VPN Server Selection via Aggregated Attribute Indexing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing number of VPN servers complicates user selection and increases network latency due to large data loads, making it difficult for users to choose optimal servers and posing confidentiality risks as IP addresses are often exposed.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that aggregates and indexes VPN server attributes, allowing users to select servers based on specific criteria without revealing IP addresses, using a processing unit to dynamically process and update server information for efficient VPN server selection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the number of VPN servers is increased to provide more choices and better service coverage, then user selection flexibility and service availability are improved, but network latency increases and data load grows making server selection complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the large set of VPN servers into multiple groups based on geographical locations. Each location contains multiple servers, allowing users to first select a location and then choose from servers within that location. This hierarchical segmentation reduces the complexity of server selection by breaking down the overwhelming number of servers into manageable subsets organized by geographic region.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the number of VPN servers is increased to provide more choices, then service coverage is improved, but the data load for server lists increases causing network congestion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and transmits only essential server information (such as location and basic attributes) to the user device, while keeping detailed server data on the server side. This selective extraction reduces the amount of data that needs to be transmitted over the network, minimizing network congestion while still providing users with sufficient information to make informed server selections.
3Ease of operation
If VPN server IP addresses are made publicly accessible for user selection, then ease of connection is improved, but confidentiality and security are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism where the VPN service provider's infrastructure acts as a mediator between users and VPN servers. Instead of directly exposing server IP addresses to users, the intermediary system receives connection requests, matches users with appropriate servers based on selected criteria, and establishes connections through controlled channels. This intermediary layer maintains security by preventing direct exposure of server identities while still enabling easy user connection.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system to communicate VPN server information to a client application without providing a full list of VPN server IP addresses. Instead, the method includes VPN server selection criteria that can be requested by client applications, such as “Free or Premium servers”, “Geolocation”, “Load”, “Streaming and protocol capabilities”, etc. A tagged data payload (e.g., JSON) can be used to provide these criteria, upon a request by a client application. Various groupings of VPN servers can be represented by the above criteria. The method provides a means for communicating the available VPN servers to a client application without sending and revealing the full list of VPN servers stored in the VPN infrastructure. This makes the VPN server selection efficient, reduces network load and VPN tunnel establishing time, also, ensures confidentiality of VPN server lists that is important for any of VPN service providers and users.