Method and apparatus for co-socket telephony

• US 7,778,237 B2
• Filed: 06/02/2005
• Issued: 08/17/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Rpx-Nw Acquisition LLC (RPX Corporation)
• Inventors: Dowling, Eric Morgan
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsang; Fan
• Assistant Examiner(s): King; Simon
• Application Number:
  US11/142,370
• Publication Number:
  US 20050220087A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,902 Days
• Field of Search: 370352-356, 370/466, 379/201.01
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/663 Transport layer addresses, e.g. aspects of transmission control protocol [TCP] or user datagram protocol [UDP] ports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/162 involving adaptations of sockets based mechanisms secure socket layer H04L63/168
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/163 In-band adaptation of TCP data exchange; In-band control procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/165 Combined use of TCP and UDP protocols; selection criteria therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/06 Simultaneous speech and data transmission, e.g. telegraphic transmission over the same conductors
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42042 Notifying the called party of information on the calling party details within substation equipment H04M1/57, signalling details H04Q3/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5191 interacting with the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0057 Services where the data services network provides a telephone service in addition or as an alternative, e.g. for backup purposes, to the telephone service provided by the telephone services network
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0075 Details of addressing, directories or routing tables

Abstract

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to a wireless mobile device wireless air interface that enables both circuit-switched and packet-switched wireless communications between a wireless mobile device and one or more remote stations that can be computer telephony integration servers, or peer devices such as smart telephones or wireless smart telephones, or wireless mobile devices.

Claims

1. A wireless mobile device, comprising:

a first wireless air interface which enables circuit-switched communications between the wireless mobile device and a circuit-switched telephone network using a first wireless air interface protocol;

a second wireless air interface which enables packet-switched wireless communications between the wireless mobile device and an internet, using a second wireless air interface protocol;

a user interface which enables a user to specify a set of dialing digits corresponding to a telephone number of a callee where the callee can be reached; and

executable instructions which implement a plurality of functions, including;

(i) sending a first internet protocol (IP) packet comprising a representation of the set of dialing digits to a remote database server, via the second wireless air interface and via a wide area network connection at least partially through the internet;

(ii) receiving from the remote database server, via the second wireless air interface, a second IP packet comprising an internet address where a remote station associated with the callee can be presently reached via an internet connection; and

(iii) establishing, using the internet address, a voice telephony connection between the wireless mobile device and the remote station, at least partially via the internet, wherein at least a portion of the voice telephony connection uses a voice over internet (VoIP) communication protocol; and

(iv) transmitting and receiving respective transmit and receive streams of VoIP voice packets via the second wireless air interface in support of the voice telephony connection,

wherein the wireless mobile device can place dialed telephone calls to a second remote station via the first wireless air interface, at least partially via the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

2. The wireless mobile device of claim 1, further comprising:

a digital camera; and

an image communication function implemented by the executable instructions for effecting transmission of a digital picture captured by the digital camera to the remote station, via the second wireless air interface and at least partially via the internet.

3. The wireless mobile device of claim 1, further comprising:

a digital video camera; and

a video communication function implemented by the executable instructions for effecting transmission of a digital video stream produced by the digital video camera to the remote station, via the second wireless air interface and at least partially via the internet.

4. The wireless mobile device of claim 3, wherein the video communication function supports two-way real-time video communication between the wireless mobile device and the remote station.

5. The wireless mobile device of claim 3, wherein the video communication function supports transmission of a video clip from the wireless mobile device to the remote station.

6. The wireless mobile device of claim 1, further comprising a text messaging communication function implemented by the executable instructions for effecting transmission of textual characters entered by the user of the wireless mobile device to the remote station via the second wireless air interface and at least partially via the internet.

7. The wireless mobile device of claim 6, wherein the text messaging communication function supports a two-way real-time chat session between the user of the wireless mobile device and a user of the remote station.

