Extended UPnP Multimedia Content Delivery with an HTTP Proxy

Abstract

Nowadays, multimedia content sharing between home networks becomes a great field of interest for both customers and service providers. Many solutions have been proposed already but they suffer from as well a lack of confidentiality and security, as the constraint to store content in dedicated servers provided by the service operator. In this paper we describe a new approach solving those drawbacks and permitting to share multimedia contents between UPnP terminals connected to different home networks. The service guarantees the user the control over his contents, since the latter remain stored within the home network. The remote access experience offers thereby a strong level of confidentiality, authentication and security. Our novel solution is based on a combination of entities – an HTTP proxies located in the core network, a UPnP Reverse Proxy at the edge of the home network, and a Content Control Point inside the home network. Users, in our service, access from any UPnP terminal to a remote content through the core network’s HTTP proxy – a trusted entity in charge of user authentication and authorization. Namely, this HTTP proxy controls the user’s right to access a particular remote home network. The UPnP Reverse Proxy filters and presents the shared contents based on the identification made by the HTTP proxy. In turn, the Content Control Point (CCP), in the home network, manages the user’s right to access a particular content of that home network.