PTO/SS/01 (10-01)
`Approved lo r use th rough 1013112002. OMB 0651-00 32
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`r
`1104-111
`Gregory Morgan Evans
`
`Attornev Docket Number
`
`First Named Inventor
`
`"
`
`DECLARATION FOR UTILITY OR
`DESIGN
`PATENT APPLICATION
`(37 CFR 1.63)
`0 Declaration
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`As tile below named lnvantor, I hereby declare that:
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`
`I believe I am the original and first inventor of the subject matter which is claimed and for which a patent is sought on the invention entitled:
`
`HIGH-SPEED WAN TO WIRELESS LAN GATEWAY
`
`(rttJe of the Invention)
`
`the specification of which
`~ is attached hereto
`
`OR
`
`0 was filed oo (MM/DDIYYYYJ I
`Application Number I
`
`I as United States Application Number or PCT lntematiooal
`I and was amended on (MM/DDIYYYY) I
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`any amendment specifically referred to above.
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`I acknowledge the du7r to disclose infonnation which is material to patentability as defined in 37 CFR 1.56, including for cootinualion-in-part
`applicatlons
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`1
`intemaliona filing date of the oontinuetion-in-part application.
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`Certified Copy Attached?
`YES
`NO
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`Country
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`D
`D D
`D D
`D
`D D
`D
`D
`D D
`I Additional foreian aoolicalion numbers are listed on a supplemental priority data sheet PTO/SB/028 attached hereto:
`[Page 1 of2]
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`DISH, Exh. 1004, p. 1
`
`

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`PTO/SB/01 (1Q..01)
`Approved for use th rough 1013112002, OM B 0651-0032
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`Direct all correspondence to: ~ Customer Number I
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`Cltv
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`Countrv
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`State
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`I Telephone
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`ZIP
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`I hereby declare that all statements made herein of my own knowl,:re are true and that all statements made on information and belief
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`NAME OF SOLE OR FIRST INVENTOR : I D A petition has been filed for this unsigned inventor
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`Given Name
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`
`Gregory Morgan
`
`-~
`
`Evans
`
`Family Name
`or Surname
`
`Slanature
`
`Inventor's ~ ~ 4:
`I StateNC
`
`Raleigh
`Resid&rK:e: Citv
`
`I USA
`
`Country
`
`b /z.6/z.oe,6
`
`Date
`
`USA
`Cltlzenshlo
`
`2205 Ravens Creek Court
`Mailing Address
`
`Raleigh
`
`CllY
`
`NAME OF SECOND INVENTOR:
`
`Given Name
`(first and mkktle (if any])
`
`Inventor's
`Signature
`
`Residence: CHY
`
`I 27603
`ls!c
`I D A petition has been filed for this unsigned inventor
`
`Countrv
`
`ZIP
`
`USA
`
`Family Name
`or Surname
`
`lsmw
`
`I Country
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`Date
`
`Citizenship
`
`Maillng Address
`
`Cltv
`
`I State
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`
`IZIP
`
`Countrv
`
`[Page 2 of2]
`
`DISH, Exh. 1004, p. 2
`
`

`
`PTO/SB/14 (11-08)
`Approved for use through 01/31/2014. OMB 0651-0032
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`Application Data Sheet 37 CFR 1.76
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`Attorney Docket Number
`
`1104-111C
`
`Application Number
`
`Title of Invention
`
`HIGH-SPEED WAN TO WIRELESS LAN GATEWAY
`
`I
`The application data sheet is part of the provisional or nonprovisional application for which it is being submitted. The following form contains the
`bibliographic data arranged in a format specified by the United States Patent and Trademark Office as outlined in 37 CFR 1.76.
`This document may be completed electronically and submitted to the Office in electronic format using the Electronic Filing System (EFS) or the
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`r
`,oo 1can t I f
`A
`n orma ion:
`f
`Aoolicant 1
`Applicant Authority (!)Inventor I QLegal Representative under 35 U.S.C. 117
`Prefix Given Name
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`Morgan
`Gregory
`Residence Information (Select One) (!) US Residency
`Raleigh
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`us
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`Citizenship under 37 CFR 1.41(b) i
`
`Mailing Address of Applicant:
`2205 Ravens Creek Court
`Address 1
`
`Address 2
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`Evans
`0 Non US Residency O Active US Military Service
`I Country of Residence i I us
`I NC
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`Raleigh
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`City
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`I State/Province
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`patents@withrowterranova.com
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`Application Information:
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`Title of the Invention
`
`Attorney Docket Number 1104-111C
`
`HIGH-SPEED WAN TO WIRELESS LAN GATEWAY
`I Small Entity Status Claimed D
`
`Application Type
`
`Nonprovisional
`
`Subject Matter
`
`Utility
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`Suggested Class (if any)
`
`Suggested Technology Center (if any)
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`I Sub Class (if any)I
`
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`4
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`I Suggested Figure for Publication (if any) I 1
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`EFS Web 2.2.2
`
`DISH, Exh. 1004, p. 3
`
`

