Set top box supporting bridging between a packet switched network and the public switched telephone network

• US 20070183396A1
• Filed: 02/07/2006
• Published: 08/09/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies General IP PTE Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Avago Technologies General IP PTE Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bennett, James, Karaoguz, Jeyhan
• Application Number:
  US11/348,743
• Publication Number:
  US 20070183396A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42059 Making use of the calling party identifier
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/436 Arrangements for screening incoming calls , i.e. evaluating the characteristics of a call before deciding whether to answer it based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; diversion H04M3/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0057 Services where the data services network provides a telephone service in addition or as an alternative, e.g. for backup purposes, to the telephone service provided by the telephone services network
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0069 comprising a residential gateway, e.g. those which provide an adapter for POTS or ISDN terminals

Abstract

A Set Top Box includes processing circuitry, a tuner, a user interface, a remote control interface, a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) interface, and a packet data network interface. To service an incoming call, the processing circuitry obtains and executes bridging instructions that establish a pathway between the PSTN and packet data network interfaces. With such pathway, a call between a PSTN telephony device and an Internet telephony device can be established and maintained via the bridging Set Top Box. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls are bridged between first and second VoIP terminals using only the packet data network interface. Telephony instructions used in making bridging decisions may be stored locally or remotely and accessed by the processing circuitry in an appropriate manner when making bridging decisions.

Claims

1. A set top box comprising:

processing circuitry;

a tuner communicatively coupled to the processing circuitry and operable to receive and decode a signal containing media content;

a user interface communicatively coupled to the processing circuitry;

a first interface communicatively coupling the processing circuitry to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN);

a second interface communicatively coupling the processing circuitry to the Internet; and

the processing circuitry operable to selectively bridge an incoming call between the first interface and the second interface.

2. The set top box of claim 1, wherein in selectively bridging the incoming call, the processing circuitry is operable to:

receive a PSTN call request relating to the incoming call via the first interface;

create a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call request based upon the PSTN call request; and

send the VoIP call request via the second interface.

3. The set top box of claim 1, wherein in selectively bridging the incoming call, the processing circuitry is operable to:

receive a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call request relating to the incoming call via the second interface;

create a PSTN call request based upon the VoIP call request; and

send the PSTN call request via the first interface.

4. The set top box of claim 1, wherein in selectively bridging the incoming call, the processing circuitry is operable to:

retrieve telephony bridging instructions from local memory; and

bridge the incoming call based upon the telephony bridging instructions.

5. The set top box of claim 4, the processing circuitry is further operable to:

receive telephony bridging instructions via a user interface; and

store the telephony bridging instructions in the local memory.

6. The set top box of claim 1, wherein in selectively bridging the incoming call, the processing circuitry is operable to:

receive telephony bridging instructions with the incoming call; and

bridge the incoming call based upon the telephony bridging instructions.

7. The set top box of claim 1, wherein in selectively bridging the incoming call, the processing circuitry is operable to:

query a tracking server;

receive telephony bridging instructions from the tracking server that includes a destination network address of a terminal;

bridge the incoming call based upon the telephony bridging instructions.

8. The set top box of claim 1, wherein in selectively bridging the incoming call, the processing circuitry is operable:

attempt local termination of the incoming call; and

when local termination of the incoming call is not successful, bridge the incoming call.

9. The set top box of claim 1, where the processing circuitry is further operable to:

interact with a remote computer via the second interface; and

create telephony bridging instructions based upon input received from the remote computer via the second interface.

10. The set top box of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further operable to:

determine a destination packet data network address for the call; and

determine whether call bridging is enabled for the call based upon the destination packet data network address for the call.

11. The set top box of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further operable to:

determine a called PSTN number for the call; and

determine whether call bridging is enabled for the call based upon the called PSTN number for the call.

12. The set top box of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further operable to:

determine a source packet data network address of the call; and

determine whether call bridging is enabled for the call based upon the source packet data network address of the call.

13. The set top box of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further operable to:

determine a calling line identifier (CLID) number of the call; and

determine whether call bridging is enabled for the call based upon the CLID number of the call.

14. The set top box of claim 1, wherein in selectively bridging the incoming call, the processing circuitry is operable to:

bridge voice information received from a first terminal; and

setup bridging of second voice information received from a second terminal by a service provider bridge.

15. A set top box comprising:

a tuner operable to receive and decode a signal containing media content;

a user interface;

a packet data network interface that supports Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony; and

processing circuitry communicatively coupled to the tuner, to the user interface, and to the packet data network interface, the processing circuitry operable to;

determine that a call is incoming to the set top box via the packet data network interface from a calling VoIP terminal;

obtain telephony bridging instructions for the call, the telephony bridging instructions including a network address of an alternate destination terminal; and

selectively bridge the incoming call between the calling VoIP terminal and the alternate destination terminal based upon the telephony bridging instructions.

16. The set top box of claim 15, wherein in selectively bridging the incoming call, the processing circuitry is operable to:

bridge first voice information; and

setup bridging of second voice information by a service provider bridge.

17. The set top box of claim 15, wherein the network address is an Internet Protocol (IP) address.

18. The set top box of claim 15, wherein the network address is a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) telephone number.

19. The set top box of claim 15, wherein in selectively bridging the incoming call, the processing circuitry is operable to:

retrieve the telephony bridging instructions from local memory; and

bridge the incoming call based upon the telephony bridging instructions.

