Method and apparatus for establishing communication
First Claim
1. A method of establishing data transmission, from a source terminal connected to one of a plurality of communications networks, to a desired recipient at a contactable address on another of the plurality of communications networks, each of the networks being connected via a respective gateway to a service control platform, and wherein the data is transmitted in packets having a destination address portion and communication data portion, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing at the source terminal a name identifying the desired recipient for the data;
transmitting, from the source terminal to the service control platform, a name-to-address translation request packet containing in its communication data portion the provided name;
receiving the translation request packet at the service control platform and, in response, accessing a name-to-address translation database in accordance with the provided name and, upon finding a match, retrieving address data currently stored in association with that name;
transmitting a name-to-address translation reply packet from said control platform to said source terminal, the translation reply packet containing in its communication data portion the contactable address for the desired recipient comprising a network address portion and a gateway address portion; and
in response to receipt of the translation reply packet at the source terminal, transmitting the data from said source terminal in packets, the destination address portion of each such packet containing the contactable address.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Communications are established between a source user (305) and a destination user (307). Data is transmitted between these users in packets (204) having a destination address (205) and communication data (206). A destination name is identified in a first packet and this packet is transmitted to a service control platform (301) identifying, in its communication data, a destination name. A packet is then returned from the control platform (301) to the originating source (305) identifying a real contactable address for the identified destination (307). Subsequent packets of data are generated at the source (305) for transmission to the destination (307) wherein the transmitted packets have the actual destination address, as returned from the service platform, appended thereto.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of establishing data transmission, from a source terminal connected to one of a plurality of communications networks, to a desired recipient at a contactable address on another of the plurality of communications networks, each of the networks being connected via a respective gateway to a service control platform, and wherein the data is transmitted in packets having a destination address portion and communication data portion, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing at the source terminal a name identifying the desired recipient for the data; transmitting, from the source terminal to the service control platform, a name-to-address translation request packet containing in its communication data portion the provided name; receiving the translation request packet at the service control platform and, in response, accessing a name-to-address translation database in accordance with the provided name and, upon finding a match, retrieving address data currently stored in association with that name; transmitting a name-to-address translation reply packet from said control platform to said source terminal, the translation reply packet containing in its communication data portion the contactable address for the desired recipient comprising a network address portion and a gateway address portion; and in response to receipt of the translation reply packet at the source terminal, transmitting the data from said source terminal in packets, the destination address portion of each such packet containing the contactable address. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An apparatus arranged for connection to a network, and for receiving commands from an operator for sending data to a desired recipient at a contactable address, comprising:
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means responsive to the input by the operator of the name of a desired recipient for generating a name-to-address translation request packet comprising a communication data portion containing the desired recipient name, and for transmitting the generated name-to-address translation request packet via a gateway to a service control platform; means responsive to receipt of a name-to-address translation reply packet containing in its communication data portion a contactable address comprising a network address and a gateway address, for retrieving the contactable address therefrom; and means for generating, for transmission, packets of data, the destination address portion of each such packet having first and second subportions, the first subportion containing the retrieved network address, and the second subportion containing the retrieved gateway address. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An apparatus for providing a source terminal with a contactable address for a desired recipient for data to be sent by the source terminal, the apparatus comprising;
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means for receiving from a source terminal a name-to-address translation request packet containing in its communication data portion a name identifying a desired recipient for the data; a name-to-address translation database in which entries comprise a name and an associated contactable address, each associated contactable address having a first part in the form of a network address and a second part in the form of a gateway address; means for accessing the name-to-address translation database in accordance with the name identifying a desired recipient to obtain the associated contactable address of an entry having a name matching the name identifying a desired recipient; and means for generating a name-to-address translation reply packet for transmission to the source terminal, the translation reply packet containing in its communication data portion the obtained associated contactable address for the desired recipient. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification