Abstract: This invention relates to methods for controlling and monitoring access to network servers. In particular, the process described in the invention includes client-server sessions over the Internet involving hypertext files. In the hypertext environment, a client views a document transmitted by a content server with a standard program known as the browser. Each hypertext document or page contains links to other hypertext pages which the user may select to traverse. When the user selects a link that is directed to an access-controlled file, the server subjects the request to a secondary server which determines whether the client has an authorization or valid account. Upon such verification, the user is provided with a session identification which allows the user to access to the requested file as well as any other files within the present protection domain.

Abstract: A packet routing apparatus allows numerous packets to be routed simultaneously through a mesh connected network. The network consists of a number of interconnected switches which are coupled, in turn, to the hosts that are members of the local network. The switches are nonblocking switches that are coupled to each other and to the hosts by a multiplicity of point to point links. Each switch has a routing mechanism for automatically routing received packets toward their specified destinations. For each received packet the router generates a routing mask representing the output links that may be used to route the packet towards its destination. The routing mask includes a broadcast bit. If the broadcast bit is ON, the packet must be simultaneously routed to all of the output links specified by the routing mask. If the broadcast bit is OFF, the packet may be routed on any single one of the links specified by the routing mask.

Abstract: A biconically tapered passive star optical coupler has mutually exclusive input and output optical fibers, so that optical power injected into any one of the input fibers is relatively uniformally distributed to all of the output fibers.

Abstract: An active repeater for a star configured communications network includes a threshold detector for collision detection. Whenever two or more terminals simultaneously feed data into the repeater, a threshold sensitive collision detector is triggered to logically isolate the data from the output of the repeater and to logically substitute a predetermined collision signal therefor, thereby causing the competing terminals to reset to retry the transmissions at randomly selected later times.