User-based network onboarding

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9686319-B2
Application number	US-201615183753-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 15, 2016
Priority date	Dec 13, 2013
Publication date	Jun 20, 2017
Grant date	Jun 20, 2017

Abstract

A request related to an access to a network by a first user device may be received. The user device may be included in a plurality of user devices associated with a first first-level security profile assigned to the user. An application extension to an application executing on the first user device may be accessed in response to the request related to the access. A network connectivity file may be provided to the application extension. The network connectivity file may include network configuration information for the first user device. The network configuration information may be associated with a first second-level security profile assigned to the first user device. Instructions to configure the first user device to access the network based at least in part on the network configuration information in the network connectivity file may be provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a device access notification engine configured to receive a request related to an access to a network by a first user device, the first user device being included in a plurality of user devices associated with a first first-level security profile assigned to a user;
an extension engine configured to access, in response to the request related to the access, an application extension to an application executing on the first user device;
a network file connectivity transfer engine configured to provide a network connectivity file to the application extension, the network connectivity file including network configuration information for the first user device, the network configuration information being associated with a first second-level security profile assigned to the first user device and included in a plurality of second-level security profiles, each one of the plurality of user devices associated with at least one of the plurality of second-level security profiles;
a device network configuration engine configured to provide instructions to configure the plurality of user devices to access the network using the plurality of second-level security profiles and the first user device to access the network based at least in part on the network configuration information in the network connectivity file.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the application extension comprises a browser extension, and the application comprises a web browser on the first user device.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the application extension comprises a request to access a network configuration process on the first user device, and the application comprises the network configuration process.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first second-level security profile is included in a plurality of second-level security profiles, further comprising a device selection engine configured to identify one or more of the plurality of user devices using one or more of the plurality of second-level security profiles.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the device selection engine comprises:
a mobile device management (MDM) engine configured to request from an MDM system a list of the plurality of user devices to associate with the first first-level security profile;
a device listing engine configured to receive from the MDM system a listing of one or more of the plurality of user devices in response to the request for the list.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is incorporated into a user-based network onboarding system.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of user devices comprises one or more of a mobile phone, a tablet, a laptop, and a desktop computer.

8. A method comprising:
receiving a request related to an access to a network by a first user device, the first user device being included in a plurality of user devices associated with a first first-level security profile assigned to a user;
accessing, in response to the request related to the access, an application extension to an application executing on the first user device;
providing a network connectivity file to the application extension, the network connectivity file including network configuration information for the first user device, the network configuration information being associated with a first second-level security profile assigned to the first user device and included in a plurality of second-level security profiles, each one of the plurality of user devices associated with at least one of the plurality of second-level security profiles;
providing instructions to configure the plurality of user devices to access the network using the plurality of second-level security profiles and the first user device to access the network based at least in part on the network configuration information in the network connectivity file.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the application extension comprises a browser extension, and the application comprises a web browser on the first user device.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the application extension comprises a request to access a network configuration process on the first user device, and the application comprises the network configuration process.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising identifying one or more of the plurality of user devices using one or more of the plurality of second-level security profiles.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein identifying one or more of the plurality of user devices comprises:
requesting from a mobile device management (MDM) system a list of the plurality of user devices to associate with the first first-level security profile;
receiving from the MDM system a listing of one or more of the plurality of user devices in response to the request for the list.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the system is incorporated into a user-based network onboarding system.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of user devices comprises one or more of a mobile phone, a tablet, a laptop, and a desktop computer.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions, the instructions being executable by a processor to perform a method, the method comprising:
receiving a request related to an access to a network by a first user device, the first user device being included in a plurality of user devices associated with a first first-level security profile assigned to a user;
accessing, in response to the request related to the access, an application extension to an application executing on the first user device;
providing a network connectivity file to the application extension, the network connectivity file including network configuration information for the first user device, the network configuration information being associated with a first second-level security profile assigned to the first user device and included in a plurality of second-level security profiles, each one of the plurality of user devices associated with at least one of the plurality of second-level security profiles;
providing instructions to configure the plurality of user devices to access the network using the plurality of second-level security profiles and the first user device to access the network based at least in part on the network configuration information in the network connectivity file.

Assignees

• Aerohive Networks Inc

Inventors

• Lin Mu
• Zou Xu
• Hanay John William

Classifications

• G06F21/44 Primary

  Program or device authentication · CPC title

• H04L63/105

  Multiple levels of security · CPC title

• H04L63/10

  for controlling access to devices or network resources · CPC title

• H04L67/125

  involving control of end-device applications over a network · CPC title

• H04L67/34

  involving the movement of software or configuration parameters  (network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416) · CPC title