System, method, mobile station and gateway for communicating with a universal plug and play network

A system for linking two universal plug and play (“UPnP”) networks remotely located comprising:

• a first UPnP network comprising one or more first UPnP devices;
• a first network gateway configured to communicate with and control said one or more first UPnP devices;
• a second UPnP network comprising one or more second UPnP devices;
• and
• a mobile station gateway configured to communicate with said one or more second UPnP devices, wherein said first network gateway and said mobile station gateway communicate according to Web Services (“WS”) protocol, and wherein said first network gateway converts messages from said mobile station gateway in accordance with WS protocol to corresponding UPnP commands for communicating to at least one of said one or more first UPnP devices.

A method of linking home and visited universal plug and play (“UPnP”) networks comprising:

• establishing communication with said visited UPnP network using a mobile station;
• contacting a home network gateway in communication with said home UPnP network using said mobile station;
• receiving from said home network gateway identities of one or more home UPnP devices in said home UPnP network;
• and
• creating a UPnP device in said visited UPnP network for each UPnP device identified to be in said home UPnP network.

A system for communicating with a universal plug and play (“UPnP”) network from a remote location over a secure channel comprising:

• a mobile station;
• a web proxy gateway configured to communicate with said mobile station over a secure channel and to authenticate and authorize messages communicated there between;
• and
• a UPnP network comprising one or more UPnP devices, said UPnP network configured to communicate with said web proxy gateway.

A method of accessing a universal plug and play (“UPnP”) network from a remote location over a secure communication link comprising:

• receiving a signal transmitted in accordance with Web Services (“WS”) protocol from a mobile station at a web proxy gateway on behalf of a UPnP network;
• authenticating said signal;
• converting said authenticated signal into a UPnP command;
• and
• transmitting said UPnP command via said UPnP network.

A system for providing a connection between a mobile station and a universal plug and play (“UPnP”) network comprising:

• a mobile station configured to transmit and receive messages in accordance with Web Services (“WS”) protocol;
• a UPnP network comprising one or more UPnP devices configured to transmit and receive UPnP commands;
• and
• a network gateway, configured to convert between messages in accordance with WS protocol and UPnP commands to enable said mobile station and said one or more UPnP devices to communicate via said network gateway.

A method of communicating with a universal plug and play (“UPnP”) network via a remote mobile station comprising:

• transmitting messages between a gateway device and a mobile station in accordance with Web Services (“WS”) protocol;
• transmitting UPnP commands between said gateway device and one or more UPnP devices in said UPnP network;
• and
• converting between said messages in accordance with WS protocol and UPnP commands.