Connection Managing Unit, Method And System For Establishing Connection For Multi-Party Communication Service

• US 20080195738A1
• Filed: 04/14/2008
• Published: 08/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Luo, Long
• Application Number:
  US12/102,479
• Publication Number:
  US 20080195738A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/18 for broadcast or conference , e.g. multicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1813 for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms instant messaging H04L51/04; protocols for multimedia communication H04L65/1101; arrangements for multi-party communication H04L65/403; telephonic conference arrangements H04M3/56; television conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/189 in combination with wireless systems selective distribution or broadcast in wireless communication networks H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2861 Point-to-multipoint connection from the data network to the subscribers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4038 with floor control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/45 for Push-to-Talk [PTT] or Push-to-Talk over cellular [PoC] services

Abstract

A method for establishing a connection for a multi-party communication service includes: establishing a shared connection between a centralized managing server and an access server; in which the shared connection is configured to transmit media data for at least two UEs accessing the access server.

Claims

1. A method for establishing a connection for a multi-party communication service, comprising:

establishing a shared connection between a centralized managing server and an access server;

wherein

the shared connection is configured to transmit media data for at least two UEs accessing the access server.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least two UEs accessing the access server comprise a part or all of UEs participating in the current session and accessing the access server.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein establishing the shared connection comprises one of:

(a) establishing, by the access server and the centralized managing server, one connection for each of UEs participating in a session and accessing the access server, and establishing a new connection as the shared connection for the at least two UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session;

or

(b) determining, by the centralized managing server, access servers that UEs participating in the session access, establishing, by the centralized managing server and the each of the access servers, one connection for each of the UEs participating in the session, and establishing, by the centralized managing server and each of the access servers, a new connection as the shared connection for the at least two UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein establishing the shared connection comprises one of:

(a) establishing, by the access server and the centralized managing server, one connection for each of UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session;

selecting, by the access server, one of the established connections as the shared connection for the at least two UEs participating in the session and accessing the access server;

or

(b) determining, by the centralized managing server, access servers that UEs participating in the session access, establishing, by the centralized managing server and each of the access servers, one connection for each of the UEs participating in the session, and selecting, by the centralized managing server and each of the access servers, one of the connections established as the shared connection for the at least two UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein establishing the shared connection comprises one of:

(a) establishing, by the access server and the centralized managing server, the shared connection for the at least two UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session;

or

(b) determining, by the centralized managing server, access servers that UEs participating in the session access, and establishing, by the centralized managing server and each of the access servers, the shared connection for the at least two UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein

establishing, by the access server and the centralized managing server, the shared connection for the at least two UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session comprises:

establishing, by the access server, a sub-session for the at least two UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session, and establishing, by the access server and the centralized managing server, a connection for the sub-session as the shared connection of the at least two UEs; and

establishing, by the centralized managing server and each of the access servers, the shared connection for the at least two UEs participating in the session and accessing the access server comprises;

establishing, by the centralized managing server and each of the access servers, a sub-session for the at least two UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session, and establishing a connection for the sub-session as the shared connection of the at least two UEs.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing the shared connection comprises establishing the shared connection for the at least two UEs participating in the session, accessing the access server, and having the same media capability demand.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein establishing the shared connection comprises one of:

(a) establishing, by the access server and the centralized managing server, a connection for each of UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session;

determining, by the access server, various media capability demands of the UEs accessing the access server, and establishing, by the access server and the centralized managing server, a new connection as the shared connection for the at least two UEs participating in the session, accessing the access server, and with the same media capability demand;

or

(b) determining, by the centralized managing server, access servers that UEs participating in the session access, establishing, by the centralized managing server and each of the access servers, a connection for each of the UEs participating in the session, determining, by the centralized managing server, various media capability demands of UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session, and establishing, by the centralized managing server and the access server, a new connection as the shared connection for the at least two UEs participating in the session, accessing the access server, and with the same media capability demand.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein establishing the shared connection comprises one of:

(a) establishing, by the access server and the centralized managing server, a connection for each of UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session;

determining, by the access server, various media capability demands of the UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session, and selecting one of the connections established as the shared connection for the at least two UEs participating in the session, accessing the access server, and with the same media capability demand;

or

(b) determining, by the centralized managing server, access servers that UEs participating in the session access, establishing, by the centralized managing server and each of the access servers, one connection for each of the UEs participating in the session, determining various media capability demands of UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session, and selecting one of the connections established as the shared connection for the at least two UEs participating in the session, accessing the access server, and with the same media capability demand.