20. The set top box of claim 19, the processing circuitry is further operable to:

receive the telephony bridging instructions via a user interface; and

store the telephony bridging instructions in the local memory.

21. The set top box of claim 15, wherein in selectively bridging the incoming call, the processing circuitry is operable to:

receive the telephony bridging instructions with the incoming call; and

bridge the incoming call based upon the telephony bridging instructions.

22. The set top box of claim 15, wherein in selectively bridging the incoming call, the processing circuitry is operable to:

query a tracking server; and

receive the telephony bridging instructions from the tracking server.

23. The set top box of claim 15, wherein in selectively bridging the incoming call, the processing circuitry is operable:

attempt local termination of the incoming call; and

when local termination of the incoming call is not successful, bridge the incoming call.

24. A method for bridging a call between the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) network and a packet data network by a set top box having both a PSTN interface and a packet data network interface, the method comprising:

determining that a PSTN call is incoming to the set top box via the PSTN interface;

obtaining telephony bridging instructions for the call; and

selectively enabling the PSTN interface and the packet data network interface to bridge the call between the PSTN interface and the packet data network interface based upon the telephony bridging instructions.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein selectively enabling the PSTN interface and the packet data network interface to bridge the call between the PSTN interface and the packet data network interface based upon the telephony bridging instructions comprises:

bridging first voice information; and

setting up bridging of second voice information by a service provider bridge.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein obtaining the telephony bridging instructions comprises accessing a local memory.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein obtaining the telephony bridging instructions comprises:

querying a tracking server; and

receiving a response from the tracking server that includes the telephony bridging instructions.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the response from the tracking server further includes an indication whether bridging is enabled for the call.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein obtaining the telephony bridging instructions comprises:

receiving the telephony bridging instructions via a user interface;

storing the telephony bridging instructions in local memory; and

retrieving the telephony bridging instructions from the local memory.

30. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

interacting with a remote computer via the packet data network interface; and

creating the telephony bridging instructions based upon input received from the remote computer via the packet data network interface.

31. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

determining a called PSTN number for the call; and

determining whether call bridging is enabled for the call based upon the destination PSTN number for the call.

32. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

determining a calling line identifier (CLID) number of the call; and

determining whether call bridging is enabled for the call based upon the CLID number of the call.

33. A method for bridging a call between the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) network and a packet data network by a set top box having both a PSTN interface and a packet data network interface, the method comprising:

determining that a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call is incoming to the set top box via the packet data network interface;

obtaining telephony bridging instructions for the call; and

selectively enabling the PSTN interface and the packet data network interface to bridge the call between the packet data network interface and the PSTN interface based upon the telephony bridging instructions.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein selectively enabling the PSTN interface and the packet data network interface to bridge the call between the PSTN interface and the packet data network interface based upon the telephony bridging instructions comprises:

bridging first voice information; and

setting up bridging of second voice information by a service provider bridge.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein obtaining the telephony bridging instructions comprises accessing a local memory.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein obtaining the telephony bridging instructions comprises:

querying a tracking server; and

receiving a response from the tracking server that includes the telephony bridging instructions.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the response from the tracking server further includes an indication whether bridging is enabled for the call.

38. The method of claim 33, wherein obtaining the telephony bridging instructions comprises:

receiving the telephony bridging instructions via a user interface;

storing the telephony bridging instructions in local memory; and

retrieving the telephony bridging instructions from the local memory.

39. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

interacting with a remote computer via the packet data network interface; and

creating the telephony bridging instructions based upon input received from the remote computer via the packet data network interface.

40. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

determining a destination packet data network address for the call; and

determining whether call bridging is enabled for the call based upon the destination packet data network address for the call.

41. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

determining a source packet data network address of the call; and

determining whether call bridging is enabled for the call based upon the source packet data network address for the call.

42. A method for bridging a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) voice call by a set top box, having a packet data network interface, the method comprising:

determining that a call is incoming to the set top box via the packet data network interface from a calling VoIP terminal;

obtaining telephony bridging instructions for the call, the telephony bridging instructions including a network address of an alternate destination terminal; and

selectively enabling the packet data network interface to bridge the call between the calling VoIP terminal and the alternate destination terminal based upon the telephony bridging instructions.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein selectively enabling the packet data network interface to bridge the call based upon the telephony bridging instructions comprises:

bridging first voice information; and

setting up bridging of second voice information by a service provider bridge.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein obtaining the telephony bridging instructions comprises accessing a local memory.

45. The method of claim 42, wherein obtaining the telephony bridging instructions comprises:

querying a tracking server; and

receiving a response from the tracking server that includes a destination network address of an alternate terminal.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the response from the tracking server further includes an indication whether bridging is enabled for the call.

47. The method of claim 42, wherein obtaining the telephony bridging instructions comprises:

receiving the telephony bridging instructions via a user interface;

storing the telephony bridging instructions in local memory; and

retrieving the telephony bridging instructions from the local memory.

48. The method of claim 42, further comprising:

interacting with a remote computer via the packet data network interface; and

creating the telephony bridging instructions based upon input received from the remote computer via the packet data network interface.

49. The method of claim 42, further comprising:

determining a destination packet data network address for the call; and

determining whether call bridging is enabled for the call based upon the destination packet data network address for the call.

50. The method of claim 42, further comprising:

determining a source packet data network address of the call; and

determining whether call bridging is enabled for the call based upon the source packet data network address for the call.