Method and System for Providing Presence Information

• US 20090275314A1
• Filed: 04/21/2006
• Published: 11/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telecom Italia S.p.A.
• Original Assignee: Telecom Italia S.p.A.
• Inventors: Gaspardone, Marco, Cotevino, Agostino
• Granted Patent: US 8,472,929 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/414.200
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/043 using or handling presence information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• 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 67/60 Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70

Abstract

A method for providing presence information associated with a first user of a telecommunications network, includes collecting from at least one network apparatus user-related data adapted to build the presence information; and publishing the collected user-related data. The publishing includes arranging the collected user-related data in the presence information and making it available to at least a second user. The collecting of the user-related data from the network apparatus is conditioned to the receipt from the second user of a request for providing the presence information for the first user.

Claims

1-24. -24. (canceled)

25. A method for providing presence information associated with a first user of a telecommunications network, comprising:

collecting from at least one network apparatus user-related data adapted to build the presence information;

publishing collected user-related data, wherein said publishing comprises arranging the collected user-related data in the presence information; and

conditioning said collecting to receipt from at least a second user of a request for providing the presence information for said first user.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein said conditioning comprises providing to a presence network agent associated with said at least one network apparatus, an instruction to start collecting the user-related data upon receipt of said request from the second user.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein upon receipt of said instruction, the at least one presence network agent performs said collecting conditioned on the fact that a time lapsed from a previous collecting of said user-related data exceeds a predetermined time.

28. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

upon receiving from said at least one second user a request to stop providing the presence information of said first user, instructing the presence network agent to stop collecting the user-related data of said first user.

29. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

instructing the presence network agent to stop collecting the user-related data of said first user after a predetermined time from the receipt of said request for providing the presence information of said first user.

30. The method according to claim 29, further comprising:

varying a counter value in a first direction each time a request for providing the presence information is received;

varying the counter value in a second direction each time a request to stop providing the presence information is received; and

instructing the presence network agent to stop collecting the user-related data of said first user when the counter reaches a predetermined value.

31. The method of claim 25, further comprising conditioning said collecting to request for registration of said first user to the telecommunications network.

32. The method of claim 25, wherein the telecommunications network comprises an intranet protocol multimedia subsystem infrastructure, and said request for providing the presence information of said first user comprises a session initiation protocol “

SUBSCRIBE”

message issued from a telecommunications device of the at least one second user.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein said conditioning comprises providing to a presence network agent associated with said at least one network apparatus an instruction to start collecting the user-related data upon receipt of said request from the second user, and wherein said instruction to start collecting the user-related data comprises a session initiation protocol “

SUBSCRIBE”

message sent to the at least one presence network agent.

34. The method of claim 32, further comprising conditioning said collecting to a request for registration of said first user to the telecommunications network, wherein said request for registration of said first user comprises a session initiation protocol “

REGISTER”

message issued from a telecommunications device of the first user.

35. A system for providing presence information associated with a first user of a telecommunications network, comprising:

at least one presence network agent operatively associated with at least one network apparatus and capable of being adapted to collect from the network apparatus user-related data capable of being adapted to build the presence information;

a presence server operatively associated with the at least one presence network agent and capable of being adapted to receive therefrom the collected user-related data and to arrange the collected user-related data in the presence information; and

a network function capable of being adapted to condition said collecting by the at least one presence network agent to receipt from at least a second user of a request for providing the presence information for said first user.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein said network function comprises a proxy capable of being adapted to receive messages directed to the presence server, manage received messages and re-address the received messages to the presence server.

37. The system of claim 35, wherein said network function comprises a message interceptor capable of being adapted to sense messages directed to the presence server and to detect messages carrying said request for providing the presence information for said first user.

38. The system of claim 35, wherein said network function, upon receipt of said request from the said user, capable of being adapted to send to said at least one presence network agent, an instruction to start collecting the user-related data.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein upon receipt of said instruction, the at least one presence network agent is capable of being adapted to perform said collecting conditioned on the fact that a time lapsed from a previous collecting of said user-related data exceeds a predetermined time.

40. The system of claim 35, wherein said network function is further capable of being adapted to instruct the presence network agent to stop collecting the user-related data of said first user upon receipt from said at least one second user of a request to stop providing the. presence information of said first user.

41. The system of claim 35, wherein said network function is further capable of being adapted to instruct the presence network agent to stop collecting the user-related data of said first user after a predetermined time from the receipt of said request for providing the presence information of said first user.

42. The system of claim 39, wherein said network function is further capable of being adapted to:

vary a counter value in a first direction each time a request for providing the presence information is received;

vary the counter value in a second direction each time a request to stop providing the presence information is received; and

instruct the presence network agent to stop collecting the user-related data of said first user when the counter reaches a predetermined value.

43. The system of claim 35, wherein at least one among said network function or said at least one presence network agent is further capable of being adapted to condition said collecting to a request for registration to the telecommunications network of said first user.

44. The system of claim 35, wherein the telecommunications network comprises an internet protocol multimedia subsystem infrastructure, and said request for providing the presence information for said first user comprises a session initiation protocol “

SUBSCRIBE”

message issued from a telecommunications device of the at least one second user.

45. The system of claim 44, wherein said network function, upon receipt of said request from the second user, is capable of being adapted to send to said at least one presence network agent an instruction to start collecting the user-related data, and wherein said instruction to start collecting the user-related data comprises a session initiation protocol “

SUBSCRIBE”

message sent to the at least one presence network agent.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein at least one among said network function or said at least one presence network agent is further capable of being adapted to condition said collecting to a request for registration to the telecommunications network of said first user, and wherein said request for registration comprises a session initiation protocol “

REGISTER”

message issued from a telecommunications device of the first user.

47. A method of collecting user-related data related to a first user of a telecommunications network from at least one network apparatus, wherein said user-related data are capable of being adapted to be published for building presence information associated with said first user, comprising:

conditioning said collecting to the receipt from at least a second user of a request for providing the presence information for said first user.

48. A presence network agent capable of being adapted for use in a telecommunications network implementing a presence service, the presence network agent capable of being adapted to be operatively associated with at least one network apparatus and to collect therefrom user-related data related to a first user capable of being adapted to build the presence information associated with the first user, and to publish the user-related data, comprising a presence network agent capable of being adapted to condition said collecting to receipt from at least a second user of a request for providing the presence information for said first user.