Trusted Tunnel Bridge for Firewall-Restricted Network Communication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems face challenges in communicating performance metrics across different networks due to firewall restrictions, which require opening ports, not allowed in certain network configurations.
Innovation Solution
A trusted tunnel bridge service establishes a WebSocket connection within a firewall-protected network, allowing encrypted data packets to be sent directly to destination devices without needing open ports, by using identifiers to route the packets through a routing/forwarding table.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If ports are opened through the firewall to enable communication between the device and the application, then the device can receive performance metrics, but the network security is compromised and port opening is not allowed in certain network configurations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a trusted tunnel bridge as an intermediary component that receives encrypted data packets from the application in the first network, identifies the destination device using a routing table, and forwards the packets to the destination device in the second network. This mediator enables communication between networks without requiring firewall port openings, as the tunnel bridge operates within the firewall-protected network boundaries.
2Reliability
If the device and application are separated by a firewall, then network security is maintained, but communication between the device and application is blocked
Solution Approach 1:
The trusted tunnel bridge serves as a secure intermediary that operates within the firewall-protected network. It receives encrypted performance metric data from the application, uses the destination device identifier to lookup the target device in its routing table, and forwards the encrypted packets to the destination device. This maintains firewall security while enabling performance metrics transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by establishing the trusted tunnel bridge in advance within the firewall-protected network. The bridge is pre-configured with a routing table containing destination device identifiers and corresponding device information. This preliminary setup enables subsequent encrypted communication without requiring real-time firewall port openings.
3Reliability
If encrypted data packets are routed through a trusted tunnel bridge, then network security and data integrity are maintained, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The trusted tunnel bridge acts as a dedicated intermediary component that simplifies the overall system architecture by centralizing the routing and forwarding functions. Instead of implementing complex encryption and routing logic in multiple distributed components, the patent consolidates these functions in a single trusted bridge that manages encrypted packet routing using a pre-configured routing table.
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments of the present application set forth a computer-implemented method that includes receiving, by a trusted tunnel bridge and from a first application executing in a first network, a first encrypted data packet, where the first encrypted data packet includes an encrypted portion of data, and a destination device identifier (DDI). The method further includes determining, by the trusted tunnel bridge, a particular device in a second network and associated with the DDI included in the first encrypted data packet. The method further includes sending, by the trusted tunnel bridge directly to the particular device, the first encrypted data packet.