information received includes information for a plurality of available network controllers, and wherein the first report is validated if a majority of the network controllers have sent a report with the same service request as the service request serving as basis for the first report.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the message comprises a broadcast message sent within a wireless range of the apparatus.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the information received includes information for a plurality of available network controllers, and wherein the apparatus is further configured to cause to:
verify the apparatus to be used if validation is supported by a required number of the network controllers.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , the apparatus is further configured to cause to select the network manager and the network controller automatically using predetermined parameters or select the network manager and the network controller shown m a user interface of the apparatus.

10. An apparatus comprising:
a processor coupled to one or more network interfaces and configured to execute one or more processes; and
a memory configured to store a process executable by the processor, the process when executed operable to:
receive a message from a communication device, the message including a query for available network controllers and network manager,
send information for the available network manager and the available network controllers to the communication device,
receive a service request from the communication device and route the service request to a communication network,
determine a behavior of the communication device,
generate a first report on the behavior of the communication device, the report containing the service request and the determined behavior of the communication device, and
send a message to the available network controllers, the message containing the service request, for retrieving the service request previously sent to the network manager by the communication device, the retrieved service request serving as a basis for a report to be generated by each network controller for a validation of the first report.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the message contains a hash of the service request and a query to report the service request received from the communication device.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the behavior of the communication device is determined by analyzing the content of the service request with respect to an expected behavior.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the behavior of the communication device is described by a manufacturer of the communication device.

14. An apparatus comprising:
a processor coupled to network interfaces and configured to execute one or more processes; and
a memory configured to store a process executable by the processor, the process when executed operable to:
receive a message from a communication device, the message including a query for available network controllers and network manager,
send information of the available network controllers and the network manager to the communication device,
receive a message from the network manager, the message containing a service request received by the network manager from the communication device, the service request further serving as a basis for a first report on behavior of the communication device to be sent by the network manager,
establish connection with the communication device,
receive the service request previously sent to the network manager from the communication device, and
generate a report based on the service request for a validation of the first report by a broadcast network.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the apparatus is further configured to receive a hash of the service request from the network manager and to further receive a hash of the service request from the communication device, and wherein the network controller creates the report if the hash sent by the communication device corresponds to the hash sent by the network manager.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein if the hash of the service request received from the communication device and the network manager are not the same, the request is rejected by the network controller.

17. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the report sent to a blockchain by the network controller is in the form of a smart contract to be executed by miners.

18. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the apparatus is further configured to cause to verify the network manager if the report is supported by a required number of the network controllers.

19. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the apparatus is further configured to cause a query for the service request previously sent to the network manager from the communication device.

Assignees

• Nokia Technologies Oy

Inventors

• Pontecorvi Matteo
• Signorini Matteo

Classifications

• H04L63/08 Primary

  for authentication of entities (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32) · CPC title

• H04L9/0637

  Modes of operation, e.g. cipher block chaining [CBC], electronic codebook [ECB] or Galois/counter mode [GCM] · CPC title

• H04L41/0866 Primary

  Checking the configuration · CPC title

• H04L41/28

  Restricting access to network management systems or functions, e.g. using authorisation function to access network configuration · CPC title