Telecommunication architecture
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A telecommunication architecture comprising:
- a network for carrying subscribers'"'"' communications between terminals;
a plurality of software terminal agents executing on said network, such that each terminal is associated, on a one-to-one basis, with a corresponding software terminal agent for managing communications with that terminal according to that terminal'"'"'s capabilities; and
a plurality of subscriber agents executing on said network, such that for each subscriber there is at least one uniquely associated subscriber agent, each said subscriber agent being configurable to point to at least one of said software terminal agents, such that a subscriber can establish a communication over said network from a terminal associated with a software terminal agent pointed to by that subscriber'"'"'s subscriber agent.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides a novel telecommunication architecture. The architecture includes a subscriber agent for each subscriber within a telecommunication network. The subscriber agent includes the subscriber'"'"'s telephone number and calling features. The network also includes terminal agents which are directly associated with one or more terminals such as telephones. The subscriber agent can be associated with one or more terminal agents within the network, so that the subscriber'"'"'s telephone number and set of calling features can be carried to any terminal within the network. A wide variety of calling features and terminals are supported by the architecture.
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Citations
58 Claims
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1. A telecommunication architecture comprising:
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a network for carrying subscribers'"'"' communications between terminals; a plurality of software terminal agents executing on said network, such that each terminal is associated, on a one-to-one basis, with a corresponding software terminal agent for managing communications with that terminal according to that terminal'"'"'s capabilities; and a plurality of subscriber agents executing on said network, such that for each subscriber there is at least one uniquely associated subscriber agent, each said subscriber agent being configurable to point to at least one of said software terminal agents, such that a subscriber can establish a communication over said network from a terminal associated with a software terminal agent pointed to by that subscriber'"'"'s subscriber agent. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A switch for interconnecting a network and a plurality of terminals, the switch comprising:
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a plurality of subscriber line interfaces for connection to the terminals; a network interface for connection to the network; and a controller interconnecting said subscriber line interfaces and said network, said controller being operable to execute a plurality of software terminal agents and a plurality of subscriber agents, such that for each subscriber there is at least one uniquely associated subscriber agent, each said subscriber agent being configurable to point to at least one of said software terminal agents, each terminal, which is connected to a subscriber line interface, being associated, on a one-to-one basis, with a corresponding software terminal agent for managing communications with that terminal according to that terminal'"'"'s capabilities and so that said switch may interconnect a network connected to said network interface with a terminal connected to one of said subscriber line interfaces so as to allow a subscriber whose subscriber agent points to the software terminal agent associated with that terminal to conduct a communication over the network from that terminal. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A computer-readable medium encoded with a software structure, the software structure being executable on a switch for interconnecting a network and a plurality of terminals, and the software structure comprising:
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a plurality of software terminal agents, such that each terminal is associated, on a one-to-one basis with a corresponding software terminal agent for managing communications with that terminal according to its capabilities; and
,a plurality of subscriber agents, such that for each subscriber there is at least one uniquely associated subscriber agent, each said subscriber agent being configurable to point to at least one of said software terminal agents so that a subscriber can establish a communication over said network from a terminal associated with said software terminal agent pointed to by that subscriber'"'"'s subscriber agent. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A method for setting up an incoming call to a subscriber comprising the steps of:
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receiving a request to establish said call with said subscriber; selecting a software terminal agent uniquely associated with a single terminal for managing communications according to said terminal'"'"'s capabilities and pointed to by a subscriber agent uniquely associated with said subscriber, each software terminal agent being associated, on a one-to-one basis, with a corresponding terminal, such selection based upon behaviour criteria with which said subscriber agent is programmed; and connecting said call to said terminal associated with said selected software terminal agent. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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56. A method of associating a subscriber with a terminal comprising the steps of:
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receiving a request from a subscriber to be associated with a terminal; determining, from an identification of the subscriber and from a single software terminal agent uniquely associated with the terminal, any restrictions on the use of the terminal by the identified subscriber, each software terminal agent being associated, on a one-to-one basis, with a corresponding terminal; and if the restrictions permit use of the terminal by the subscriber, then modifying a subscriber agent uniquely associated with the identified subscriber so that it points to the software terminal agent.
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57. A method for setting up an outgoing call by a subscriber from a terminal comprising the steps of:
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receiving a request to establish said call from said terminal; identifying the call as being made through a software terminal agent that is a single software terminal agent uniquely associated with said terminal for managing communications according to that terminal'"'"'s capabilities and that is pointed by a subscriber agent uniquely associated with said subscriber, each software terminal agent being associated, on a one-to-one basis, with a corresponding terminal; and connecting said call so as to provide calling features for the subscriber at the terminal in accordance subscriber'"'"'s calling features included in said subscriber agent that are available at said terminal. - View Dependent Claims (58)
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Specification