Synthetic Transactions Between Communication Endpoints

• US 20160028854A1
• Filed: 07/22/2014
• Published: 01/28/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Leeb, Gunter, Menezes, Pascal F., Hanlon, William N., Hassan, Amer A., Morrow, Jon R., Zybura, John Hillary
• Granted Patent: US 10,021,214 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/56 Unified messaging, e.g. interactions between e-mail, instant messaging or converged IP messaging [CPM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/06 Testing, supervising or monitoring using simulated traffic

Abstract

Techniques for synthetic transactions between communication endpoints are described. According to various embodiments, a synthetic transaction represents a simulation of a communication session between different communication endpoints. In at least some embodiments, performance attributes of a synthetic transaction may be recorded during various stages of the synthetic transaction. Based on the performance attributes, various actions may be taken to mitigate errors and optimize communication session performance.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

one or more computer-readable storage media including instructions stored thereon that, responsive to execution by the at least one processor, cause the system perform operations including;

receiving an instruction to initiate a synthetic transaction between a communication client of a client device and a communication client of a communication endpoint and according to a simulation scenario;

ascertaining parameters of the synthetic transaction from the simulation scenario, the parameters including one or more communication endpoints with which the synthetic transaction is to be performed and transaction parameters to be applied as part of the synthetic transaction; and

performing the synthetic transaction between the communication client of the client device and the communication client of the communication endpoint and according to the transaction parameters.

2. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the instruction to initiate the synthetic transaction is received in response to detecting an upcoming calendar event that involves a communication session with the client device, and wherein the transaction parameters simulate one or more parameters of the communication session.

3. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the instruction to initiate the synthetic transaction is received from an entity remote from the client device.

4. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the simulation scenario is a simulation of a previously-recorded communication session.

5. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the operations further include:

receiving a further instruction to initiate a further synthetic transaction between the communication client of the client device and a communication client of least one other communication endpoint concurrently with the synthetic transaction between the communication client of the client device and the communication client of the communication endpoint; and

performing the synthetic transaction between the communication client of the client device and the communication client of the communication endpoint concurrently with performing the further synthetic transaction between the communication client of the client device and the communication client of the least one other communication endpoint.

6. A system as recited in claim 5, wherein the at least one other communication endpoint comprises multiple different communication endpoints, and wherein the further synthetic transaction comprises a simulation of a multicast communication session initiated by the client device to the multiple different communication endpoints.

7. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the operations further include:

detecting attributes of the synthetic transaction, including one or more of performance attributes or media quality attributes of the synthetic transaction; and

recording the attributes of the synthetic transaction.

8. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the simulation scenario comprises one or more instances of communication media including at least one of voice media or video media, and wherein said performing the synthetic transaction comprises exchanging the one or more instances of communication media between the communication client of the client device and the communication client of the communication endpoint.

9. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the communication endpoint comprises a simulated communication endpoint that is a logical representation of an end-user device.

10. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving an indication to initiate a synthetic transaction between a communication client of a client device and a communication client of a communication endpoint;

generating a simulation scenario for the synthetic transaction that identifies the client device and the communication endpoint, and that includes parameters to be applied to the synthetic transaction; and

instructing the client device to initiate the synthetic transaction between the communication client of the client device and the communication client of the communication endpoint and according to the simulation scenario.

11. A method as described in claim 10, wherein the indication is received further to a periodically scheduled synthetic transaction between the communication client of the client device and the communication client of the communication endpoint.

12. A method as described in claim 10, wherein said receiving comprises:

detecting an upcoming calendar event that includes a communication session; and

ascertaining parameters of the calendar event,

wherein said generating comprises generating the simulation scenario based at least in part on the parameters of the calendar event.

13. A method as described in claim 12, wherein said instructing comprises instructing the client device to initiate the synthetic transaction prior to the calendar event.

14. A method as described in claim 10, wherein said generating comprises generating the simulation scenario to simulate a previously-recorded communication session.

15. A method as described in claim 10, further comprising:

receiving an indication to initiate a further synthetic transaction between the communication client of the client device and one or more communication clients of one or more other communication endpoints;

generating a further simulation scenario for the further synthetic transaction that identifies the client device and the one or more other communication endpoints, and that includes parameters to be applied to the further synthetic transaction; and

instructing the client device to initiate the further synthetic transaction concurrently with the synthetic transaction between the communication client of the client device and the communication client of the communication endpoint.

16. A method as described in claim 15, wherein the synthetic transaction and the further synthetic transaction represent at least one of:

a simulation of a multicast communication session from the client device to multiple communication endpoints;

or

a simulation of a conference call between the client device and multiple communication endpoints.

17. A method as described in claim 10, further comprising:

recording attributes of the synthetic transaction; and

communicating the attributes to one or more entities involved in the synthetic transaction.

18. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving an indication to initiate a synthetic transaction between a communication client of a client device and a communication client of a simulated communication endpoint, the simulated communication endpoint being hosted by a network service that is remote from the client device;

generating a simulation scenario for the synthetic transaction that identifies the client device and the simulated communication endpoint, and that includes parameters to be applied to the synthetic transaction; and

instructing the client device to initiate the synthetic transaction between the communication client of the client device and the communication client of the simulated communication endpoint and according to the simulation scenario.

19. A method as described in claim 18, wherein the simulated endpoint is a logic representation of an end-user device that is configured to engage in the synthetic transaction independent of user input.

20. A method as described in claim 18, wherein the simulation scenario includes a simulation of a previously-recorded communication session between the client device and a communication endpoint.