8. The wireless mobile device of claim 1, further comprising an application sharing communication function implemented by the executable instructions for effecting transmission of an application layer data stream from a first application program in the wireless mobile device to a second application program in the remote station, via second wireless air interface and at least partially via the internet.

9. The wireless mobile device of claim 8, further comprising a function implemented by the executable instructions that causes a dialog box to be popped onto a display surface of the remote station, and wherein the application sharing communication function supports a real-time, interactive, two-way application sharing session between the wireless mobile device and the remote station.

10. The wireless mobile device of claim 1, wherein the user interface comprises an interface selected from a group consisting of a keypad interface which enables the user to specify the set of dialing digits by manually keying in the set of dialing digits to thereby dial the telephone number, and a menu-based interface which enables the user to select the dialing digits via interaction with the menu-based user interface.

36. The wireless mobile device of claim 1, wherein the remote station comprises a peer device relative to the wireless mobile device.

37. The wireless mobile device of claim 1, wherein the remote station comprises a smart telephone device.

38. The wireless mobile device of claim 1, wherein the remote station comprises a computer telephony integration (CTI) server.

39. The wireless mobile device of claim 1, wherein the internet protocol comprises an Internet protocol.

11. A wireless mobile device, comprising:

a first wireless air interface which enables circuit-switched communications between the wireless mobile device and a circuit-switched telephone network;

a second wireless air interface which enables packet-switched wireless communications between the wireless mobile device and an internet protocol (IP) packet-switched network;

a user interface which enables a user to specify a subscriber address to identify a remote station associated with a callee; and

executable instructions which implement a plurality of functions, including;

(i) sending a first IP packet comprising the subscriber address to a remote database server, via the second wireless air interface and the IP packet-switched network;

(ii) receiving from the remote database server, via the second wireless air interface and the IP packet-switched network, a second IP packet comprising an IP address where the remote station can be reached via the IP packet-switched network; and

(iii) establishing a voice over internet (VoIP) communication connection between the wireless mobile device and the remote station associated with the callee, via the second wireless air interface and the IP packet-switched network, using the IP address, wherein the second wireless air interface is used to carry a stream of VoIP voice packets in support of the VoIP communication connection;

wherein the wireless mobile device is further configured to be able to place a dialed circuit-switched telephone call to a second remote station via the first wireless air interface.

12. The wireless mobile device of claim 11, further comprising:

a digital camera; and

an image communication function implemented by the executable instructions for effecting transmission of a digital picture captured by the digital camera to the remote station, via the second wireless air interface and via the IP packet-switched network.

13. The wireless mobile device of claim 11, further comprising:

a digital video camera; and

a video communication function implemented by the executable instructions for effecting transmission of a digital video stream produced by the digital video camera to the remote station, via the second wireless air interface and via the IP packet-switched network.

14. The wireless mobile device of claim 13, wherein the video communication function supports two-way real-time video communication between the wireless mobile device and the remote station.

15. The wireless mobile device of claim 13, wherein the video communication function supports transmission of a video clip from the wireless mobile device to the remote station.

16. The wireless mobile device of claim 11, further comprising a text messaging communication function implemented by the executable instructions for effecting transmission of textual characters entered by the user of the wireless mobile device to the remote station, via the second wireless air interface and via the IP packet-switched network.

17. The wireless mobile device of claim 16, wherein the text messaging communication function supports a two-way real-time chat session between the user of the wireless mobile device and a user of the remote station.

18. The wireless mobile device of claim 11, further comprising an application sharing communication function implemented by the executable instructions for effecting transmission of an application layer data stream from a first application program in the wireless mobile device to a second application program in the remote station, via the second wireless air interface and via the IP packet-switched network.

19. The communication system of claim 11, wherein one or more VoIP communication connections are established to connect the wireless mobile device to multiple designated callees, by making use of a packet-based teleconferencing protocol that supports multi-way packet based teleconferences between a plurality of participants.

20. The communication system of claim 19, wherein the packet-based teleconferencing protocol is an H.323 protocol.

21. The wireless mobile device of claim 11, wherein the IP packet-switched network comprises a portion of the global ubiquitous Internet.

