Method for performing lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance

• US 7,151,772 B1
• Filed: 12/22/1999
• Issued: 12/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ramakrishnan, Kadangode K., Mishra, Partho Pratim, Kalmanek, Charles Robert Jr., Marshall, William Todd, Nortz, Douglas M
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Ajit
• Application Number:
  US09/469,792
• Time in Patent Office: 2,554 Days
• Field of Search: 370/390, 370/389, 370/391, 370/392, 370/351, 370/352, 370/522, 370/524, 370/432, 379/114.22, 379/114.01, 379/114.21, 379/114.23, 379/120, 379/126, 379/127.01, 379/127.05, 379/386, 379/448, 379/372, 379/207.02, 379/257, 379/229, 379/230
• US Class Current: 370/390
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5625 Operations, administration and maintenance [OAM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/201 Multicast operation; Broadcast operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/203 ATM switching fabrics with multicast or broadcast capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/25 Routing or path finding in a switch fabric
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/30 Peripheral units, e.g. input or output ports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/3081 ATM peripheral units, e.g. policing, insertion or extraction
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/50 Overload detection or protection within a single switching element
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/30 for supporting lawful interception, monitoring or retaining of communications or communication related information circuit switched telephony call monitoring H04M3/2281

Abstract

Lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance is performed. A call associated with a first party to be surveilled is verified, on a per-call basis. Packets associated with the call are multicast to a second party and to a surveillance receiver.

Claims

1. A method for performing lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance, comprising:

verifying, on a per-call basis, that a call associated with a first party is to be surveilled; and

multicasting packets associated with the call to a second party and to a surveillance receiver,

wherein packets associated with the call are multicast by a network edge device connecting a trusted network to an untrusted network, at least one from the group of the first party and the second party being connected to the untrusted network.

2. A method for performing lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance, comprising:

verifying, on a per-call basis, that a call associated with a first party is to be surveilled;

multicasting packets associated with the call to a second party and to a surveillance receiver, and

sending a surveilling message to the surveillance receiver after said verifying for the call and before multicasting packets to the surveillance receiver,

the surveilling message indicating an address of the first party and an address of the second party.

3. A method for performing lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance, comprising:

verifying, on a per-call basis, that a call associated with a first party is to be surveilled; and

multicasting packets associated with the call to a second party and to a surveillance receiver;

wherein verifying for the call is performed by a gate controller associated with a network edge device that connects a trusted network to an untrusted network, at least one from the group of the first party and the second party being associated with the untrusted network.

4. A method for performing lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance, comprising:

receiving a gate open message having an address of a surveillance receiver associated with a first party, the gate open message associated with one call between the first party and a second party; and

multicasting packets associated with the one call to;

i) the surveillance receiver based on the surveillance receiver address, and ii) at least one from the group of the first party and the second party.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the call includes a bearer channel,

the multicasted packets are only those packets associated with the bearer channel of the call.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the receiving and multicasting are performed by a network edge device connecting a trusted network to an untrusted network, the gate open message being received from a gate controller coupled to the network edge device.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the received gate open message has a quality-of-service indicator.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

distinguishing the bearer channel from a data channel based on a quality-of-service indicator of the received gate open message.

9. A method for performing lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance, comprising:

sending, from a surveillance receiver, a request for surveillance of calls associated with a first party;

receiving packets associated with a call between the first party and a second party the received packets being multicast from a network edge device to the second party and the surveillance party; and

receiving a surveillance message before receiving the multicast packets from the network edge device;

the surveillance message indicating an address associated with the first party and an address associated with the second party.

10. A method for performing lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance, comprising:

sending, from a surveillance receiver, a request for surveillance of calls associated with a first party; and

receiving packets associated with a call between the first party and a second party, the received packets being multicast from a network edge device to the second party and the surveillance party;

wherein the network edge device that multicast the received packets connects a trusted network to an untrusted network, at least one from the group of the first party and the second party being associated with the untrusted network.