Method and apparatus enabling PTT (push-to-talk) communications between legacy PSTN, cellular and wireless 3G terminals

• US 20070004438A1
• Filed: 07/01/2005
• Published: 01/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Gurbani, Vijay, Brusilovsky, Alec
• Application Number:
  US11/174,168
• Publication Number:
  US 20070004438A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/518
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1016 IP multimedia subsystem [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4061 Push-to services, e.g. push-to-talk or push-to-video
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2044 Group features, e.g. closed user group
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/257 remote control of substation user interface for telephonic services, e.g. by ISDN stimulus, ADSI, wireless telephony application WTA, MExE or BREW
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/4536 Voicemail combined with text-based messaging
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42 Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers specially adapted for wireless communication networks H04W4/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/533 Voice mail systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/12 for working between exchanges having different types of switching equipment, e.g. power-driven and step by step or decimal and non-decimal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/10 Push-to-Talk [PTT] or Push-On-Call services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/45 for Push-to-Talk [PTT] or Push-to-Talk over cellular [PoC] services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 Inter-networking arrangements

Abstract

An apparatus in one example has: a telecommunications network structured to allow simultaneous origination of simplex voice communication from one terminal of PTT (Push To Talk) terminals, wireline phone terminals, and multimedia web terminals to a predefined heterogeneous group of PTT terminals, wireline phone terminals, and a multimedia web terminals; and the telecommunications network structured to allow an originating terminal of the PTT terminals, wireline phone terminals, and a multimedia web terminals to receive simplex replies from other of the PTT terminals, wireline phone terminals, and multimedia web terminals.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a telecommunications network structured to allow simultaneous origination of simplex voice communication from one terminal of PTT (Push To Talk) terminals, wireline phone terminals, and multimedia web terminals to a predefined heterogeneous group of PTT terminals, wireline phone terminals, and a multimedia web terminals; and

the telecommunications network structured to allow an originating terminal of the PTT terminals, wireline phone terminals, and a multimedia web terminals to receive simplex replies from other of the PTT terminals, wireline phone terminals, and multimedia web terminals.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wireline phone has a PINT (PSTN Internet Interworking) interface.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the PINT interface is a SIP-based protocol that allows control of PSTN from an Internet host.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the multimedia web terminal has a SPIRITS (Services in the PSTN/IN Requesting InTernet Services) interface.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the SPIRIUTS interface is a SIP-based protocol that extracts event notifications from the PSTN network and relays the event notifications to the Internet.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the telecommunications network has a plurality of PTT terminals in a group “

B”

.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the telecommunications network has a plurality of at least wireline phones and multimedia web terminals in a group “

A”

.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the group “

A”

further contains at least one PTT terminal.

9. An apparatus comprising:

a plurality of PTT (Push To Talk) terminals in a telecommunications network;

at least one of a wireline phone and a multimedia web terminal in the telecommunications network;

a respective interface for each of the at least one of a wireline phone and a multimedia web terminal;

each of the plurality of PTT terminals being to be an originating terminal for a PTT session with at least one of PTT terminals, wireline phones, and multimedia web terminals; and

each of the respective interfaces structured to allow a respective terminal of the at least one of a wireline phone and a multimedia web terminal to be an originating terminal for a PTT session with at least one of PTT terminals, wireline phones, and multimedia web terminals.

10. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the interface of the wireline phone is a PINT (PSTN Internet Interworking) interface.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the PINT interface is a SIP-based protocol that allows control of PSTN from an Internet host.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the interface of the multimedia web terminal is a SPIRITS (Services in the PSTN/IN Requesting InTernet Services) interface.

13. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the SPIRITS interface is a SIP-based protocol that extracts event notifications from the PSTN network and relays the event notifications to the Internet.

14. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the plurality of PTT (Push To Talk) terminals are in a group “

B”

.

15. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the at least one of a wireline phone and a multimedia web terminal are in a group “

A”

.

16. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the group “

A”

further contains at least one PTT (Push To Talk) terminal.

17. A method comprising:

defining a plurality of PTT (Push To Talk) terminals in a group “

B”

in a telecommunications network;

defining at least one of a PTT terminal, a wireline terminals and a multimedia web terminal in a group “

A”

in the telecommunications network;

allowing a respective terminal of the PTT terminals in the group “

B”

to be an originating terminal for a PTT session with at least one of PTT terminals, wireline phones, and multimedia web terminals in either of the groups “

A” and

“

B”

; and

allowing a respective terminal of the at least one of a PTT terminal, a wireline phone and a multimedia web terminal in the group “

A”

to be an originating terminal for a PTT session with at least one of PTT terminals, wireline phones, and multimedia web terminals in either of the groups “

A” and

“

B”

.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

creating, by a respective terminal in one of the groups “

A” and

“

B”

, a target list that contains at least one of the terminals in the group “

B” and

in the group “

A”

.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the target list contains telephone numbers for wireline terminals, URI (Universal Resource Identifiers) for multimedia web terminals, and identifiers for PTT terminals.

20. The method according to claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

dialing, from a wireline terminal, an access number to start a PTT session;

authenticating the wireline terminal and identifying one of the groups “

A” and

“

B”

to which send an initiation; and

hanging up a receiver of the wireline terminal to send a PFF response, or pressing a key on the wireline terminal to send a PFF response and remaining connected for the PTT session.