| US 7,353,381 B2 | ||
| Supplicant and authenticator intercommunication mechanism independent of underlying data link and physical layer protocols | ||
| Sachin C. Sheth, Seattle, Wash. (US); Mohammad Shabbir Alam, Redmond, Wash. (US); Arun Ayyagari, Seattle, Wash. (US); and Abhishek Abhishek, Woodinville, Wash. (US) | ||
| Assigned to Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash. (US) | ||
| Filed on Jun. 03, 2003, as Appl. No. 10/453,089. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2005/0010755 A1, Jan. 13, 2005 | ||
| Int. Cl. H04L 9/00 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 713—151 [726/14; 726/15; 709/230; 709/232; 710/11] | 28 Claims |
| 1. In a network environment including a first computing system that executes a supplicant and a second computing system that
executes an authenticator, a method for the supplicant communicating with the authenticator to accomplish authentication of
the first computing system or its user in a manner that is independent of the underlying data link and physical layer protocols
used to communicate between the first and second computing systems, the method comprising:
an act of the first computing system establishing a data link layer connection with the second computing system using data
link and physical layer protocols;
an act of the supplicant receiving an indication that the data link layer connection has been established;
an act of the supplicant determining that authentication is to occur with the authenticator;
an act of the supplicant providing an instruction that authentication is to occur with the authenticator, the instruction
being provided to an abstraction module and in a manner that is independent of the underlying data link and physical layer
protocols used by data link and physical layer modules of the first computing system to communicate with the second computing
system; and
converting the instruction that is received from the supplicant at the abstraction module and into a form that is interpretable
by the data link and physical layer modules of the first computing system.
|