22. The wireless mobile device of claim 11, wherein the subscriber address comprises a set of dialing digits from which the callee can be reached via telephone calls dialed via a public switched telephone network (PSTN).

40. The wireless mobile device of claim 11, wherein the internet protocol comprises an Internet protocol.

23. A wireless mobile device, comprising:

a wireless air interface which enables both circuit-switched and packet-switched wireless communications between the wireless mobile device and a circuit-switched telephone network and an internet protocol (IP) packet-switched network, using respective circuit switched and packet switched wireless air interface protocols;

a non-graphical user interface which enables a user to specify a set of dialing digits corresponding to a telephone number of a callee where the callee can be reached via telephone calls originated from a circuit-switched telephone network, and a graphical user interface which enables the user to make selections via interaction with the graphical user interface; and

executable instructions which implement a plurality of functions, including;

(i) sending a first IP packet comprising subscriber information related to the callee to a remote database server, via the wireless air interface;

(ii) receiving from the remote database server, via the wireless air interface, a second IP packet comprising an IP address where a remote station associated with the callee can be presently reached via an active IP connection; and

(iii) establishing a voice telephony communication connection between the wireless mobile device and the remote station, using the circuit-switched telephone network; and

(iv) establishing an IP communication connection between the wireless mobile device and the remote station, using the IP address and the packet-switched wireless air interface protocol and via the IP packet-switched network, in support of at least one other media type in addition to voice.

24. The wireless mobile device of claim 23, wherein the subscriber information corresponds to a telephone number where the callee can be reached when the telephone number is dialed from a telephone connected to the PSTN.

25. The wireless mobile device of claim 23, further comprising:

a digital camera; and

an image communication function implemented by the executable instructions for effecting transmission of a digital picture captured by the digital camera to the remote station, via the wireless air interface and via the IP packet-switched network.

26. The wireless mobile device of claim 23, further comprising:

a digital video camera; and

a video communication function implemented by the executable instructions for effecting transmission of a digital video stream produced by the digital video camera to the remote station, via the wireless air interface and via the IP packet-switched network.

27. The wireless mobile device of claim 26, wherein the video communication function supports two-way real-time video communication between the wireless mobile device and the remote station.

28. The wireless mobile device of claim 26, wherein the video communication function supports transmission of a video clip from the wireless mobile device to the remote station.

29. The wireless mobile device of claim 23, further comprising a text messaging communication function implemented by the executable instructions for effecting transmission of textual characters entered by the user of the wireless mobile device to the remote station, via the wireless air interface and via the IP packet-switched network.

30. The wireless mobile device of claim 29, wherein the text messaging communication function supports a two-way real-time chat session between the user of the wireless mobile device and a user of the remote station.

31. The wireless mobile device of claim 23, further comprising an application sharing communication function implemented by the executable instructions for effecting transmission of an application layer data stream from a first application program in the wireless mobile device to a second application program in the remote station, via the wireless air interface and via the IP packet-switched network.

32. The wireless mobile device of claim 31, further comprising a function implemented by the executable instructions that causes a dialog box to be popped onto a display surface of the remote station, and wherein the application sharing communication function supports a real-time, interactive, two-way application sharing session between the wireless mobile device and the remote station.

33. The wireless mobile device of claim 23, wherein the IP packet-switched network comprises a portion of the global ubiquitous Internet.

34. The wireless mobile device of claim 23, wherein the subscriber information comprises a set of dialing digits that can be used by callers from a public switched telephone network (PSTN) to place telephone calls to the callee.

35. The wireless mobile device of claim 23, wherein the wireless air interface comprises a multiplexed air interface having a circuit-switched link layer interface and a packet-switched link layer interface, and wherein both of the circuit-switched link layer interface and the packet-switched interface are multiplexed onto different frequency bands of a single wireless physical layer interface.

41. The wireless mobile device of claim 23, wherein the internet protocol comprises an Internet protocol.