Push-to-talk-over-cellular (PoC)

• US 9,913,300 B2
• Filed: 12/11/2012
• Issued: 03/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kodiak Networks (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Kodiak Networks (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ayyasamy, Ravi, Kundu, Gorachand, Patel, Krishnakant M., Vempati, Brahmananda R., Negalaguli, Harisha M., Cheedella, Shiva K. K., Ardah, Basem A., Kumar, Ravi Shankar, Kandula, Ramu, Velayudhan, Arun, Narendranathan, Shibu, Setti, Bharatram, Narayanan, Anand, Chandana, Pratap
• Primary Examiner(s): Grey, Christopher
• Application Number:
  US13/710,683
• Publication Number:
  US 20130155875A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,911 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/10 Push-to-Talk [PTT] or Push-On-Call services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/45 for Push-to-Talk [PTT] or Push-to-Talk over cellular [PoC] services

Abstract

A Push-to-Talk-over Cellular (PoC) implementation for use in a wireless communications network, wherein one or more servers interface to the wireless communications network to perform the PoC call sessions. Both the servers and the mobile units that use the PoC call sessions communicate with each other using SIP/IP (Session Initiation Protocol/Internet Protocol) control messages within the wireless communications network, and one or more of the servers switches RTP/IP (Realtime Transport Protocol/Internet Protocol), RTCP/IP (Realtime Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), or MBCP/IP (Media Burst Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) voice packets for the PoC call sessions between the mobile units across the wireless communications network.

Claims

1. A system for providing voice services in a communications network, comprising:

one or more servers that interface to the communications network to perform voice services, the voice services including an instant two-way half-duplex voice call within a group of users of the communications network comprising a Push-to-Talk-over-Cellular (PoC) call session;

wherein the servers communicate with a handset that uses the voice services using control messages within the communications network, and at least one of the servers switches voice packets for the voice services between the handset across the communications network;

wherein a media server of the one or more servers receives a wakeup trigger from a PoC client on the handset, wherein the wakeup trigger is transmitted, by the PoC client, in response to an indication of intent to initiate a PoC call;

wherein in response to the wakeup trigger, the media server transmits a wakeup message to an additional PoC client on an additional handset prior to the PoC client attempting to initiate the PoC call;

wherein the media server selects the additional PoC client from a predictive wakeup list of the PoC client, wherein the predictive wakeup list is created, by the media server, before receiving the wakeup trigger from the PoC client, wherein the predictive wakeup list is created in accordance with quantities of times the PoC client previously called other PoC clients in the PoC call session, when the PoC client most recently called the other PoC clients in the PoC call session, and whether the PoC client recently received alerts from the other PoC clients in the PoC call session; and

wherein subscriber provisioning is initiated by the network'"'"'s operator such that;

an XML Document Management (XDM) Server receives an activation request from the PoC client on the handset, wherein the XDM server stores user-specific service-related information, the activation request including a unique identifier generated by the PoC Client that is used for verifying the subscriber'"'"'s identity,

the XDM Server receives a password from the PoC client via a Web Group Provisioning (WGP) Server, the password is used with the unique identifier generated by the PoC Client for verifying the subscriber'"'"'s identity, wherein the WGP server provides a web interface for an administrator to manage PoC contacts and groups,

the XDM Server sets up the subscriber'"'"'s account by creating default documents including contacts for the subscriber,

the XDM Server updates a PoC Server and the PoC Server responds to the WGP Server with the subscriber'"'"'s configuration, which is stored on the XDM Server, and

the XDM Server returns the subscriber'"'"'s configuration to the PoC Client in response to the activation request via the WGP Server.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the subscriber'"'"'s configuration includes a username to be used for authentication, wherein the username is generated based on the subscriber'"'"'s mobile number.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the password is transmitted separately from the activation request, and wherein the XDM Server stores the password against the username and uses it for authenticating the PoC Client.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the username and password are used by the PoC Client for registration and for authenticating the XDM Server'"'"'s operations.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein a duplicate activation by the PoC Client results in the XDM Server updating the activation request, overwriting a previous activation request, and using a last received activation request.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein a request failure by the PoC Client results in the PoC Client re-sending the activation request.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein an activation failure results in the PoC Client sending the activation request again.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the XDM Server checks the handset against a list of allowed devices and grants or denies the activation based on the check.

