Paging between network devices

• US 7,940,781 B2
• Filed: 11/24/2004
• Issued: 05/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avaya LLC (Avaya Incorporated), Avaya Management L.P. (Avaya Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Avaya Canada Corp. (Avaya Incorporated)
• Inventors: Poustchi, Behrouz, Stelzig, James Andrew, Bell, Jennifer
• Primary Examiner(s): Kumar; Pankaj
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tsegaye; Saba
• Application Number:
  US10/995,100
• Publication Number:
  US 20050135349A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,358 Days
• Field of Search: 370/270, 370/312, 370/338, 370/352, 370/356, 370/401, 370/466, 370/384, 370/400, 455/422.1, 455/426, 455/1
• US Class Current: 370/401
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A network device such as a terminal set in a distributed peer-to-peer communications network receives periodic notifications from other network devices indicating which network devices are currently receiving pages. When the network device wishes to send a page to a set of target network devices, it ascertains whether the target devices are already receiving a page. If not, the network device notifies other network devices that it is claiming the target devices for its exclusive paging use. Each device receiving the notification ascertains whether it is one of the target devices, and if so, prepares to receive a page. Absent any objections, the initiating device sends the page (e.g. audio or video) to the target devices. Upon completion, the network device relinquishes its claim to the target devices. If a target network device becomes engaged in a call while receiving a page, playing of the page may be ceased.

Claims

1. At a network device, a method comprising:

receiving at least one indication of a page to be sent to a set of recipient network devices including a plurality of network devices, said at least one indication indicating said set of recipient network devices;

ascertaining whether said network device is within said set of recipient network devices; and

based at least upon said ascertaining, determining whether to receive said page, and further comprising;

detecting a desire to send an outgoing page from said network device to a set of target network devices including one or more network devices, notifying other network devices including said target network devices that said outgoing page is to be sent; and

waiting for any objections from any of said other network devices to the sending of said outgoing page, wherein an objection comprises a notification that another network devices wishes to send a page to said set of target network devices, wherein said network device and said recipient network device comprise terminal sets.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said indicating said set of recipient network devices comprises indicating a paging zone which includes said recipient network devices and wherein said ascertaining comprises determining whether said network device is included in said paging zone.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said determining whether to receive said page is conditional upon determining that said network device is not currently engaged in a call.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising, if said ascertaining ascertains said network device to be within said set of recipient network devices, receiving said page.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising, if said network device becomes engaged in a call, ceasing said receiving of said page.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein said receiving said page comprises receiving multicast messages containing page content.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein said page content comprises at least one of audio, video and data.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said set of network devices target comprises a paging zone.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein, if said at least one indication of a page indicates that said target network devices are currently unable to receive a page, said determining determines not to send the outgoing page.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein, if said at least one indication of a page indicates that said target network devices are currently able to receive a page, said determining determines to send the outgoing page, and further comprising sending the outgoing page.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising, upon receipt of an objection from any of said other network devices to the sending of said outgoing page, applying a conflict resolution scheme to determine which of said network device and said objecting network device shall be permitted to send a page.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein said applying a conflict resolution scheme comprises comparing a unique identifier of said network device to a unique identifier of said objecting network device.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said unique identifier is a hardware address.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein said sending the outgoing page further comprises:

in the absence of any objections, sending the outgoing page to the target network devices.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein said sending the outgoing page to the target network devices comprises multicasting content of said outgoing page to said target network devices.

16. The method of claim 14 further comprising, upon completing said sending of said outgoing page to the target network devices, notifying other network devices including said target network devices that said sending of the outgoing page is complete.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein said network device and said recipient network devices comprise VoIP terminal sets.

18. At a network device, a method comprising:

receiving at least one indication of a page to be sent to a set of recipient network devices including a plurality of network devices, said at least one indication indicating said set of recipient network devices;

ascertaining whether said network device is within said set of recipient network devices; and

based at least upon said ascertaining, determining whether to receive said page, wherein said network device and said recipient network device comprise terminal sets, wherein said receiving at least one indication of a page to be sent comprises receiving multiple indications, each of said multiple indications indicating a different page to be sent to a subset of said recipient network devices.

19. A network device adapted to:

receive at least one indication of a page to be sent to a set of recipient network devices including a plurality of network devices, said at least one indication indicating said set of recipient network devices;

ascertain whether said network device is within said set of recipient network devices; and

based at least upon said ascertaining, determine whether to receive said page, and further adapted to;

detect a desire to send an outgoing page from said network device to a set of target network devices including one or more network devices; and

based on said at least one indication of a page, sending the outgoing page, wherein said sending the outgoing page comprises;

notifying other network devices including said target network devices that said outgoing page is to be sent; and

waiting for any objections from any of said other network devices to the sending of said outgoing page, wherein an objection comprises a notification that another network devices wishes to send a page to said set of target network devices, wherein said network device and said recipient network devices comprise terminal sets.

20. The network device of claim 19 wherein said indicating said set of recipient network devices comprises indicating a paging zone which includes said recipient network devices and wherein said ascertaining comprises determining whether said network device is included in said paging zone.

21. The network device of claim 19 wherein said determining whether to receive said page is conditional upon determining that said network device is not currently engaged in a call.

22. The network device of claim 19 further adapted to, if said ascertaining ascertains said network device to be within said set of recipient network devices, receive said page.

23. The network device of claim 22 further adapted to, if said network device becomes engaged in a call, cease receiving said page.

24. The network device of claim 22 wherein said receiving said page comprises receiving multicast messages containing page content.

25. The network device of claim 24 wherein said page content comprises at least one of audio, video and data.

26. The network device of claim 19 wherein said set of network devices target comprises a paging zone.

27. The network device of claim 19 wherein, if said at least one indication of a page indicates that said target network devices are currently unable to receive a page, said determining determines not to send the outgoing page.

28. The network device of claim 19 wherein, if said at least one indication of a page indicates that said target network devices are currently able to receive a page, said determining determines to send the outgoing page, said network device being further adapted to send the outgoing page.

29. The network device of claim 19, further adapted to, upon receipt of an objection from any of said other network devices to the sending of said outgoing page, apply a conflict resolution scheme to determine which of said network device and said objecting network device shall be permitted to send a page.

30. The network device of claim 29 wherein said applying a conflict resolution scheme comprises comparing a unique identifier of said network device to a unique identifier of said objecting network device.

31. The network device of claim 30 wherein said unique identifier is a hardware address.

32. The network device of claim 19, wherein said sending the outgoing page further comprises:

in the absence of any objections, sending the outgoing page to the target network devices.

33. The network device of claim 32 wherein said sending the outgoing page to the target network devices comprises multicasting content of said outgoing page to said target network devices.

34. The network device of claim 32 further adapted to, upon completing said sending of said outgoing page to the target network devices, notify other network devices including said target network devices that said sending of the outgoing page is complete.

35. The network device of claim 19, wherein said network device and said recipient network devices comprise VoIP terminal sets.

36. A network device adapted to:

receive at least one indication of a page to be sent to a set of recipient network devices including a plurality of network devices, said at least one indication indicating said set of recipient network devices;

ascertain whether said network device is within said set of recipient network devices; and

based at least upon said ascertaining, determine whether to receive said page, wherein said network device and said recipient network devices comprise terminal sets, wherein said receiving at least one indication of a page to be sent comprises receiving multiple indications, each of said multiple indications indicating a different page to be sent to a subset of said recipient network devices.

