Importance

Loading Importance Indicators...

Abstract

A communications system autonomously establishes, monitors, and maintains a secure and persistent internet 'tunnel' communication path between one or more interconnected computers located at a 'central' site and at least one host computer of a plurality of host computers at sites remote from the first site. The system includes a tunnel terminator server at the central site, following a secure tunneling protocol. The tunnel terminator server includes a public port interface coupled to the internet. The tunnel terminator initially establishes a clear communications link clients calling from the internet, and initially identifies and authenticates each of the clients as being 'authorized.' For each client so identified and authenticated, the tunnel terminator establishes an encrypted communications link, and provides a new private IP address to each individual client by the link. Each host computer (a) upon completion of boot-up, autonomously causes the associated modem to dial an ISP at a designated telephone numbers, to thereby initiate an ISP internet connection; (b) upon establishment of the ISP connection, autonomously invokes, and interacts therewith to establish a secure communications 'tunnel' link between the host computer and the tunnel terminator; and (c) upon establishing the secure communications link, autonomously monitors the state of both the ISP connection and the tunnel, and, if one of the ISP connection and the tunnel is lost, autonomously reestablishes the ISP connection and the tunnel, so that the ISP internet connection and the secure communications link are persistent.

Loading the Abstract Image...

First Claim