9. A system for providing voice services in a communications network, comprising:

one or more servers that interface to the communications network to perform voice services, the voice services including an instant two-way half-duplex voice call within a group of users of the communications network comprising a Push-to-Talk-over-Cellular (PoC) call session;

wherein the servers communicate with a handset that uses the voice services using control messages within the communications network, and at least one of the servers switches voice packets for the voice services between the handset across the communications network;

wherein a media server of the one or more servers receives a wakeup trigger from a PoC client executed by the handset, wherein the wakeup trigger is transmitted, by the PoC client, in response to an indication of intent to initiate a PoC call;

wherein in response to the wakeup trigger, the media server transmits a wakeup message to an additional PoC client on an additional handset prior to the PoC client attempting to initiate the PoC call;

wherein the media server selects the additional PoC client from a predictive wakeup list of the PoC client, wherein the predictive wakeup list is created, by the media server, before receiving the wakeup trigger from the PoC client, wherein the predictive wakeup list is created in accordance with quantities of times the PoC client previously called other PoC clients in the PoC call session, when the PoC client most recently called the other PoC clients in the PoC call session, and whether the PoC client recently received alerts from the other PoC clients in the PoC call session;

wherein the PoC Client executed by the handset initially stores a first subscriber identity read from a subscriber identity module (SIM) on the handset when the handset is first activated; and

wherein the PoC client detects when a user changes the SIM on the handset, and wherein the PoC client re-activates in response to the user changing the SIM.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein:

the PoC Client reads a second subscriber identity from the SIM when the handset is powered on after the handset is first activated, and

the PoC Client sends an activation request to a PoC Server when it determines that the second subscriber identity is different than the first subscriber identity that was stored.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the PoC Client updates its configuration, contacts and groups for the second subscriber identity read from the SIM, when the activation request is completed.

12. A system for providing voice services in a communications network, comprising:

one or more servers that interface to the communications network to perform voice services, the voice services including an instant two-way half-duplex voice call within a group of users of the communications network comprising a Push-to-Talk-over-Cellular (PoC) call session;

wherein the servers communicate with a handset that uses the voice services using control messages within the communications network, and at least one of the servers switches voice packets for the voice services between the handset across the communications network;

wherein a media server of the one or more servers receives a wakeup trigger from a PoC client executed by the handset, wherein the wakeup trigger is transmitted, by the PoC client, in response to an indication of intent to initiate a PoC call;

wherein in response to the wakeup trigger, the media server transmits a wakeup message to an additional PoC client on an additional handset prior to the PoC client attempting to initiate the PoC call;

wherein the media server selects the additional PoC client from a predictive wakeup list of the PoC client, wherein the predictive wakeup list is created, by the media server, before receiving the wakeup trigger from the PoC client, wherein the predictive wakeup list is created in accordance with quantities of times the PoC client previously called other PoC clients in the PoC call session, when the PoC client most recently called the other PoC clients in the PoC call session, and whether the PoC client recently received alerts from the other PoC clients in the PoC call session;

wherein the PoC Client executed by the handset initially stores a first subscriber identity read from a subscriber identity module (SIM) on the handset when the handset is first activated; and

wherein the PoC client supports dual subscriber identity modules (SIMs) on the handset being used for PoC service.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein:

the PoC Client reads a second subscriber identity from the SIM when the handset registers with a different network, and

the PoC Client sends an activation request to a PoC Server when it determines that the second subscriber identity is different than the first subscriber identity that was stored.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the PoC Client updates its configuration, contacts and groups for the second subscriber identity read from the SIM, when the activation request is completed.

15. A system for providing voice services in a communications network, comprising:

one or more servers that interface to the communications network to perform voice services, the voice services including an instant two-way half-duplex voice call within a group of users of the communications network comprising a Push-to-Talk-over-Cellular (PoC) call session;

wherein the servers communicate with a handset that uses the voice services using control messages within the communications network, and at least one of the servers switches voice packets for the voice services between the handset across the communications network;

wherein a media server of the one or more servers receives a wakeup trigger from a PoC client executed by the handset, wherein the wakeup trigger is transmitted, by the PoC client, in response to an indication of intent to initiate a PoC call;

wherein in response to the wakeup trigger, the media server transmits a wakeup message to an additional PoC client on an additional handset prior to the PoC client attempting to initiate the PoC call;