10. The method of claim 9,

wherein selecting, by the access server, one connection from the connections established for each of the media capability demands comprises one of:

arbitrarily selecting one connection from the connections established for the UEs accessing the access server;

or arbitrarily selecting one connection from the connections established for the at least two UEs participating in the session and having the same media capability demand; and

selecting, by the centralized managing server, one connection from the connections established for each of the media capability demands comprises one of;

arbitrarily selecting one connection from the connections established for the UEs accessing the access server;

or arbitrarily selecting one connection from the connections established for the at least two UEs accessing the access server and having the same media capability demand.

11. The method of claim 3, further comprising setting the properties of connections as one of:

(a) setting the property of the shared connection as Send Only, and setting the properties of connections other than the shared connection as Receive Only for the centralized managing server;

(b) setting the property of the shared connection as Receive Only, and setting the properties of connections other than the shared connection as Send Only for the access server;

or

(c) setting the property of the shared connection as Send and Receive.

12. The method of claim 3, further comprising setting the properties of connections as one of:

(a) setting the property of the shared connection as Active, and setting the properties of connections other than the shared connection as Inactive or Active;

or

(b) setting the property of the shared connection as Send and Receive and Active, and setting the properties of connections other than the shared connection as Inactive.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein establishing the shared connection comprises one of:

(a) determining, by the access server, various media capability demands of UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session, and establishing, by the access server and the centralized managing server, a new connection as the shared connection of the at least two UEs participating in the session, accessing the access server, and with the same media capability demand;

or

(b) determining, by the centralized managing server, access servers that UEs participating in the session access, determining, by the centralized managing server, various media capability demands of UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session for each of the access servers, and establishing, by the centralized managing server and each of the access servers, a new connection as the shared connection of the at least two UEs participating in the session, accessing the access server, and with the same media capability demand.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein

establishing, by the access server and the centralized managing server, a new connection as the shared connection for the at least two UEs participating in the session, accessing the access server, and with the same media capability demand comprises:

establishing, by the access server, a sub-session for the at least two UEs participating in the session, accessing the access server, and having the same media capability demand, and establishing, by the access server and the centralized managing server, a connection for the sub-session as the shared connection of the at least two UEs belonging to the sub-session; and

establishing, by the centralized managing server and each of the access servers, a new connection as the shared connection of the at least two UEs participating in the session, accessing the access server, and having the same media capability demand comprises;

establishing, by the centralized managing server, a sub-session for the at least two UEs having the media capability demand, and establishing, by the centralized managing server and the access server, a connection for the sub-session as the shared connection of the at least two UEs participating in the session, accessing the access server, and belonging to the sub-session.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

determining, by the centralized managing server or the access server of a UE, a media capability demand shared by the UE and other UEs when the original media capability demand of the UE changes, judging whether a sub-session corresponding to the media capability demand shared by the UE and other UEs has been established in the access server of the UE, and if the sub-session has been established, adding the UE into the sub-session;

if the sub-session has not been established, establishing a sub-session for the media capability demand shared by the UE and other UEs, adding the UE into the established sub-session, and establishing a shared connection for the sub-session.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

determining, by the centralized managing server or the access server of the UE, the original sub-session to which the UE belongs, judging whether the UE is the last UE of the original sub-session to which the UE belongs, and if the UE is the last UE of the original sub-session to which the UE belongs, releasing the original sub-session to which the UE belongs and the shared connection corresponding to the sub-session;

if the UE is the not last UE of the original sub-session to which the UE belongs, reserving the original sub-session to which the UE belongs.

17. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining, by the centralized managing server or the access server of a UE, a media capability demand shared by the UE and other UEs when the original media capability demand of the UE changes, judging whether a connection corresponding to the media capability demand shared by the UE and other UEs has been established in the access server of the UE, and if the connection has been established, adding the UE into the connection corresponding to the media capability demand shared by the UE and other UEs;

if the connection has not been established, establishing a new connection for the media capability demand shared by the UE and other UEs and adding the UE into the newly established connection.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

determining, by the centralized managing server or the access server of the UE, the original connection corresponding to the UE, judging whether the UE is the last UE corresponding to the connection, and if the UE is the last UE corresponding to the connection, releasing the original connection corresponding to the UE;

if the UE is not the last UE corresponding to the connection, reserving the original connection corresponding to the UE.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the centralized managing server or the access server of a UE, the shared connection corresponding to the UE when the UE quits the session, judging whether the UE is the last UE of the shared connection, and if the UE is the last UE of the shared connection, releasing the shared connection;

if the UE is not the last UE of the shared connection, quitting, by the UE, the shared connection and reserving the shared connection.

20. The method of claim 7, wherein the media capability demand comprises at least one of:

media type, encoding and decoding format, media data encapsulation protocol and bandwidth;

or

the same media capability demand is any or any combination of the same items in the media capability demand of each of the UEs.

21. The method of claim 2, wherein establishing the shared connection between the centralized managing server and the access server comprises:

establishing, on the access server, the shared connection between the access server and the centralized managing server;

the method further comprises;

receiving media data sent from the centralized managing server via the shared connection; and

transmitting the media data to at least two UEs which access the access server.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein establishing, on the access server, the shared connection between the access server and the centralized managing server comprises:

establishing, on the access server, the shared connection for the at the least two UEs participating in the session, accessing the access server, and having the same media capability demand between the access server and the centralized managing server.

23. A system for establishing a connection for a multi-party communication service, comprising:

a centralized managing server;

at least one access server, each access server accessing at least two UEs, wherein the access server that the UEs participate in a session access and the centralized managing server are configured to establish a shared connection, wherein the shared connection is configured to transmit media data for at least two UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein

the centralized managing server is further configured to determine access servers that UEs participating in the session access, establish a shared connection for at least two UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session between the centralized managing server and each of the access servers and send a notification of the shared connection to the access server;

and

the access server is further configured to receive the notification sent from the centralized managing server.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein

the access server is further configured to determine at least two UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session, establish a shared connection for at least two UEs accessing the access server and the participating in the session between the access server and the centralized managing server, and send a notification of the shared connection to the centralized managing server;

and

the centralized managing server is configured to determine the shared connection established between the centralized managing server and the access server according to the notification sent form the connection managing unit.

26. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

the connection managing unit, configured to establish a shared connection for at least two UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session between the connection managing unit and the centralized managing server and send a notification of the shared connection to the centralized managing server, and establish a connection for each of UEs participating in the session between the connection managing unit and the access server; and

the centralized managing server is configured to determine the shared connection established between the centralized managing server and the access server according to the notification sent form the connection managing unit.

27. The system of claim 23, wherein the shared connection is configured to transmit the media data between the centralized managing server and the access server.

28. The system of claim 23, wherein

the access server is a Push-to-Talk over Cellular PoC service server performing the participating function PF and the centralized managing server is a PoC server performing the controlling function CF;

or

the access server is a Conference server performing the PF and the centralized managing server is a Conference server performing the CF.

29. A connection managing unit, comprising:

a Control Function entity, configured to determine access servers that UEs participating in a session access according to connection establishing signals sent from the access servers, send a manage command to a Media Distribution Function entity, and send a connection establishing signal to a centralized managing server; and

the Media Distribution Function entity, configured to establish, according to the manage command sent from the Control Function entity, a shared connection between the Media Distribution Function entity and the centralized managing server;

wherein

the shared connection is configured to transmit media data for at least two UEs accessing the access server and participating in the session.

30. The unit of claim 29, wherein

the Media Distribution Function entity is further configured to receive media data from the centralized managing server with the shared connection, replicate the media data sent from the centralized managing server according to the manage command sent from the Control Function entity and distribute the media data to at least two UEs participating in the session via each of the access servers.

31. The unit of claim 29, wherein

the Media Distribution Function entity is further configured to receive media data of a UE from the access server and forward the media data to the centralized managing server via the shared connection.

32. An access server, comprising:

means, configured to establish a shared connection between the access server and a centralized managing server;

wherein

the shared connection is configured to transmit media data for at least two UEs accessing the access server.

33. A centralized managing server, comprising:

means, configured to establish a shared connection between the centralized managing server and an access server;

wherein

the shared connection is configured to transmit media data for at least two UEs accessing the access server.