Method and apparatus for co-socket telephony
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for allowing a caller on a telephone network to establish an internet co-socket. In a first embodiment, a protocol stack establishes an Internet connection over a public switched telephone network (PSTN) link and then operates and maintains the Internet connection on a second link. Internet socket establishment is initiated with a caller-ID packet so the distant end may pick up with an Internet form instead of a interactive voice response system (IVR). This allows the caller to interact with a graphical form instead of a voice prompt, and provides new methods of operation for web call-back systems for call centers. The invention also enables mixed PSTN/internet multimedia telephone calls. In an exemplary embodiment, when a point-to-point telephone PSTN connection is established, a screen of information automatically appears at both ends via the Internet. This allows users who have computers connected to an internet to easily mix PSTN calling with internet services.
145 Citations
94 Claims
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1-61. -61. (canceled)
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62. A communication system, comprising:
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a plurality of wireless handsets each having a user interface that enables a respective 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 public switched telephone network (PSTN);
a plurality of network access devices coupled to both a circuit-switched telephone network and to an Internet Protocol (IP) packet-switched network, wherein the network access devices each employ a respective wireless air interface which multiplexes both circuit-switched and packet-switched communications signals onto one or more wireless channels to support wireless communication with one or more of the wireless handsets;
a database server that is coupled at least partially via the IP packet-switched network to at least two of the plurality of network access devices and that provides dynamic information indicative of IP addresses available for use in communicating with respective ones of the wireless handsets;
a call setup protocol operative to set up a call from a particular wireless handset to a telephony device associated with a particular callee, wherein;
the particular wireless handset transmits to the database server a particular set of dialing digits specified by the respective user of the particular wireless handset, via a particular network access device and at least partially via the IP packet-switched network;
in response to the particular set of dialing digits, the database server sends back to the particular wireless handset, at least partially via the IP packet-switched network and via the particular network access device, a first destination IP address where the telephony device can be presently reached at least partially via the IP packet-switched network; and
the particular wireless handset causes to be established a first IP connection comprising a voice over Internet (VoIP) communication connection, to complete at least a portion of the call with the telephony device, using the first destination IP address;
wherein at least a portion of the VoIP communication connection is carried between the particular wireless handset and the particular network access device via the particular network access device. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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73. For use in a communication environment comprising a plurality of subscribers each having a wireless handset which provides a respective user interface to enable a respective subscriber to specify a call destination identifier to identify at least one telephony device associated with a callee, a communication system, comprising:
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a plurality of network access devices coupled to both a circuit-switched telephone network and to an Internet Protocol (IP) packet-switched network, wherein the network access devices each employ a respective wireless air interface which multiplexes both circuit-switched and packet-switched communications signals onto one or more wireless channels to support wireless communication with one or more of the wireless handsets;
a database server that is coupled at least partially via the IP packet-switched network to at least two of the plurality of network access devices;
a call setup protocol operative to set up a call from a particular wireless handset to a particular telephony device associated with a particular callee, wherein;
the particular wireless handset transmits to the database server the call destination identifier specified by the subscriber of the particular wireless handset, via a particular one of the plurality of network access devices and at least partially via the IP packet-switched network;
in response to the particular call destination identifier, the database server sends back to the particular wireless handset, at least partially via the IP packet-switched network and via the particular network access device, a first destination IP address where the particular telephony device can be presently reached at least partially via a path through the IP packet-switched network; and
the particular wireless handset causes to be established a first IP connection comprising a voice over Internet (VoIP) communication connection, with the particular telephony device, using the first destination IP address, wherein the plurality of network access devices collectively provide a set of multiplexed circuit-switched and packet-switched network connection areas from which the subscribers can place and receive VoIP telephone calls; and
wherein the communication system is configured to support the establishment of both dialed circuit-switched telephone calls and packet-switched VoIP telephony connections between respective wireless handsets associated with different ones of the plurality of subscribers and respective telephony devices associated with different respective callees. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91)
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83. For use in a communication environment comprising a plurality of subscribers each having a respective wireless handset which provides a respective user interface to enable a respective subscriber 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 public switched telephone network (PSTN), a communication system, comprising:
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a plurality of network access devices coupled to an Internet Protocol (IP) packet-switched network, wherein the network access devices each employ a respective wireless air interface to communicate at least packet-switched communications signals to support wireless data communications with one or more of the wireless handsets;
a database server that is coupled at least partially via the IP packet-switched network to at least two of the plurality of network access devices and that provides dynamic information indicative of active IP addresses available for use in communicating with respective ones of the wireless handsets;
a call setup protocol operative to set up a call from a particular wireless handset to a particular telephony device associated with a particular callee, wherein;
the particular wireless handset transmits to the database server a particular set of dialing digits specified by the respective user of the particular wireless handset, via a particular network access device and at least partially via the IP packet-switched network;
in response to the particular set of dialing digits, the database server sends back to the particular wireless handset, at least partially via the IP packet-switched network and via the particular network access device, a first destination Internet Protocol (IP) address where the particular telephony device associated can be presently reached;
the particular wireless handset causes to be established a first IP connection comprising a voice over Internet (VoIP) communication connection, to complete the call with the particular telephony device, using the first destination IP address;
wherein at least a portion of the VoIP communication connection is carried between the particular wireless handset and the particular telephony device via the particular network access device and at least partially via the IP packet-switched network; and
wherein the plurality of network access devices collectively provide a set of wireless domains from which the subscribers can place and receive VoIP telephone calls. - View Dependent Claims (92, 93, 94)
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Specification