wherein the media server selects the additional PoC client from a predictive wakeup list of the PoC client, wherein the predictive wakeup list is created, by the media server, before receiving the wakeup trigger from the PoC client, wherein the predictive wakeup list is created in accordance with quantities of times the PoC client previously called other PoC clients in the PoC call session, when the PoC client most recently called the other PoC clients in the PoC call session, and whether the PoC client recently received alerts from the other PoC clients in the PoC call session; and

wherein one or more of the servers support geographical redundancy, wherein the PoC Client executed by the handset maintains a first pre-established session with a first one of the one or more servers supporting geographic redundancy and maintains a second pre-established session with a second one of the one or more servers supporting geographic redundancy, and wherein the first pre-established session is separate from and simultaneous with the second pre-established session.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the first one of the one or more servers supporting geographic redundancy is a Serving Server, and wherein the second one of the one or more servers supporting geographic redundancy is a Geo Server that is configured in standby mode.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the Geo Server is in a different location than the Serving Server so as to provide the geographical redundancy.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the Serving Server and Geo Server maintain a heartbeat mechanism to detect failure scenarios and automatically failover to the Geo Server when the Serving Server fails.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the Serving Server and Geo Server replicate stored data.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein:

the PoC Client communicates with the Serving Server using a Virtual IP address of the Serving Server,

the PoC Client communicates with the Geo Server using a Physical IP address of the Geo Server, and

the PoC Client attempts to set up a session with the Serving Server and, if that attempt fails, the PoC Client falls back to the Geo Server.

21. A system for providing voice services in a communications network, comprising:

one or more servers that interface to the communications network to perform voice services, the voice services including an instant two-way half-duplex voice call within a group of users of the communications network comprising a Push-to-Talk-over-Cellular (PoC) call session;

wherein the servers communicate with a handset that uses the voice services using control messages within the communications network, and at least one of the servers switches voice packets for the voice services between the handset across the communications network;

wherein a media server of the one or more servers receives a wakeup trigger from a PoC client executed by the handset, wherein the wakeup trigger is transmitted, by the PoC client, in response to an indication of intent to initiate a PoC call;

wherein in response to the wakeup trigger, the media server transmits a wakeup message to an additional PoC client on an additional handset prior to the PoC client attempting to initiate the PoC call;

wherein the media server selects the additional PoC client from a predictive wakeup list of the PoC client, wherein the predictive wakeup list is created, by the media server, before receiving the wakeup trigger from the PoC client, wherein the predictive wakeup list is created in accordance with quantities of times the PoC client previously called other PoC clients in the PoC call session, when the PoC client most recently called the other PoC clients in the PoC call session, and whether the PoC client recently received alerts from the other PoC clients in the PoC call session; and

wherein one or more of the servers is a Web Group Provisioning (WGP) Server that provides a Corporate Administration Tool (CAT) for providing subscriber management, group management, contact management and associations between corporations, wherein the CAT restricts availability of a subscriber by not allowing the subscriber to change a presence status of the subscriber, wherein the presence status of the subscriber is independent from group membership of the subscriber.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the CAT performs one or more of the following operations for group management:

(i) create, update, delete and view corporate groups,

(ii) add, update, delete and view members of a corporate group,

(iii) manage corporate subscribers,

(iv) activate and deactivate corporate subscribers,

(v) manage number porting or name change via phone assignment.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the CAT performs one or more of the following operations for contact management:

(i) manage a phone list for a subscriber,

(ii) add contacts as members of groups,

(iii) add, update, delete and view contacts for a subscriber, and

(iv) export and import contacts at both the subscriber and corporate levels.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the CAT performs one or more of the following operations for the associations between corporations:

(i) manage a corporate ID,

(ii) manage corporate subscribers, groups, and contacts,

(iii) manage contacts and white lists between the corporations,

(iv) manage phone lists,

(v) restrict availability, and

(vi) import and export contacts at both the subscriber and corporate level.

43. The system of claim 21, wherein the CAT changes a subscriber'"'"'s type from “

Corporate”

to “

Corporate And Public,”

wherein the CAT changes a subscriber'"'"'s type from “

Corporate And Public”

to “

Corporate, wherein a “

Corporate”

type subscriber receives contacts and groups only from a corporate administrator, and wherein a “

Corporate and Public”

type subscriber receives contacts from a corporate administrator in addition to subscriber created contacts.