`
`PTO/SB/14 (11-08)
`Approved for use through 01/31/2014. OMB 0651-0032
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`Application Data Sheet 37 CFR 1.76
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`
`HIGH-SPEED WAN TO WIRELESS LAN GATEWAY
`
`Publication Information:
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`Request Not to Publish. I hereby request that the attached application not be published under 35 U.S.
`~ C. 122(b) and certify that the invention disclosed in the attached application has not and will not be the subject of
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`I
`
`EFS Web 2.2.2
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`DISH, Exh. 1004, p. 4
`
`

`
`PTO/SB/14 (11-08)
`Approved for use through 01/31/2014. OMB 0651-0032
`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
`Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it contains a valid OMB control number.
`
`Application Data Sheet 37 CFR 1.76
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`1104-111C
`
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`
`Title of Invention
`
`HIGH-SPEED WAN TO WIRELESS LAN GATEWAY
`
`If the Assignee is an Organization check here.
`
`~
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`Organization Name
`
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`
`1130 Situs Court
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`Suite 216
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`Raleigh
`
`Address 1
`
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`Country ii us
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`NC
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`CFR 1.4(d) for the form of the signature.
`
`Signature
`
`/R. Chad Bevins/
`
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`
`R. Chad
`
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`
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`
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`
`

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`DISH, Exh. 1004, p. 6
`
`

`
`10~
`
`FIG. 1
`
`DISH, Exh. 1004, p. 7
`
`

`
`,-32
`
`1000 Bt
`ETHERNET
`NIC
`
`42
`
`44
`
`46
`
`48
`
`GATEWAY OS
`
`56
`
`NON-SECURE
`DATA
`CACHE
`
`38
`
`C:::>
`c::>
`C>
`
`0
`
`SECURE
`DATA
`CACHE
`
`40
`
`30
`
`(34
`
`802.11X
`RADIO(S)
`
`ADAPTABLE CROSS-LAYER
`OFFLOAD ENGINE
`
`rv -
`
`+::>.
`
`1000 Bt
`ETHERNET
`SWITCH
`
`IDS RULES
`
`ORM ENCODER/DECODER
`
`ORM RULES
`
`DES ENCRYPTION/DECRYPTION
`
`CONTENT RULES
`
`FILE FORMAT CONVERSION
`
`50
`
`52
`
`54
`
`FIG.2
`
`DISH, Exh. 1004, p. 8
`
`

`
`OFFLOAD
`ENGINE
`30
`
`LAYER4
`
`LAYER 3
`
`LAYER 2
`
`LAYER 1
`
`0
`
`~ c:::> 0
`0
`'---' C>
`0
`i-----N-0-N--S-E-CU_R_E_:::::X:::C-A-CH-E--~---S-E_C_U_RE_C_A_C_H_E --~ ~ o
`
`<::::>
`
`:::::X:::
`FTP
`ORM ENCODING/DECODING
`FILE CONVERSION
`:::::x:::
`:::::x:::
`:::::x:::
`i----TC_P _ _._ __ U_D_P _ _.__ __ T_~_P_F_Lo_w_s __ _._ __ U_D_P_FL_o_w_s _ __. ~
`
`.,........ ~R-U-LE~
`...__, CHECK
`ENGINE
`42
`
`IP
`:::::x:::
`
`IP ROUTER
`:::::x:::
`
`66
`
`ETHERNET SWITCH
`SMART MAC
`SIMPLE MAC
`:::::x:::
`:::::x:::
`:::::x:::
`:::::x:::
`:::::x:::
`:::::x:::
`1000 Bt
`1000 Bt
`1000 Bt
`802.11n
`802.11n
`802.11n
`802.11n
`
`FIG. 3
`
`DISH, Exh. 1004, p. 9
`
`

`
`, ,
`, ,
`
`I
`I
`
`I,'
`
`,
`
`CROSS-LAYER MESSAGING MATRIX
`
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`I
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`
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`RSVP AND/OR
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`'-----~----------J-----------~-----------'
`I I
`WAN
`WLAN
`FIG. 4
`
`I
`
`DISH, Exh. 1004, p. 10
`
`

`
`P367C
`
`HIGH-SPEED WAN TO WIRELESS LAN GATEWAY
`
`Related Applications
`
`[0001]
`
`The present application is a continuation of U.S. Application Serial
`
`5 No. 11/475,360, filed June 27, 2006, the disclosure of which is hereby
`
`incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
`
`Field of the Invention
`
`[0002]
`
`The present invention relates to a gateway device and more
`
`1 O particularly relates to a gateway device interconnecting a high speed Wide
`
`Area Network (WAN) to a lower speed Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN).
`
`Backaround of the Invention
`
`[0003]
`
`Historically, residential gateways provided a routing function from
`
`15
`
`an in-home Local Area Network (LAN) to a Wide Area Network (WAN) based
`
`Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) or Data Over Cable Service
`
`Interface Specification (DOCSIS) connection. Bandwidth available from the
`
`WAN ranged from 200 kbps to 6 Mbps. The LAN side of the gateway was
`
`either a single or multiple 10/1 OOBt Ethernet connections serving client
`
`20
`
`computers. Eventually, these Ethernet connections were replaced with
`
`wireless IEEE 802.11 b/a/g LANs operating from 6 to 50 Mbps. The smaller
`
`bandwidth capabilities of the WAN versus the LAN kept downstream traffic
`
`flow simple in the gateway. Upstream traffic from the LAN to WAN was
`
`seldom an issue because users were less sensitive to this bottleneck. A
`
`25
`
`typical upstream bottleneck scenario would be sending an email with a large
`
`attachment. In this situation, the Transfer Control Protocol (TCP) service of
`
`the gateway would simply throttle the LAN connection to the appropriate
`
`speed for the WAN.
`
`[0004] With the advent of Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) networks, the
`
`30
`
`traditional scenario described above has been reversed. In a FTTH network,
`
`a high speed FTTH data connection is provided to the residential gateway.
`
`The FTTH data connection provides data rates in the range of 1 to 1 O Gbps.
`
`In contrast, the proposed IEEE 802.11 n standard for wireless LANs provides
`
`data rates in the range of 100 to 500 Mbps. As such, the traditional
`
`DISH, Exh. 1004, p. 11
`
`

