Method and apparatus for providing multi-client support in a SIP-enabled terminal

• US 20040250252A1
• Filed: 03/20/2003
• Published: 12/09/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Khartabil, Hisham
• Granted Patent: US 7,039,710 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/310
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/545 where tasks reside in different layers, e.g. user- and kernel-space
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1073 Registration or de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1104 Session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70

Abstract

A method and apparatus for providing multi-client support in a SIP-enabled terminal involves providing a SIP processing stack on the terminal. A SIP processing stack listens on multiple ports of a network interface. Each port is associated with a client application. The SIP processing stack sends and receives SIP messages for the client applications. Incoming SIP messages are sent to the appropriate client by looking at the port at which the SIP message was received.

Claims

1. A method of processing a session establishment procedure for a plurality of clients, comprising:

associating a plurality of unique network ports of the network interface with the plurality of clients so that each client is associated with a unique network port;

employing a message processing stack to listen on the network interface at the plurality of unique network ports;

receiving a message by the message processing stack at one of the unique network ports of the network interface; and

communicating the message from the message processing stack to the client associated with the unique network port.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the session establishment procedure comprises a session initiation protocol (SIP).

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

employing the message processing stack to listen on a default SIP port of the network interface;

receiving a message by the message processing stack at the default SIP port of the network interface; and

communicating the message to a destination client of the plurality of clients based on the contents of the message.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising deleting an association between the unique network port and the client when the client is no longer operative.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a response message from the destination client to the message processing stack and communicating the response message from the message processing stack to the network interface.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the message from the message processing stack to the client comprises using an inter-process communications between the message processing stack and the client.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of unique network ports are allocated by the message processing stack.

8. A computer-readable medium operable with a computing system coupled to a network interface for processing a session establishment procedure for a plurality of clients, the computer-readable medium configured with instructions for causing the computing system to perform step comprising:

associating a plurality of unique network ports of the network interface with the plurality of clients so that each client is associated with a unique network port;

employing a message processing stack to listen on the network interface at the plurality of unique network ports;

receiving a message by the message processing stack at one of the unique network ports of the network interface; and

communicating the message from the message processing stack to the client associated with the unique network port.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the session establishment procedure comprises a session initiation protocol (SIP).

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the computer-readable medium is further configured with instructions to perform steps comprising:

employing the message processing stack to listen at a default network port of the network interface;

receiving a message at the message processing stack from the default network port of the network interface; and

communicating the message to a destination client of the plurality of clients based on the contents of the message.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the computer-readable medium is further configured with instructions to delete an association between the unique network port and the client when the client is no longer operative.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the computer-readable medium is further configured with instructions to perform steps comprising:

sending a response message from the destination client to the message processing stack; and

communicating the response message from the message processing stack to the network interface.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein communicating the message from the message processing stack to the client comprises using an inter-process communications between the message processing stack and the client.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the plurality of unique network ports are allocated by the message processing stack.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the computing system comprises a mobile terminal.

16. A method of processing a session initiation protocol (SIP) message on a data processing device connected to a network interface, comprising:

employing a SIP stack to listen at a plurality of ports of the network interface;

receiving the SIP message at one of the plurality of ports;

selecting a destination client application of the data processing device based on the port at which the message was received;

communicating the SIP message from the SIP stack to the destination client application.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein one of the plurality of ports is a default SIP port, the method further comprising communicating the SIP message to a destination client application based on the contents of the message if the port at which the message was received is the default SIP port.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein further comprising employing the SIP stack to allocate the plurality of ports.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein communicating the SIP message from the SIP stack to the destination client application comprises using an inter-process communications between the SIP stack and the destination client application.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising sending a response message from the destination client application to the SIP stack and communicating the response message from the SIP stack to the network interface.

21. A system connected to a network for processing a session initiation protocol (SIP) for one or more client applications, the system comprising:

a network interface having a plurality of ports for receiving SIP messages from the network;

a SIP processor for receiving SIP messages at the plurality of ports of the network interface;

an inter-process communication means for facilitating communications between the SIP processor and the client applications; and

wherein the SIP processor communicates SIP messages to the client applications using the inter-process communications means based on which port of the plurality of ports the SIP messages are received.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein one of the plurality of ports is a default SIP port, the SIP processor further arranged to communicate SIP messages to the client applications based on the contents of the message if the port at which the message was received is the default SIP port.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the SIP processor is arranged to allocate the plurality of ports.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the SIP processor is arranged to communicate SIP messages from the client applications to the network interface.

25. The system of claim 21, further comprising a server coupled to the network for communicating SIP messages.

26. The system of claim 21, wherein the network interface comprises a wireless network interface.

27. An apparatus arranged to interface with a network, comprising:

a network interface having a plurality of ports configured for receiving a session establishment message from the network;

an inter-process communication means; and

a processor arranged to;

receive the session establishment message at one of the plurality of ports of the network interface;

determine a destination client application based on which port of the plurality of ports the session establishment message is received; and

communicate the session establishment message to the destination application using the inter-process communication means.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the session establishment message is a session initiation protocol (SIP) message.

29. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the processor is further arranged to allocate the plurality of ports of the network interface.

30. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the processor is further arranged to communicate a response message from the destination client application to the network interface.

31. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the apparatus comprises a mobile terminal 32. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the network interface comprises a wireless network interface.