Telephony and data network services at a telephone

• US 8,964,727 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2009
• Issued: 02/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/05/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: RPX Clearinghouse LLC (RPX Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Rockstar Consortium US LP (Rockstar Consortium Inc.)
• Inventors: Allan, William, Morley, Robert S., Kramer, Kris W., David, Larry John, Orford, Kenneth M., Blatherwick, Peter P., Star, Robert M., Liang, Kenneth J., Otreba, Dariusz, Provencal, Paul, Joly, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): HSU, ALPUS
• Application Number:
  US12/646,404
• Publication Number:
  US 20100202442A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,889 Days
• Field of Search: 370/352, 370/401, 379/93.01, 379/93.14, 379/221.08, 709/203, 709/227, 709/250
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42 Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers specially adapted for wireless communication networks H04W4/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4228 in networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/493 Interactive information services, e.g. directory enquiries ; Arrangements therefor, e.g. interactive voice response [IVR] systems or voice portals
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/12 for working between exchanges having different types of switching equipment, e.g. power-driven and step by step or decimal and non-decimal

Abstract

A packetised data network includes IP telephones (ITs) and a network intelligence (NI). All of the keys of each IT are “soft” keys (i.e., they have no fixed function). The NI associates a configuration data structure with the IT which correlates the keys with functions, and, based on this, may control the display of the IT to indicate the current function of certain of the soft keys. Some of the functions are requests for data services at the telephone (e.g., video or programmed audio over the internet). When a user requests such a service with a key press, the NI sets up the service between the data source and the telephone. This may require associating a new configuration data structure with the keys of the IT. The IT user may activate multiple data services through the NI.

Claims

1. A processing entity embedding a network intelligence (NI) for a data network adapted to co-ordinate communications between a data network telephone and a personal computer (PC), the processing entity comprising:

a processing unit, memory and a network interface configured for coupling to the data network;

wherein the NI is configured to perform a service proxy function to, when the processing entity is coupled to the data network telephone through the network interface, facilitate control over the data network telephone by a co-ordination server coupled to the data network; and

wherein the NI is further configured to receive a communication from the data network telephone, forward a control message to the co-ordination server to control the PC, and facilitate communication between the data network telephone and the PC over the data network.

2. The processing entity in accordance with claim 1, wherein the service proxy function proxies a telephone application programming interface (TAPI) client.

3. The processing entity in accordance with claim 1, wherein the NI is further configured to enable co-ordinated control of the data network telephone and the PC by the co-ordination server.

4. The processing entity in accordance with claim 1, wherein the NI is further configured to receive elemental control messages from the co-ordination server to control the data network telephone.