25. A system for providing voice services in a communications network, comprising:

one or more servers that interface to the communications network to perform voice services, the voice services including an instant two-way half-duplex voice call within a group of users of the communications network comprising a Push-to-Talk-over-Cellular (PoC) call session;

wherein the servers communicate with a handset that uses the voice services using control messages within the communications network, and at least one of the servers switches voice packets for the voice services between the handset across the communications network;

wherein a media server of the one or more servers receives a wakeup trigger from a PoC client executed by the handset, wherein the wakeup trigger is transmitted, by the PoC client, in response to an indication of intent to initiate a PoC call;

wherein in response to the wakeup trigger, the media server transmits a wakeup message to an additional PoC client on an additional handset prior to the PoC client attempting to initiate the PoC call;

wherein the media server selects the additional PoC client from a predictive wakeup list of the PoC client, wherein the predictive wakeup list is created, by the media server, before receiving the wakeup trigger from the PoC client, wherein the predictive wakeup list is created in accordance with quantities of times the PoC client previously called other PoC clients in the PoC call session, when the PoC client most recently called the other PoC clients in the PoC call session, and whether the PoC client recently received alerts from the other PoC clients in the PoC call session;

wherein the PoC Client executed by the handset is configured to provide a specific corporate user experience on the handset, wherein the PoC Client is customized in accordance with a corporate subscriber to the voice services, wherein the PoC client displays a corporate logo of the corporate subscriber in a header bar of the PoC client; and

wherein the PoC Client displays a Call History showing Instant Personal Alerts.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the PoC Client displays a Status Bar showing the subscriber'"'"'s Personal Availability Status.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein the PoC Client displays a Main Navigation Bar including a Home page, Contacts, Conversations, and Favorite Groups.

28. The system of claim 25, wherein the Call History further shows recent PoC call sessions.

29. The system of claim 25, wherein the PoC Client displays an Action Bar, which can be used to launch a Private PTT Call, a Group PTT Call, Send Instant Personal Alert or a Direct Dial Call.

30. The system of claim 25, wherein, during the PoC call session, the PoC Client shows a Call Status, including Group Name, Call Start Time and Call Timer, as well as a Call Participant List, including Member Name, Member Presence, Member Number and Who'"'"'s Talking.

31. A system for providing voice services in a communications network, comprising:

one or more servers that interface to the communications network to perform voice services, the voice services including an instant two-way half-duplex voice call within a group of users of the communications network comprising a Push-to-Talk-over-Cellular (PoC) call session;

wherein the servers communicate with a handset that uses the voice services using control messages within the communications network, and at least one of the servers switches voice packets for the voice services between the handset across the communications network;

wherein a media server of the one or more servers receives a wakeup trigger from a PoC client executed by the handset, wherein the wakeup trigger is transmitted, by the PoC client, in response to an indication of intent to initiate a PoC call;

wherein in response to the wakeup trigger, the media server transmits a wakeup message to an additional PoC client on an additional handset prior to the PoC client attempting to initiate the PoC call;

wherein the media server selects the additional PoC client from a predictive wakeup list of the PoC client, wherein the predictive wakeup list is created, by the media server, before receiving the wakeup trigger from the PoC client, wherein the predictive wakeup list is created in accordance with quantities of times the PoC client previously called other PoC clients in the PoC call session, when the PoC client most recently called the other PoC clients in the PoC call session, and whether the PoC client recently received alerts from the other PoC clients in the PoC call session;

wherein the PoC client executed by the handset is registered with a PoC server;

wherein the PoC Client reports any changes to a country or network identifier for the communications network to the PoC Server;

wherein the PoC client transmits a re-registration request to the PoC server based on the changes to the country or the network identifier for the communications network; and

wherein the PoC Server determines whether the PoC Client can re-register with the PoC server based on the country or network identifier for the communications network.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the PoC Client re-registers with the PoC Server based on the changes to the country or network identifier for the network using a session initiation protocol (SIP) register method.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein the PoC Server detects roaming by the PoC Client based on the country or network identifier for the network.