`
`P367C
`
`2
`
`residential gateway architecture will limit overall performance to the wireless
`
`LAN bandwidth, thereby negating much of the value of the FTTH connection.
`
`Thus, there is a need for an improved residential gateway architecture for
`
`interconnecting a high speed WAN to a lower speed wireless LAN.
`
`5
`
`Summary of the Invention
`
`[0005]
`
`The present invention relates to a gateway interconnecting a high
`
`speed Wide Area Network (WAN) and a lower speed Wireless Local Area
`
`Network (WLAN). The high speed WAN is preferably connected to the
`
`1 O gateway via a Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) connection and associated FTTH
`
`modem. In general, the gateway includes an adaptable cross-layer offload
`
`engine operating to manage bandwidth between the high speed WAN and the
`
`lower speed WLAN. As data enters the gateway from the WAN at the high
`
`speed data rate of the WAN, the offload engine stores the data in a non-
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`15
`
`secure data cache. A rule check engine performs a stateless or stateful
`
`inspection of the data in the non-secure data cache. Once inspected by the
`
`rule check engine, the data is moved from the non-secure cache to the secure
`
`cache and thereafter transmitted to an appropriate user device in the WLAN
`
`at a lower data rate of the WLAN.
`
`20
`
`[0006]
`
`Prior to transmitting the data, the gateway may also perform
`
`additional functions such as, but not limited to, file format conversion, Digital
`
`Rights Management (ORM) encoding or decoding, and Data Encryption
`
`Standard (DES) encryption or decryption.
`
`[0007]
`
`Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the present
`
`25
`
`invention and realize additional aspects thereof after reading the following
`
`detailed description of the preferred embodiments in association with the
`
`accompanying drawing figures.
`
`Brief Description of the Drawing Figures
`
`30
`
`[0008]
`
`The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a
`
`part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the invention, and
`
`together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.
`
`[0009]
`
`Figure 1 illustrates a system including an adaptable cross-layer
`
`gateway for interconnecting, or bridging, a high speed Wide Area Network
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`DISH, Exh. 1004, p. 12
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`3
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`(WAN) to a lower speed Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) according to
`
`one embodiment of the present invention;
`
`[001 O]
`
`Figure 2 is a block diagram of the adaptable cross-layer gateway of
`
`Figure 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention;
`
`5
`
`[0011]
`
`Figure 3 is an exemplary protocol stack representation of the
`
`adaptable cross-layer gateway according to one embodiment of the present
`
`invention; and
`
`[0012]
`
`Figure 4 illustrates an exemplary cross-messaging matrix controlled
`
`to provide a complete protocol stack having a cross-layer architecture for a
`
`1 O network connection implemented by the adaptable cross-layer gateway
`
`according to one embodiment of the present invention.
`
`Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments
`
`[0013]
`
`The embodiments set forth below represent the necessary
`
`15
`
`information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention and
`
`illustrate the best mode of practicing the invention. Upon reading the
`
`following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those
`
`skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the invention and will
`
`recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It
`
`20
`
`should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the
`
`scope of the disclosure and the accompanying claims.
`
`[0014]
`
`Figure 1 illustrates a system 1 O including an adaptable cross-layer
`
`gateway 12 interconnecting, or bridging, a high speed WAN 14 and a lower
`
`speed WLAN 16 according to one embodiment of the present invention. In
`
`25
`
`addition, as discussed below, the gateway 12 offloads data to data caches in
`
`order to take advantage of the high data rate provided by the high speed
`
`WAN 14. In addition, by using cross-layering techniques, the gateway 12
`
`improves the performance of the WLAN 16 in order to take further advantage
`
`of the high speed WAN 14. The gateway 12 may be implemented in
`
`30
`
`hardware or a combination of hardware and software. For example, the
`
`gateway 12 may include one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits
`
`(ASICs), one or more Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), one or more Field
`
`Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), or the like.
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`DISH, Exh. 1004, p. 13
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`[0015]
`
`The WAN 14 may be a distributed public access network such as
`
`the Internet. Preferably, the WAN 14 provides a Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH)
`
`connection to a customer premises 18, which in this example includes a
`
`network interface 20, the gateway 12, and the WLAN 16. FTTH generally
`
`5
`
`refers to a broadband network where a fiber-optic connection is provided to
`
`the home. The FTTH connection provides data rates equal to or greater than
`
`1 Gigabit per second (Gbps). For example, the FTTH connection may provide
`
`data rates in the range of and including 1 to 1 O Gbps. The network interface
`
`20 may be a FTTH modem providing an interface between the FTTH
`
`1 O
`
`connection and the gateway 12. In this exemplary embodiment, the network
`
`interface 20 provides an optical to electrical Gigabit Ethernet connection
`
`(1 OOOBt) to the gateway 12. It should be noted that while the preferred high
`
`speed connection to the WAN 14 is the FTTH connection discussed herein,
`
`the present invention is not limited thereto. The gateway 12 of the present
`
`15
`
`invention may be used to interconnect, or bridge, any high speed WAN to a
`
`lower speed LAN regardless of the type of connection provided to the WAN.
`
`For example, the gateway 12 may interconnect an OC-192 (9.95328 Gbps) or
`
