OBTAINING SERVICES THROUGH A LOCAL NETWORK

• US 20160226921A1
• Filed: 04/11/2016
• Published: 08/04/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Connelly, Michael, Kotay, Sree, Pedaprolu, Hari Venkatram, Maharana, Bhagabati Prasad
• Granted Patent: US 10,057,301 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1026 at the edge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/103 in the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1036 at the edge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/104 in the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1045 Proxies, e.g. for session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0069 comprising a residential gateway, e.g. those which provide an adapter for POTS or ISDN terminals

Abstract

One or more endpoints may be registered with a gateway at a premises. The gateway may include local physical interfaces for communicating with a first subset of the endpoints. The gateway may further include Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) proxy servers for communicating with a second subset of the endpoints. Incoming communications to the premises may be routed by the gateway to one or more of the endpoints via the local physical interfaces or the SIP proxy servers. One or more endpoints may initiate outgoing communications via the local physical interfaces or the SIP proxy servers.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

registering, by a gateway, a first end point with the gateway, wherein the gateway comprises a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) proxy server associated with the first end point;

registering, by the gateway, a second end point with the gateway;

receiving, by the gateway, a request to initiate a communication session with a telephone number associated with the gateway;

determining, by the gateway and based on one or more configuration settings, whether data associated with the communication request is to be routed to the first end point or the second end point;

responsive to determining that the data associated with the communication request is to be routed to the first end point, routing, via the SIP proxy server and over a wireless local area network, the data associated with the communication session to the first end point; and

responsive to determining that the data associated with the communication request is to be routed to the second end point, routing, by the gateway and via a telecommunication protocol, the data associated with the communication session to the second end point.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the routing the data associated with the communication session to the first end point comprises creating, by the gateway and via the SIP proxy server, a local communication session between the gateway and the first end point.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the creating the local communication session comprises:

sending, via the SIP proxy server, one or more SIP messages to a SIP-based communication client executing on the first end point, the one or more SIP messages comprising an indication of the request to initiate the communication session and an option to create the local communication session.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising creating the local communication session responsive to receiving, by the gateway and from the first end point, one or more SIP messages indicating that the local communication session is to be created.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising initiating, by the gateway and in response to receiving the one or more SIP messages, an external communication session.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising bridging, by the gateway, the local communication session with the external communication session.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating, by the gateway and via the SIP proxy server, a first local communication session between the gateway and the first end point.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving, by the gateway and from a third end point, a request to join the first local communication session;

sending, by the gateway and via the SIP proxy server, one or more SIP messages indicating the request received from the third end point;

creating, by the gateway, a second local communication session between the gateway and the third end point; and

bridging, by the gateway, the first local communication session and the second local communication session.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

creating, by the gateway, a first local communication session between the gateway and the second end point;

receiving, by the gateway and via the SIP proxy server, one or more SIP messages from the first end point, the one or more SIP messages comprising a request to join the first local communication session;

creating, by the gateway, a second local communication session between the gateway and the first end point; and

bridging, by the gateway, the first local communication session and the second local communication session.

10. A method comprising:

receiving, by a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) proxy server of a gateway and from a cellular device, one or more SIP messages comprising a registration request;

transmitting, by the SIP proxy server and to the cellular device, one or more SIP messages comprising a list of telephone numbers;

receiving, by the SIP proxy server and from the cellular device, one or more SIP messages comprising a second telephone number and a selected telephone number from the list of telephone numbers; and

initiating, by the gateway and in response to receiving the selected telephone number and the second telephone number from the cellular device, a voice communication session from the selected telephone number to the second telephone number, wherein the second telephone number is associated with another device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the list of telephone numbers comprises telephone numbers associated with the gateway or with a premises registered with the gateway.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising, associating, by the gateway and in response to receiving the registration request, the cellular device with a communication port module within the gateway, wherein the communication port module comprises the SIP proxy server.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising initiating, by the SIP proxy server, a first local voice communication session with a SIP-based communication client executing on the cellular device, wherein the first local voice communication session comprises an exchange of SIP signals.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the initiating the voice communication session comprises bridging the first local voice communication session with a second local voice communication session between the another device and a second communication port module.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the communication port module is automatically created within the gateway in response to detecting that the cellular device is within range to wirelessly communicate with the gateway.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the initiating the voice communication session from the selected telephone number to the second telephone number comprises:

placing, by the gateway, a phone call from the gateway to the second telephone number; and

bridging the phone call to a voice communication between the gateway and the selected telephone number.

17. A method comprising:

sending, by a gateway and to a first device, one or more Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) messages over a wireless local area network, the one or more SIP messages comprising a list of telephone numbers registered with the gateway;

receiving, by the gateway and from the first device, one or more SIP messages, the one or more SIP messages comprising a selected telephone number from the list of telephone numbers and a second telephone number, wherein the second telephone number is associated with a second device; and

initiating, by the gateway and in response to receiving the selected telephone number and the second telephone number, a voice communication session from the selected telephone number to the second telephone number.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the list of telephone numbers comprises telephone numbers associated with the gateway or with a premises registered with the gateway.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the sending, by the gateway and to the first device, the one or more SIP messages comprises sending the one or more SIP messages via a SIP proxy server of the gateway.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising initiating, by the SIP proxy server, a first local voice communication session with a SIP-based communication client executing on the first device, wherein the first local voice communication session comprises an exchange of SIP signals.