Service access system and method in a telecommunications network

• US 20030108000A1
• Filed: 12/07/2001
• Published: 06/12/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Tidwell, Paul, Chaney, Adam, Brady, Conor
• Granted Patent: US 7,184,415 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/260
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1818 Conference organisation arrangements, e.g. handling schedules, setting up parameters needed by nodes to attend a conference, booking network resources, notifying involved parties
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1043 Gateway controllers, e.g. media gateway control protocol [MGCP] controllers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1104 Session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4038 with floor control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/5063 Centrally initiated conference, i.e. Conference server dials participants computer conference organisation arrangements H04L12/1818
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42059 Making use of the calling party identifier
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42365 Presence services providing information on the willingness to communicate or the ability to communicate in terms of media capability or network connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42374 where the information is provided to a monitoring entity such as a potential calling party or a call processing server
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/56 Arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities video conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/567 Multimedia conference systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0054 Service creation techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0066 Bandwidth allocation or management

Abstract

A system and method of providing a subscriber service to service users in a telecommunications network. In networks utilizing Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) control signaling for call setup and control, the SIP REGISTER message is modified to indicate service capability information and optionally a traffic load indication for service providers. The REGISTER message is sent to a modified Presence and Instant Messaging (PIM) server that stores presence information and the service capability information for registered service providers. The PIM server then notifies subscribing service users of the identity of the service provider that is registered on the network. The PIM server may utilize the traffic load information to balance the traffic load between service providers by providing users with the identity of the service provider that is the most lightly loaded.

Claims

1. A method of providing service users in a telecommunications network with access to a subscriber service, said method comprising the steps of:

registering in the network, a plurality of service users who subscribe to the subscriber service;

sending to a presence server in the network, a registration message from at least one service provider that is a provider of the subscriber service, said registration message including service capability information for the service provider; and

sending an identity of the service provider from the presence server to the plurality of service users.

2. The method of providing access to subscriber services of claim 1 wherein the network utilizes Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) control signaling for call setup and call control, and the step of sending a registration message from at least one service provider to a presence server in the network, includes:

modifying a SIP REGISTER message to include service capabilities information for the service provider; and

sending the SIP REGISTER message from the service provider to the presence server.

3. The method of providing access to subscriber services of claim 2 wherein the step of sending a registration message from at least one service provider to a presence server in the network also includes sending an update SIP REGISTER message from the service provider to the presence server whenever the service capabilities or presence state of the service provider change.

4. The method of providing access to subscriber services of claim 3 further comprising notifying the service users of changes to the service capabilities of the service provider whenever the service provider sends an update SIP REGISTER message to the presence server.

5. The method of providing access to subscriber services of claim 2 wherein the service capabilities information includes a specified service type, and the step of storing service capability information for the service provider in a presence server includes:

storing in the presence server, a predefined list of service types that may register as service providers; and

matching the specified service type of the service provider with one of the service types on the predefined list.

6. The method of providing access to subscriber services of claim 2 wherein the service capabilities information includes a specified service type, and the method further comprises the steps of:

determining by the presence server whether the presence server supports the specified service type; and

sending an error message to the service provider if the presence server does not support the specified service type.

7. The method of providing access to subscriber services of claim 2 wherein the step of sending a registration message from at least one service provider to a presence server in the network also includes modifying the SIP REGISTER message to include an indication of a traffic load being handled by the service provider.

8. The method of providing access to subscriber services of claim 7 further comprising, prior to sending an identity of the service provider from the presence server to the plurality of service users, the step of analyzing the traffic load being handled by the service provider to determine whether the service provider can currently serve additional service users.

9. The method of providing access to subscriber services of claim 8 further comprising, upon determining that the service provider cannot currently serve additional service users, the steps of:

classifying the service provider as present but unavailable; and

notifying the plurality of service users of the identity of the service provider, and that the service provider is currently unavailable.

10. The method of providing access to subscriber services of claim 7 further comprising, prior to sending an identity of the service provider from the presence server to the plurality of service users, the steps of:

analyzing the traffic load being handled by the service provider to determine whether the service provider is more lightly loaded than another registered service provider that provides the subscriber service; and

upon determining that the service provider is not more lightly loaded than the other registered service provider, sending an identity of the other service provider from the presence server to the plurality of service users.

11. The method of providing access to subscriber services of claim 1 wherein the subscriber service is a conferencing service, and the service provider is a conference server.

12. The method of providing access to subscriber services of claim 1 wherein the subscriber service is a group establishment service, and the service provider is a group owner.

13. The method of providing access to subscriber services of claim 12 wherein the group establishment service is a game service, and the service provider is a game server.

14. A method of balancing a traffic load between a plurality of service providers that provide a subscriber service to a plurality of service users in a telecommunications network, said method comprising the steps of:

registering in the network a plurality of service providers that provide the subscriber service, said service provider registering step including modifying registration messages from the service providers to include an indication of a traffic load being handled by each service provider;

analyzing the traffic load indications to determine a service provider that is the most lightly loaded; and

notifying the plurality of service users that the most lightly loaded service provider is present on the network.

15. The method of balancing a traffic load of claim 14 wherein the step of registering a plurality of service providers includes sending an update registration message from a particular service provider to the network whenever the traffic load of the particular service provider changes.

16. The method of balancing a traffic load of claim 15 wherein the step of analyzing the traffic load indications to determine a service provider that is the most lightly loaded includes re-analyzing the traffic load indications after an update registration message is received from any of the service providers.

17. A method of balancing a traffic load between a plurality of conference servers that are registered in a telecommunications network to provide a conferencing service to a plurality of users, said method comprising the steps of:

sending a first request message for the conferencing service from a first requesting user to a presence server in the network, said request message including an identity of the first requesting user and a first party to be connected by the conference server;

assigning by the presence server, a first one of the plurality of conference servers to the first requesting user;

receiving by the presence server, a second request message for the conferencing service;

determining by the presence server, whether the second request message is also from the first requesting user;

forwarding the second request message from the presence server to the first conference server, upon determining that the second request message is also from the first requesting user; and

assigning by the presence server, a second conference server to the second requesting user in round-robin fashion, upon determining that the second request message is from a second requesting user.

18. A system for providing service users in a telecommunications network with access to a subscriber service, said system comprising:

at least one service provider that sends registration information to the network, said registration information including service capability information for the service provider; and

a presence and instant messaging (PIM) server that receives registration information and stores registration information, service information, and presence information for a plurality of service users and service providers, said PIM server including;

means for determining, from the registration information received from each service provider, a type of service that is provided by the service provider; and

communication means for notifying the service users of an identity of a service provider when the service provider registers.

19. The system for providing a subscriber service of claim 18 further comprising a connection node in communication with the PIM server, said connection node being operable to establish a connection between service users who subscribe to the subscriber service and a registered service provider that provides the subscriber service.

20. The system for providing a subscriber service of claim 19 wherein the network utilizes Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) control signaling, and the connection node is a Call State Control Function (CSCF).

21. The system for providing a subscriber service of claim 18 wherein the system is operable to establish a connection between service users who subscribe to the subscriber service and a registered service provider that provides the subscriber service utilizing an associated Internet Protocol (IP) network.