`1 O Gigabit Ethernet WAN to a multiport Gigabit Ethernet (1 OOOBt) lower speed
`
`LAN.
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`20
`
`[0016]
`
`The WLAN 16 may operate, for example, according to one or more
`
`of the suite of IEEE 802.11 standards such as the IEEE 802.11 a, IEEE
`
`802.11 b, IEEE 802.11 g, or the proposed IEEE 802.11 n standards. The
`
`WLAN 16 is formed by the gateway 12 and a number of user devices 22-28
`
`each having a wireless interface. The user devices 22-28 may be, for
`
`25
`
`example, personal computers, Personal Video Recorders (PVRs), Personal
`
`Digital Assistants (PDAs), other Internet Protocol (IP) appliances, or the like,
`
`or any combination thereof.
`
`[0017]
`
`Figure 2 is a more detailed block diagram of the gateway 12
`
`according to one embodiment of the present invention. At the heart of the
`
`30
`
`gateway 12 is an adaptable cross-layer offload engine 30 that manages
`
`bandwidth, or traffic flow, between the WAN 14 and the WLAN 16. The
`
`offload engine 30 utilizes cross-layer functionality and is configurable to adapt
`
`to varying conditions in the WLAN 16. The offload engine 30 is preferably
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`DISH, Exh. 1004, p. 14
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`implemented in hardware, but may alternatively be implemented in software
`
`or a combination of hardware and software.
`
`[0018]
`
`The offload engine 30 is communicatively coupled to the WAN 14
`
`via, in this example, a Gigabit Ethernet Network Interface Card (NIC) 32,
`
`5 which is connected to the WAN 14 (Figure 1) via the network interface 20.
`
`The NIC 32 may generally be referred to as a high speed network interface.
`
`The offload engine 30 is communicatively coupled to the WLAN 16, and more
`
`specifically the user devices 22-28 in the WLAN 16, via one or more wireless
`
`radios 34. In this example, the wireless radios 34 are IEEE 802.11 n wireless
`
`1 O
`
`radios. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. The gateway 12
`
`may also include an Ethernet switch 36 or the like providing one or more
`
`wired connections to additional LAN devices.
`
`[0019]
`
`The gateway 12 also includes a non-secure data cache 38 and a
`
`secure data cache 40. The non-secure and secure data caches 38 and 40
`
`15
`
`are used to buffer data as needed by the offload engine 30. While illustrated
`
`separately, the data caches 38 and 40 may be implemented in a single
`
`physical cache where, for example, flags are used to identify secure and non(cid:173)
`
`secure data. The non-secure data cache 38 is used to store received data
`
`from the WAN 14 for inspection and processing prior to forwarding the data to
`
`20
`
`the WLAN 16. The non-secure data cache 38 may also be used to buffer
`
`large data sets from the WLAN 16 waiting for transmission over the WAN 14.
`
`By buffering data in the non-secure data cache 38, the gateway 12 is enabled
`
`to take advantage of the full bandwidth provided by the FTTH connection.
`
`The secure data cache 40 is used to temporarily store data from the non-
`
`25
`
`secure data cache 38 that has been inspected and cleared for transmission
`
`prior to transmission to the user devices 22-28 in the WLAN 16.
`
`[0020]
`
`A rule check engine 42 operates to inspect the data in the non-
`
`secure data cache 38 according to a number of rules, which in this example
`
`include Intrusion Detection System (IDS) rules 44, Digital Rights Management
`
`30
`
`(ORM) rules 46, and other general or specific content rules 48. The rule
`
`check engine 42 may perform stateless inspection, stateful inspection, or both
`
`stateless and stateful inspection. The IDS rules 44 are generally rules for
`
`detecting malicious network traffic and may include, for example, typical
`
`firewall rules. The ORM rules 46 may be rules for protecting media files, such
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`DISH, Exh. 1004, p. 15
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`as videos, songs, and images, stored on the user devices 22-28 within the
`
`WLAN 16 when transmitted over the WAN 14. In addition, the ORM rules 46
`
`may include rules for identifying incoming content to be encoded as a security
`
`feature to prevent unauthorized viewing of the specified content by, for
`
`5
`
`example, children within the WLAN 16. The content rules 48 may include
`
`rules regulating the types of content that may be accessed by the user
`
`devices 22-28 within the WLAN 16. In addition, as discussed below, the rule
`
`check engine 42 may inspect the data passing through the gateway 12 based
`
`on rules for triggering additional functions provided by the gateway 12.
`
`1 O
`
`[0021]
`
`The gateway 12 may also include various additional functional
`
`components such as, but not limited to, a ORM encoder/decoder 50, a Digital
`
`Encryption System (DES) encryption/decryption function 52, and a file format
`
`conversion function 54. The functions 50-54 may be triggered either directly
`
`or indirectly by the rule check engine 42 based on associated rules used to
`
`15
`
`inspect data passing through the gateway 12.
`
`[0022]
`
`The ORM encoder/decoder 50 may be implemented in hardware,
`
`software, or a combination of hardware and software, and may be used to
`
`protect content transmitted over the WAN 14 from the user devices 22-28
`
`within the WLAN 16. In addition or alternatively, the ORM encoder/decoder
`
`20
`
`50 may be used in conjunction with firewall technology to create a security
`
`feature that prevents unauthorized viewing of specified content on the user
`
`devices 22-28. More specifically, in the outgoing direction, the ORM
`
`encoder/decoder 50 may operate to encode content leaving the WLAN 16.
`
`For example, personal videos, songs, images, or the like stored by the user
`
`25
`
`devices 22-28 may be encoded by the ORM encoder/decoder 50 such that
`
`only desired recipients may view or play the content. As for incoming content,
`
`the ORM encoder/decoder 50 may, for example, encode specified types of
`
`content from the WAN 14 to prevent unauthorized viewing by, for example,
`
`children. License keys could be distributed by the gateway 12 to appropriate
`
`30
`
`user devices 22-28 to unlock the encoded content. It should be noted that the
`
`present inven