37. A non-transitory machine-readable medium including machine-executable code for execution at a network device, comprising:

machine-executable code for receiving at least one indication of a page to be sent to a set of recipient network devices including a plurality of network devices, said at least one indication indicating said set of recipient network devices;

machine-executable code for ascertaining whether said network device is within said set of recipient network devices;

machine-executable code for, based at least upon said ascertaining, determining whether to receive said page, machine executable code for detecting a desire to send an outgoing page from said network device to a set of target network devices including one or more network devices; and

machine executable code for, based on said at least one indication of a page, sending the outgoing page, wherein said sending the outgoing page comprises;

notifying other network devices including said target network devices that said outgoing page is to be sent; and

waiting for any objections from any of said other network devices to the sending of said outgoing page, wherein an objection comprises a notification that another network devices wishes to send a page to said set of target network devices, wherein said network device and said recipient network devices comprise terminal sets.

38. The machine-readable medium of claim 37 wherein said indicating said set of recipient network devices comprises indicating a paging zone which includes said recipient network devices and wherein said ascertaining comprises determining whether said network device is included in said paging zone.

39. The machine-readable medium of claim 37 wherein said determining whether to receive said page is conditional upon determining that said network device is not currently engaged in a call.

40. The machine-readable medium of claim 37 further comprising machine executable code for, if said ascertaining ascertains said network device to be within said set of recipient network devices, receiving said page.

41. The machine-readable medium of claim 40 further comprising machine executable code for, if said network device becomes engaged in a call, ceasing said receiving of said page.

42. The machine-readable medium of claim 40 wherein said receiving said page comprises receiving multicast messages containing page content.

43. The machine-readable medium of claim 42 wherein said page content comprises at least one of audio, video and data.

44. The machine-readable medium of claim 37 wherein said set of network devices target comprises a paging zone.

45. The machine-readable medium of claim 37, wherein, if said at least one indication of a page indicates that said target network devices are currently unable to receive a page, said determining determines not to send the outgoing page.

46. The machine-readable medium of claim 37, wherein, if said at least one indication of a page indicates that said target network devices are currently able to receive a page, said determining determines to send the outgoing page, and further comprising machine executable code for sending the outgoing page.

47. The machine-readable medium of claim 37, further comprising machine executable code for, upon receipt of an objection from any of said other network devices to the sending of said outgoing page, applying a conflict resolution scheme to determine which of said network device and said objecting network device shall be permitted to send a page.

48. The machine-readable medium of claim 47 wherein said applying a conflict resolution scheme comprises comparing a unique identifier of said network device to a unique identifier of said objecting network device.

49. The machine-readable medium of claim 48 wherein said unique identifier is a hardware address.

50. The machine-readable medium of claim 37, wherein said sending the outgoing page further comprises:

in the absence of any objections, sending the outgoing page to the target network devices.

51. The machine-readable medium of claim 50 wherein said sending the outgoing page to the target network devices comprises multicasting content of said outgoing page to said target network devices.

52. The machine-readable medium of claim 50 further comprising machine executable code for, upon completing said sending of said outgoing page to the target network devices, notifying other network devices including said target network devices that said sending of the outgoing page is complete.

53. The machine-readable medium of claim 37, wherein said network device and said recipient network devices comprise VoIP terminal sets.

54. A non-transitory machine-readable medium including machine-executable code for execution at a network device, comprising:

machine-executable code for receiving at least one indication of a page to be sent to a set of recipient network devices including a plurality of network devices, said at least one indication indicating said set of recipient network devices;

machine-executable code for ascertaining whether said network device is within said set of recipient network devices; and

machine-executable code for, based at least upon said ascertaining, determining whether to receive said page, wherein said network device and said recipient network devices comprise terminal sets, wherein said receiving at least one indication of a page to be sent comprises receiving multiple indications, each of said multiple indications indicating a different page to be sent to a subset of said recipient network devices.

