Simple and dynamic configuration of network devices

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and method for configuring and managing network devices. The arrival (and departure) of devices on a network can be detected by a monitor. Upon detection, network devices can be simply and dynamically configured with little or no end-user intervention, for instance by automatically loading device drivers and allocating resources for the devices. Furthermore, network devices can be associated with other network devices such as a personal computer to facilitate seamless integration of network devices with a computer operating system.

1 . A method for automatically configuring a device, the method comprising:
 automatically detecting an arrival of the device on a network;   associating, based on authentication in response to the detecting, over the network the device with a second device;   storing authentication information used to perform the authentication; and   automatically configuring, in response to the associating, the device for operation with the second device, the configuring including executing a device driver for the device on the second device, the configured device and the second device further configured for automatically re-authenticating and re-associating over the network based on the stored authentication information in response to a re-arrival on the network of the device subsequent to a departure from the network of the device subsequent to the associating.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising generating, in response to the detecting, a physical device object component configured to represent the device to the device driver. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , the configuring further comprising locating the pre-executed device driver based on at least an identifier of the device provided by the physical device object component. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising generating, by the executing device driver, a functional device object component configured for exposing functionality of the device via the network. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  further comprising establishing a communication channel over the network between the device and the second device. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the communication channel is secure. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5  further comprising freeing-up, in response to the departure, the established communication channel and memory allocated for the device. 
     
     
         8 . At least one computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a second device, cause the second device to perform a method for automatically configuring a device, the method comprising:
 automatically detecting an arrival of the device on a network;   associating, based on authentication in response to the detecting, over the network the device with the second device;   storing authentication information used to perform the authentication; and   automatically configuring, in response to the associating, the device for operation with the second device, the configuring including executing a device driver for the device on the second device, the configured device and the second device further configured for automatically re-authenticating and re-associating over the network based on the stored authentication information in response to a re-arrival on the network of the device subsequent to a departure from the network of the device subsequent to the associating.   
     
     
         9 . The at least one computer-readable media of  claim 8 , the method further comprising generating, in response to the detecting, a physical device object component configured to represent the device to the device driver. 
     
     
         10 . The at least one computer-readable media of  claim 9 , the configuring further comprising locating the pre-executed device driver based on at least an identifier of the device provided by the physical device object component. 
     
     
         11 . The at least one computer-readable media of  claim 9 , the method further comprising generating, by the executing device driver, a functional device object component configured for exposing functionality of the device via the network. 
     
     
         12 . The at least one computer-readable media of  claim 11 , the method further comprising establishing a communication channel over the network between the device and the second device. 
     
     
         13 . The at least one computer-readable media of  claim 12  wherein the communication channel is secure. 
     
     
         14 . The at least one computer-readable media of  claim 12 , the method further comprising freeing-up, in response to the departure, the established communication channel and memory allocated for the device. 
     
     
         15 . A system configured for automatically configuring a device, the method comprising:
 a second device configured for automatically detecting an arrival of the device on a network;   the second device further configured for associating, based on authentication in response to the detecting, over the network the device with a second device;   the second device further configured for storing authentication information used to perform the authentication; and   the second device further configured for automatically configuring, in response to the associating, the device for operation with the second device, the configuring including executing a device driver for the device on the second device, the configured device and the second device further configured for automatically re-authenticating and re-associating over the network based on the stored authentication information in response to a re-arrival on the network of the device subsequent to a departure from the network of the device subsequent to the associating.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , the second device further configured for generating, in response to the detecting, a physical device object component configured to represent the device to the device driver. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , the configuring further comprising locating the pre-executed device driver based on at least an identifier of the device provided by the physical device object component. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , the second device further configured generating, by the executing device driver, a functional device object component configured for exposing functionality of the device via the network. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , the second device further configured establishing a communication channel over the network between the device and the second device. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , the second device further configured freeing-up, in response to the departure, the established communication channel and memory allocated for the device.