Device and method to automatically configure port forwarding
AssigneeGeneral Instrument Corporation
InventorDavid Grubb
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An inventive Network Address Translation (“NAT”) device and method for automatic port forwarding whenever said NAT device detects that only one Local Area Network (“LAN”) IP address has been leased by its DHCP server is disclosed. Under this condition, the inventive NAT device automatically configures all ports to be forwarded (except those that may be reserved for applications running in the inventive NAT device), to the single leased LAN IP address. This minimizes, if not eliminates, the conventional address configuration required when a NAT device is added to an existing network.
Claims9
A network translation device (NAT) for automatic port forwarding, said device comprising:
- a dynamic host configuration protocol server visible to a wireless area network (WAN) for providing at least one private local area network address;
- and
- a forwarding engine coupled to said dynamic host configuration protocol server for forwarding ports to the at least one private local area network address,
- wherein the network translation device:
- detects whether either a single private local area network address is leased by the dynamic host configuration protocol server or more than one private local area network address is leased by the dynamic host configuration protocol server;
- in response to detecting that the dynamic host configuration protocol server is leasing the single private local area network address, enables automatic port forwarding via the forwarding engine to forward from the WAN all but NAT application reserved ports to the single private local area network address in response to detecting that the dynamic host configuration protocol server is leasing more than one private local area network address, ceases the automatic port forwarding.
A method for automatic port forwarding in a network translation device, said method comprising:
- detecting via the network translation device whether either a single private local area network address is leased by a dynamic host configuration protocol server or more than one private local area network address is leased by the dynamic host configuration protocol server;
- in response to detecting that the dynamic host configuration protocol server is leasing the single private local area network address, automatically forwarding via the network translation device all but network translation device specific application reserved ports to the single private local area network address;
- and
- in response to detecting that the dynamic host configuration protocol server is leasing more than one private local area network address, ceasing the automatic port forwarding of the all but network translation device specific application reserved ports to the single private local area network address.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.