34. The system of claim 31, wherein the PoC Client registers with the PoC Server when:

(i) the country or network identifier for the network changes,

(ii) a data session is re-established,

(iii) there is tiered billing for PoC,

(iv) the PoC Client is in its Home network,

(v) the PoC Client is roaming nationally,

(vi) the PoC Client is roaming internationally in a preferred country, or

(vii) the PoC Client is attempting to roam internationally in a blacklisted country.

35. The system of claim 31, wherein information based on the country or network identifier for the network is added to call detail records (CDRs).

36. A system for providing voice services in a communications network, comprising:

one or more servers that interface to the communications network to perform voice services, the voice services including an instant two-way half-duplex voice call within a group of users of the communications network comprising a Push-to-Talk-over-Cellular (PoC) call session;

wherein the servers communicate with a handset that uses the voice services using control messages within the communications network, and at least one of the servers switches voice packets for the voice services between the handset across the communications network;

wherein a media server of the one or more servers receives a wakeup trigger from a PoC client executed by the handset, wherein the wakeup trigger is transmitted, by the PoC client, in response to an indication of intent to initiate a PoC call;

wherein in response to the wakeup trigger, the media server transmits a wakeup message to an additional PoC client on an additional handset prior to the PoC client attempting to initiate the PoC call;

wherein the media server selects the additional PoC client from a predictive wakeup list of the PoC client, wherein the predictive wakeup list is created, by the media server, before receiving the wakeup trigger from the PoC client, wherein the predictive wakeup list is created in accordance with quantities of times the PoC client previously called other PoC clients in the PoC call session, when the PoC client most recently called the other PoC clients in the PoC call session, and whether the PoC client recently received alerts from the other PoC clients in the PoC call session; and

wherein the PoC Client executed by the handset displays an Answer or Ignore option for a cellular service call when the cellular service call overlaps with the PoC call session, wherein the cellular service call is not provided through the one or more servers performing the voice services.

37. The system of claim 36, wherein, when the Answer option is set, the PoC Client disconnects from the PoC call session when the cellular service call occurs.

38. The system of claim 36, wherein, when the Ignore option is set, the PoC Client continues the PoC call session when the cellular service call occurs, and does not answer the cellular service call.

39. The system of claim 36, wherein the PoC Client continues the cellular service call when the PoC call session occurs, automatically sends a disconnect response to the PoC call session, and does not answer the PoC call session.

40. The system of claim 36, wherein the PoC Client continues the PoC call session when an incoming PoC call occurs, and does not answer the incoming PoC call.

41. A system for providing voice services in a communications network, comprising:

one or more servers that interface to the communications network to perform voice services, the voice services including an instant two-way half-duplex voice call within a group of users of the communications network comprising a Push-to-Talk-over-Cellular (PoC) call session;

wherein the servers communicate with a handset that uses the voice services using control messages within the communications network, and at least one of the servers switches voice packets for the voice services between the handset across the communications network;

wherein a media server of the one or more servers receives a wakeup trigger from a PoC client executed by the handset, wherein the wakeup trigger is transmitted, by the PoC client, in response to an indication of intent to initiate a PoC call;

wherein in response to the wakeup trigger, the media server transmits a wakeup message to an additional PoC client on an additional handset prior to the PoC client attempting to initiate the PoC call;

wherein the media server selects the additional PoC client from a predictive wakeup list of the PoC client, wherein the predictive wakeup list is created, by the media server, before receiving the wakeup trigger from the PoC client, wherein the predictive wakeup list is created in accordance with quantities of times the PoC client previously called other PoC clients in the PoC call session, when the PoC client most recently called the other PoC clients in the PoC call session, and whether the PoC client recently received alerts from the other PoC clients in the PoC call session;

wherein one or more of the servers is a controlling server that manages the PoC call session by acting as an arbitrator for the PoC call session; and

wherein the controlling server sends connect messages for the PoC call session to PoC clients of the calling and called parties, and the controlling server uses acknowledgments, received from the PoC clients, for the connect messages to determine whether the called parties have joined the PoC call session or not.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein a mobile unit for one of the called parties rejects the connect message for the PoC call session, even though in auto-answer mode, when busy with another call.

44. The system of claim 41, wherein the calling party receives the PoC call session through the controlling server, wherein the called parties receive the PoC call session from one or more home PoC servers, wherein a first one of the one or more home servers is different from the controlling server, and wherein the first one of the one or more home servers do not transmit the connect messages for the PoC call session to the called parties.