Applying home network technologies to a wide area network

A method for accessing a service outside a home network from a device within the home network, the method comprising:

• sending a unicast request, from the device to a well-known cloud service, to find a service;
• receiving, from the well-known cloud service, an identification of a service and an address for the service, wherein the well-known cloud service sends the identification of the service and the address for the service based upon information stored from registrations of various services with the well-known cloud service;
• and
• contacting the address for the service to access the service.

A cloud service comprising:

• an interface to a home network;
• an interface to Internet services;
• a storage;
• a processor configured to:
• receive a registration message from one of the Internet services via the interface to Internet services;
• store details about the one of the Internet services in the storage, wherein the details include an address for the service;
• receive a request to locate a service, wherein the request is received from the home network via the interface to the home network;
• locate details about a matching service stored in the storage, wherein the matching service meets criteria specified in the request from the home network;
• and
• provide the details about the matching service to the home network via the interface to the home network, enabling a device in the home network to directly contact the matching service using the address specified in the details about the matching service.

A system comprising:

• a home network including a device;
• a well-known cloud service located outside the home network;
• and
• a service located outside the home network;
• wherein the service is configured to register details about itself with the well-known cloud service via a UPnP advertisement message having extra headers describing the details about the service;
• wherein the service is configured to:
• store the details about the service in a storage;
• receive a request to locate a service from the home network;
• locate details about a matching service stored in the storage;
• and
• send the details about the matching service to the home network.

An apparatus for allowing a device on a home network to access a service outside the home network, the apparatus comprising:

• means for receiving, at a server outside the home network, a registration message from the service;
• means for storing details about the service in a storage accessible by the server, wherein the details include an address for the service;
• means for receiving, at the server, a request to locate a service, wherein the request is received from the home network;
• means for locating details about a matching service stored in the storage, wherein the matching service meets criteria specified in the request from the home network;
• and
• means for providing the details about the matching service to the home network, enabling the device to directly contact the matching service using the address specified in the details about the matching service.

A non-transitory program storage device readable by a machine tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method for allowing a service on a home network to be accessed by a device outside the home network, the method comprising:

• receiving, at a server outside the home network, a registration message from the service;
• storing details about the service in a storage accessible by the server, wherein the details include an address for the service;
• receiving, at the server, a request to locate a service, wherein the request is received from outside the home network;
• locating details about a matching service stored in the storage, wherein the matching service meets criteria specified in the request;
• and
• providing the details about the matching service to the device that requested to locate a service, enabling the device to directly contact the matching service using the address specified in the details about the matching service.