US 5655077

Patent Overview: US5655077A

Title: Method and system for authenticating access to heterogeneous computing services

Patent number: US5655077A
Application number: US08/356,071
Inventors: Gregory A. Jones, Robert M. Price, William L. Veghte
Original assignee: Microsoft Corp
Current assignee (as listed): Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC
Priority/filing date: 1994-12-13
Publication (grant) date: 1997-08-05
Legal status (as listed): Expired – Lifetime; anticipated expiration 2014-12-13

Purpose: The invention relates generally to a computer system for authenticating access to computing services and, more specifically, to a method and system for authenticating access to multiple heterogeneous resources while minimizing the number of user interactions.

Plain-language scope: A driver is designated as the "primary logon provider" and provides an initial user interface for a sequence of logon interactions, collecting identification information such as a user name, password, and domain name. After the primary logon provider authenticates that information, the computer system attempts to authenticate the same information for access to other computing services—both local system services and other network drivers—without displaying additional user interfaces. Each driver supporting a logon mechanism and requiring authentication is a "logon provider"; each non-primary provider attempts to authenticate the already-collected information without prompting again. A provider also determines whether it is actively connected to the device or pseudo-device it services and, if not, avoids displaying its logon user interface. A user can control the presented logon interface by designating which logon provider serves as primary. The excerpt notes examples including network client drivers (e.g., Banyan VINES, Netware, Client for Microsoft Networks) and pseudo-devices such as database and electronic mail drivers.

Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US5655077](/patent/US5655077)/en

What the excerpt does not establish: It does not provide the full claim text, complete figures/description, or the full specification; the text is expressly excerpted. It does not establish litigation, ownership-transfer details beyond the listed reassignments, validity, or prior-art analysis, and no such analysis is offered here.