PEER-TO-PEER VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL

• US 20100278534A1
• Filed: 12/16/2009
• Published: 11/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/01/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Ross, Keith, Panwar, Shivendra, Rath, Ayaskant, Leiden, Stevan H., Liu, Yong
• Granted Patent: US 8,315,521 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 398/67
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/04 with alarm systems, e.g. fire, police or burglar alarm systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42017 Customized ring-back tones
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0063 where the network is a peer-to-peer network

Abstract

An optical network terminal receives, from a user device associated with the optical network terminal, a call to a called party, and checks a table, which may be locally cached in the optical network terminal, for a network location of another optical network terminal associated with the called party. The device also establishes a connection with another user device associated with the other optical network terminal, based on the network location, and exchanges voice data with the other user device associated with the other optical network terminal via the connection.

Claims

1. A method implemented by a first optical network terminal (ONT), the method comprising:

receiving, by the first optical network terminal and from a user device, a call to a called party;

checking a cache of the first optical network terminal for a network location of a second optical network terminal associated with the called party;

providing, by the first optical network terminal, a connection with the second optical network terminal based on the network location; and

exchanging, by the first optical network terminal, voice data with the second optical network terminal via the connection.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving, from a network location database, the network location of the second optical network terminal when the network location is not provided in the cache.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

recording information associated with the call; and

providing the call information to an accounting server when the call is completed.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the network location of the second optical network terminal in the cache of the first optical network terminal.

5. A method implemented by a first optical network terminal (ONT), the method comprising:

receiving, by the first optical network terminal, a call from a second optical network terminal;

determining, by the first optical network terminal, whether a number associated with the call is correct;

accepting, by the first optical network terminal, the call when the number associated with the call is determined to be correct;

providing, by the first optical network terminal, a connection with the second optical network terminal when the call is accepted; and

exchanging, by the first optical network terminal, voice data with the second optical network terminal via the connection.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

notifying the second optical network terminal of a connection failure when the number associated with the call is determined to be incorrect.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining, based on preferences, whether to accept the call; and

accepting the call when the preferences indicate that the call should be accepted.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

recording information associated with the call; and

providing the call information to an accounting server when the call is completed.

9. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

storing the network location of the second optical network terminal in a cache of the first optical network terminal.

10. An optical network terminal, comprising:

a memory to store a plurality of instructions; and

a processor to execute instructions in the memory to;

receive, from a user device associated with the optical network terminal, a call to a called party,

determine whether a cache of the optical network terminal includes a network location of another optical network terminal associated with the called party,

establish, when the cache includes the network location, a connection with the other optical network terminal based on the network location, and

exchange voice data with the other optical network terminal via the connection.

11. The optical network terminal of claim 10, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

retrieve, from a network location database, the network location of the other optical network terminal when the cache includes the network location.

12. The optical network terminal of claim 10, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

record information associated with the call, and

provide the call information to an accounting server when the call is completed.

13. The optical network terminal of claim 10, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

store, in the cache, the network location of the other optical network terminal.

14. The optical network terminal of claim 10, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

receive another call from the other optical network terminal,

determine whether a number associated with the other call is correct,

accept the other call when the number associated with the other call is determined to be correct,

establish another connection with the other optical network terminal when the other call is accepted, and

exchange voice data with the other optical network terminal via the other connection.

15. The optical network terminal of claim 14, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

notify the other optical network terminal of a connection failure when the number associated with the other call is determined to be incorrect.

16. The optical network terminal of claim 14, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

determine, based on preferences, whether to accept the other call, and

accept the other call when the preferences indicate that the other call should be accepted.

17. The optical network terminal of claim 14, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

record information associated with the other call; and

provide the other call information to an accounting server when the other call is completed.

18. The optical network terminal of claim 10, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

retrieve subscriber account information from a set-top box or a set-top box replacer (STBR) device associated with the optical network terminal, and

provide the subscriber account information to the user device.

19. The optical network terminal of claim 10, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

receive another call from the other optical network terminal,

provide a voice mail greeting to a caller associated with the other call when a subscriber associated with the optical network terminal is unavailable,

record a voice message from the caller, and

provide the recorded voice message to a set-top box or a set-top box replacer (STBR) device associated with the optical network terminal.

20. The optical network terminal of claim 19, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

send a notification of the recorded voice message to the user device.

21. The optical network terminal of claim 20, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

receive, from the user device, a request to retrieve the recorded voice message, and

provide the recorded voice message to the user device based on the request.

22. The optical network terminal of claim 10, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

store, in the cache, an address book of a subscriber associated with the optical network terminal,

receive another call,

retrieve, from the address book, information about a caller associated with the other call, and

provide the caller information to the user device.

23. The optical network terminal of claim 22, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

select, from the address book, a ring tone for the other call,

provide the selected ring tone to the user device,

select, from the address book, a ringback tone corresponding to the caller, and

provide the selected ringback tone to the caller.

24. The optical network terminal of claim 10, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

receive another call from the user device,

identify the other call as an emergency call,

connect to an emergency call handler (EMCH) associated with the optical network terminal, and

provide the emergency call to the emergency call handler for forwarding to an appropriate emergency service.

25. The optical network terminal of claim 10, where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

receive a lawful intercept request from an ONT initiation and configuration manager (OICM) device,

capture information associated with a call received by or provided from the optical network terminal, and

forward the captured information to the ONT initiation and configuration manager device for forwarding to a law enforcement agency that issued the lawful intercept request.