55. At a VoIP network device adapted to function as a telephone and having a paging function, the paging function allowing the VoIP network device to receive a page comprising voice data from another VoIP network device and output the voice data without user action and to send a page comprising voice data to one or more other VoIP network devices for output from the one or more other VoIP network devices without user action, a method comprising:

receiving at least one indication of a page to be sent to a set of recipient VoIP network devices, said at least one indication indicating said set of recipient VoIP network devices;

ascertaining whether said VoIP network device is within said set of recipient VoIP network devices; and

based at least upon said ascertaining, determining whether to receive said page, and further comprising;

detecting a desire to send an outgoing page from said VoIP network device to a set of target VoIP network devices including one or more VoIP network devices, notifying other VoIP network devices including said target VoIP network devices that said outgoing page is to be sent; and

waiting for any objections from any of said other VoIP network devices to the sending of said outgoing page, wherein an objection comprises a notification that another VoIP network devices wishes to send a page to said set of target VoIP network devices.

56. The method of claim 55 further comprising:

detecting a desire to send an outgoing page from said VoIP network device; and

based on said at least one indication of a page, determining whether to send the outgoing page.

57. The method of claim 55 wherein said one or more other network devices comprise a plurality of other network devices.

58. A VoIP network device having a paging function, the paging function enabling the VoIP network device to send a page to one or more other VoIP network devices, the page comprising voice data to be output from the one or more other VoIP network devices without user action and enabling the VoIP network device to receive a page comprising voice data to be output from the VoIP network device without user action, wherein the VoIP network device is adapted to receive at least one indication of a page to be sent to a set of recipient VoIP network devices including one or more VoIP network devices, said at least one indication indicating said set of recipient VoIP network devices;

ascertain whether said VoIP network device is within said set of recipient VoIP network devices; and

based at least upon said ascertaining, determine whether to receive said page, and further adapted to;

detect a desire to send an outgoing page from said VoIP network device to a set of target VoIP network devices including one or more VoIP network devices; and

based on said at least one indication of a page, sending the outgoing page, wherein said sending the outgoing page comprises;

notifying other VoIP network devices including said set of target VoIP network devices that said outgoing page is to be sent; and

waiting for any objections from any of said other VoIP network devices to the sending of said outgoing page, wherein an objection comprises a notification that another VoIP network devices wishes to send a page to said set of target VoIP network devices.

59. The VoIP network device of claim 58, wherein, said VoIP network device is adapted to detect a desire to send an outgoing page from said VoIP network device;

and based on said at least one indication of a page, determining whether to send the outgoing page.

60. The network device of claim 58 wherein said one or more other network devices comprise a plurality of other network devices.

61. A non-transitory machine-readable medium including machine-executable code for execution at a VoIP network device, comprising:

machine-executable code for causing the VoIP network device to function as a telephone having a paging function, the paging function allowing the VoIP network device to receive a page comprising voice data from another VoIP network device and output the voice data without user action and to send a page comprising voice data to one or more other VoIP network devices for output from the one or more other VoIP network devices without user action;

machine-executable code for receiving at least one indication of a page to be sent to a set of recipient VoIP network devices including one or more VoIP network devices, said at least one indication indicating said set of recipient VoIP network devices;

machine-executable code for ascertaining whether said VoIP network device is within said set of recipient VoIP network devices;

machine-executable code for, based at least upon said ascertaining, determining whether to receive said page;

machine executable code for detecting a desire to send an outgoing page from said VoIP network device to a set of target VoIP network devices including one or more VoIP network devices; and

machine executable code for, based on said at least one indication of a page, sending the outgoing page, wherein said sending the outgoing page comprises;

notifying other VoIP network devices including said set target VoIP network devices that said outgoing page is to be sent; and

waiting for any objections from any of said other VoIP network devices to the sending of said outgoing page, wherein an objection comprises a notification that another VoIP network devices wishes to send a page to said set of target VoIP network devices.

62. The machine-readable medium of claim 61 further comprising:

machine executable code for detecting a desire to send an outgoing page from said VoIP network device to a set of target VoIP network devices including one or more VoIP network devices; and

machine executable code for, based on said at least one indication of a page, determining whether to send the outgoing page.

63. The machine-readable medium of claim 61 wherein said one or more other network devices comprise a plurality of other network devices.