System and method for facilitating roaming of push to talk subscribers across disparate dispatch networks
First Claim
1. An inter-working network for facilitating dispatch communications between a plurality of dispatch networks, at least two of the dispatch networks having incompatible technologies, the inter-working network comprising:
- an integrated dispatch enhanced network that is a first of the at least two dispatch networks;
a high performance push-to-talk network that is a second of the at least two dispatch networks, wherein the inter-working network is adapted to facilitate dispatch communications between roaming subscribers on the integrated dispatch enhanced network and roaming subscribers on the high performance push-to-talk network;
a core inter-working network;
a plurality of points-of-presence connected to the core inter-working network; and
a plurality of border gateways interfacing each of the dispatch networks to at least one of the plurality of points-of-presence;
wherein the points-of-presence facilitate roaming of subscribers on the dispatch networks by translating dispatch session messages received from an originating dispatch network into a common signaling format before session processing, and translating dispatch session messages from the common signaling format into a format compatible with a target dispatch network.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An inter-working network facilitating PTT communications among roaming subscribers spanning a plurality of disparate dispatch networks includes a signaling controller, a media gateway, a system for facilitating the monetization of inter-carrier dispatch communications and a group management server. The signaling controller and media gateway generate dispatch call records for dispatch sessions facilitated through the inter-working network. The system includes a billing accumulator and a settlement entity. The billing accumulator is interfaced with the inter-working network and includes logic to receive and store the dispatch call data records from the inter-working architecture. The settlement entity is interfaced with the billing accumulator, and includes settlement logic for converting each stored dispatch call data record to a billing record for each of at least two of the dispatch networks. The group management server is interfaced with group management servers in each of the dispatch networks.
24 Citations
17 Claims
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1. An inter-working network for facilitating dispatch communications between a plurality of dispatch networks, at least two of the dispatch networks having incompatible technologies, the inter-working network comprising:
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an integrated dispatch enhanced network that is a first of the at least two dispatch networks; a high performance push-to-talk network that is a second of the at least two dispatch networks, wherein the inter-working network is adapted to facilitate dispatch communications between roaming subscribers on the integrated dispatch enhanced network and roaming subscribers on the high performance push-to-talk network; a core inter-working network; a plurality of points-of-presence connected to the core inter-working network; and a plurality of border gateways interfacing each of the dispatch networks to at least one of the plurality of points-of-presence; wherein the points-of-presence facilitate roaming of subscribers on the dispatch networks by translating dispatch session messages received from an originating dispatch network into a common signaling format before session processing, and translating dispatch session messages from the common signaling format into a format compatible with a target dispatch network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An inter-working network for facilitating dispatch communications between a plurality of dispatch devices including at least one roaming device, and a plurality of dispatch networks having a separate administrative domain and operating on at least one of a plurality of technologies, comprising:
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an integrated Dispatch Enhanced Network that is a first of the plurality of dispatch networks; a high performance push-to-talk network that is a second of the plurality of dispatch networks, wherein the inter-working network is adapted to facilitate dispatch communications between roaming subscribers on the integrated Dispatch Enhanced Network and roaming subscribers on the high performance push-to-talk networks; a plurality of interfaces facilitating communications with each of the plurality of dispatch networks; a signaling bridge adapted to translate dispatch session messages received from an originating dispatch network into a common signaling format before session processing, and translate dispatch session messages from the common signaling format into a format compatible with a target dispatch network; a signaling controller interfaced with the signaling bridge, the signaling controller adapted to manage a dispatch session between the originating dispatch network and at least one target dispatch network; a media gateway interfaced with the signaling controller, the media gateway adapted to convert real-time media between the originating dispatch network and the target dispatch network; and a group server interfaced with at least one group server in each of the plurality of dispatch networks, the group server managing inter-working group calls. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for monetizing inter-working disparate dispatch networks, each dispatch network providing dispatch services to a plurality of subscriber units, comprising the acts of:
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receiving a dispatch session request from an originating dispatch network, the dispatch session request identifying a group of the subscriber units spanning a plurality of target dispatch networks, wherein the originating dispatch network is one of an integrated Dispatch Enhanced Network network and a high performance push-to-talk network, and wherein the plurality of target dispatch networks includes at least the other of the integrated Dispatch Enhanced Network network and high-performance push-to-talk network; translating dispatch session messages received from the originating dispatch network into a common signaling format; processing, in a point-of-presence, the dispatch session request, including allocating signaling and media resources; forwarding the dispatch session request to a border gateway associated with each of the target dispatch networks; translating the dispatch session messages from the common signaling format into a format compatible with each of the target dispatch networks; facilitating the group session between roaming subscribers on the originating dispatch network and roaming subscribers on the target dispatch networks; and generating an invoice for each of the originating dispatch network and target dispatch networks, including charges for facilitating the group session. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification