# US 8,571,222 B1 · System and method for wide area wireless connectivity to the internet > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,571,222 B1 - Document ID: US8571222B1 - Status: Granted - Kind: B1 - Application number: 10/845,281 - Filed: 2004-05-13 - Granted: 2013-10-29 - Earliest claimed: 2003-08-13 - Assignees: Verizon Corporate Services Group Inc. - Applicants: Paul Perry; Sean Byrnes; Valeriy Elbert; Chivas Nambiar; Conor Hunt; Thanos Kosmidis; Vineet Gupta - Inventors: Paul Perry; Sean Byrnes; Valeriy Elbert; Chivas Nambiar; Conor Hunt; Thanos Kosmidis; Vineet Gupta - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8571222B1 ## CPC - H04W 12/06: Authentication - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract A system and method for managing access to a Wi-Fi system include redirecting an access request, comprising a user credential, from a wireless user device to an authentication server, obtaining, from a first database, a list of a plurality of authentication databases from which users may be authenticated, the list including a protocol required for communication with each of the authentication databases, transmitting a request to each of the listed authentication databases using the identified protocol, and permitting the user access to the Internet through the Wi-Fi system if the user is authenticated by at least one of the listed authentication databases. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method comprising: receiving at a centralized authentication server, which manages a process of authenticating users for a plurality of authentication systems and is located remotely from any one of the plurality of authentication systems, an access request for a wireless device of a user to obtain Internet access through a Wi-Fi system, wherein the centralized authentication server includes information of a plurality of authentication databases from which users may be authenticated, each of the plurality of authentication databases corresponding to a different communication service and to a different authentication system of the plurality of authentication systems, and wherein the information includes identification of a first protocol required for communicating with a first authentication database of the plurality of authentication databases and identification of a second protocol required for communicating with a second authentication database of the plurality of authentication databases, and wherein the second protocol is different from the first protocol; transmitting an authentication request from the centralized authentication server to at least the first authentication database of the plurality of authentication databases using the first protocol; and permitting the user access to the Internet through the Wi-Fi system by the wireless device when an indication of authentication is received from at least the first authentication database. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein permitting comprises: identifying an access point at which the access request was received; and transmitting to the identified access point a request to permit access by the user. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the permitting further comprises: identifying from a database an address of the identified access point and a protocol required for communication with the identified access point; and the transmitting further comprises transmitting the request to the access point at the identified address in accordance with the identified protocol. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein the database includes the information of the plurality of authentication databases. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the access request at an access point. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, further comprising determining, upon receipt of the access request, whether the user is logged on. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, further comprising redirecting the user to the Internet upon determining that the user is logged on. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of authentication databases is a Radius-based database. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising determining if the user is an idle user. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein determining comprises repeatedly determining if the user is an idle user. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, comprising terminating the user from the Wi-Fi system if the user is determined to be idle. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein determining if a user is an idle user comprises requesting a usage statistic for a user from a database and determining, based on the usage statistic, if the user is an idle user. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the database includes the information of the plurality of authentication databases. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the usage statistic comprises one piece of data selected from a group consisting of a duration and a number of bytes transmitted. ### Claim 15 A non-transitory computer readable medium containing instructions for execution by a computer to carry out a method, the method comprising: receiving at a centralized authentication server, which manages a process of authenticating users for a plurality of authentication systems and is located remotely from any one of the plurality of authentication systems, an access request for a wireless user device of a user to obtain Internet access through a Wi-Fi system, wherein the centralized authentication server includes information of a plurality of authentication databases from which users may be authenticated, each of the plurality of authentication databases corresponding to a different communication service and to a different authentication system of the plurality of authentication systems, and wherein the information includes identification of a first protocol required for communication with a first authentication database of the plurality of authentication databases and identification of a second protocol required for communicating with a second authentication database of the plurality of authentication databases, and wherein the second protocol is different from the first protocol; transmitting an authentication request from the centralized authentication server to at least one of the first authentication database of the plurality of authentication databases using the first protocol; and permitting the user access to the Internet through the Wi-Fi system by the wireless device when an indication of authentication is received from at least the first authentication database. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein permitting comprises: identifying the access point at which the access request was received; and transmitting to the identified access point a request to permit access to the user. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein: permitting further comprises identifying from a database an address of the identified access point and a protocol required for communication with the identified access point; and transmitting further comprises transmitting the request to the access point at the identified address in accordance with the identified protocol. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the database includes the information of the plurality of authentication databases. ### Claim 19 (depends on 15) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, further comprising receiving the access request at an access point. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, further comprising determining, upon receipt of the access request, whether the user is logged on. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20, further comprising redirecting the user to the Internet upon determining that the user is logged on. ### Claim 22 (depends on 15) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein at least one of the plurality of authentication databases is a Radius-based database. ### Claim 23 (depends on 15) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, further comprising determining if the user is an idle user. ### Claim 24 (depends on 23) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 23, comprising repeatedly determining if a user is an idle user. ### Claim 25 (depends on 24) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 24, comprising terminating the user from the Wi-Fi system if the user is determined to be idle. ### Claim 26 (depends on 23) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein determining if a user is an idle user comprises requesting a usage statistic for a user from a database and determining, based on the usage statistic, if the user is an idle user. ### Claim 27 (depends on 26) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein the database includes the information of the plurality of authentication databases. ### Claim 28 (depends on 26) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein the usage statistic comprises data selected from a group consisting of a duration and a number of bytes transmitted. ### Claim 29 A system comprising: a centralized authentication server managing a process of authenticating users for a plurality of authentication systems and located remotely from any one of the plurality of authentication systems configured to: receive an access request for a wireless device of a user to obtain Internet access through a Wi-Fi system, wherein the centralized authentication server includes information of a plurality of authentication databases from which users may be authenticated, each of the plurality of authentication databases corresponding to a different communication service and to a different authentication system of the plurality of authentication systems, and wherein the information includes identification of a first protocol required for communication with a first authentication database of the plurality of authentication databases, and identification of a second protocol required for communication with a second authentication database of the plurality of authentication databases, and wherein the second protocol is different from the first protocol; issue an authentication request for the access request from the centralized authentication server to the first authentication database of the plurality of authentication databases using the first protocol; and send the access command to the hotspot venue if the user is authenticated; a hotspot venue configured to redirect an access request generated by a wireless device to the centralized authentication server, and to permit the user to access the Internet in response to a receipt of an access command from the centralized authentication server; and the first authentication database configured to receive the authentication request using the first protocol, and to respond to the centralized authentication server by indicating whether the access request is permitted. ### Claim 30 (depends on 29) The system of claim 29, wherein the centralized authentication server is further configured to identify an access point at which the access request was received, and to transmit the access command to the identified access point. ### Claim 31 (depends on 30) The system of claim 30, wherein the centralized authentication server is further configured to identify, from a database, an address of the identified access point and a protocol required for communication with the identified access point, and to transmit the access command to the access point at the identified address in accordance with the identified protocol. ### Claim 32 (depends on 31) The system of claim 31, wherein the database includes the information of the plurality of authentication databases. ### Claim 33 (depends on 29) The system of claim 29, wherein at least one of the plurality of authentication databases is a Radius-based database. ### Claim 34 (depends on 29) The system of claim 29, wherein the centralized authentication server is further configured to determine if a user is an idle user. ### Claim 35 (depends on 34) The system of claim 34, wherein the centralized authentication server is further configured to repeatedly determine if the user is an idle user. ### Claim 36 (depends on 35) The system of claim 35, wherein the centralized authentication server is further configured to terminate the user from the Wi-Fi system provided the user is determined to be idle. ### Claim 37 (depends on 34) The system of claim 34, wherein the centralized authentication server is configured to determine if a user is an idle user by requesting a usage statistic for a user from a database and determining, based on the usage statistic, if the user is an idle user. ### Claim 38 (depends on 37) The system of claim 37, wherein the database includes the information of the plurality of authentication databases. ### Claim 39 (depends on 38) The system of claim 38, wherein the usage statistic comprises data selected from a group consisting of a duration, and a number of bytes transmitted. ### Claim 40 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the authentication request from the centralized authentication server further comprises transmitting multiple authentication requests to the plurality of authentication databases. ### Claim 41 (depends on 15) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein transmitting the authentication request from the centralized authentication server further comprises transmitting multiple authentication requests to the plurality of authentication databases. ### Claim 42 (depends on 29) The system of claim 29, wherein the centralized authentication server is configured to issue multiple authentication requests to the plurality of authentication databases.