System and method for interconnecting portable information devices through a network based telecommunication system

• US 6,681,252 B1
• Filed: 09/27/1999
• Issued: 01/20/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Chemtron Research LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: 3Com Corporation (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Sidhu, Ikhlaq S., Schuster, Guido M., Dean, Frederick D., Belkind, Ronnen
• Primary Examiner(s): Harrell, Robert B.
• Application Number:
  US09/406,152
• Time in Patent Office: 1,576 Days
• Field of Search: 455/556.2, 379/93.05, 379/93.06, 379/93.07, 379/93.24, 709/200, 709/227, 709/230, 709/231, 709/232, 709/233, 709/238
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1026 at the edge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1104 Session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/1205 where the types of switching equipement comprises PSTN/ISDN equipment and switching equipment of networks other than PSTN/ISDN, e.g. Internet Protocol networks

Abstract

A personal information device (PID) is coupled to an IP Telephony phone in order to provide end-to-end connectivity to another PID through a network. The architecture disclosed includes a pair of internet-enabled phones that are able to establish a call session using a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and a Session Description Protocol (SDP). Each phone is also provided with an interface configured to communicate with a PID. Each PID is registered to a corresponding internet-enabled phone using each PID user'"'"'s SIP URL. The user of a first PID connected to a first phone requests a call to a SIP URL corresponding to the user of the second PID that is connected to a second phone. The SIP URL for the user of the second PID is resolved to the network address of the second phone and connection is established between the first and second phones. The connection includes a media stream for transferring data between each of the PIDs. A data object transmitted by the first PID through its interface with the first phone is transmitted to the second phone through the media stream of the connection between the first and second phones. The data object received by the second phone is transmitted to the second PID through the interface between the second phone and the second PID.

Claims

1. A system for exchanging data on a data network telephony system comprising:

a data network to provide data connectivity for a plurality of data communications channels using data transport protocols;

first and second data network telephones connected to the data network, each data network telephone operable to communicate a voice signal as voice-over-data packets on a voice-over-data channel, the voice over data channel being one of the plurality of data communications channels on the data network, the data network telephones operable to convert voice-over-data packets communicated on the voice-over-data channel to voice signals;

a first portable information device comprising a first graphical user interface and a first data network telephone interface, the first graphical user interface operable to accept and display PID data, the first data network telephone interface operable to communicate PID data to and from the first data network telephone; and

a second portable information device comprising a second graphical user interface and a second data network telephone interface, the second graphical user interface operable to accept and display PID data, the second data network telephone interface operable to communicate PID data to and from the second data network telephone,

wherein the first PID communicates PID data to the first data network telephone, the first data network telephone communicates the PID data to the second data network telephone, and the second data network telephone communicates the PID data to the second PID.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein:

at least a first and second user communicate on the voice-over-data channel and the PID data channel, each user identified by a user identifier that includes a unique sequence of alpha numeric elements.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein each data network telephone includes a device identifier that corresponds to the user identifier.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the device identifiers include Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

5. The system of claim 3 wherein the user identifiers include Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) addresses.

6. The system of claim 3 wherein the user identifiers include E.164 telephone numbers.

7. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a network telephony user database connected to the data network to store a user identifier and a telephone identifier corresponding to the user identifier for each of a plurality of users, wherein;

the user identifier includes a first sequence of alphanumeric elements that identify a corresponding user;

the telephone identifier includes a second sequence of alphanumeric elements that identifies a corresponding data network telephone; and

a network telephony connection server operable to receive a request message from the first data network telephone to initiate the voice over data channel and the PID data channel with the second data network telephone, and to send a response message in response to the request message.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the response and request messages are communicated by the network telephony connection server in accordance with the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the response and request messages are communicated by the network telephony connection server in accordance with the H.323 Protocol.

10. The system of claim 7 wherein the response and request messages are communicated by the network telephony connection server in accordance with the MGCP protocol.

11. The system of claim 7 wherein the response and request messages are communicated by the network telephony connection server in accordance with the MEGACO protocol.

12. The system of claim 7 wherein:

the request message includes a callee user identifier; and

wherein the network telephony connection server determines the telephone identifier for the callee user identifier and includes the telephone identifier in the response message.

13. The system of claim 7 wherein:

the request message includes a callee user identifier; and

wherein the network telephony connection server determines the telephone identifier for the callee identified in the callee user identifier and sends the response message to the callee at the telephone identifier.

14. A data network telephone for transferring data between a personal information device (PID) and a network, the device comprising:

means for communicating with the PID;

means for communicating with the network;

means for setting up a connection to another network communication device responsive to receiving a connection request command from the PID through the PID communication means, where the connection request command includes a user identifier value corresponding to the another network communication device and where the connection is defined to have at least one media stream for transferring data from the PID to another PID; and

means for receiving a selected data object from the PID and transmitting the selected data object through the media stream of the connection to the another network communication device.

15. The network communication device of claim 14, where the means for setting up a connection to another network communication device includes:

means for sending a query for the user identifier value to a location server;

means for receiving a response from the location server, where the response includes a network address for the another network communication device; and

means for connecting to the another network communication device using the network address from the response.

16. The network communication device of claim 15, where the means for connecting to the another network communication device further comprises Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) means for setting up the connection.

17. The network communication device of claim 16, where the means for connecting to the another network communication device includes means for defining the one media stream using a Session Description Protocol (SDP).

18. The network communication device of claim 15, further including means for receiving a registration request having another user identifier value from the PID and, responsive thereto, sending a registration update message, having the another user identifier value and another network address corresponding to the network communications device, to the location server.

19. The network communication device of claim 14 further including protocol means for communicating with a peer protocol means in the another PID.

20. The network communication device of claim 19, where the means for communicating with the PID further comprises an infrared communications link and where the protocol means further comprises an IrDA protocol stack.

21. The network communication device of claim 14, where the means for setting up a connection to another network communication device is further configured to set up another media stream for transferring data between the network communication device and the another network communication device simultaneous to the transfer of data between the PID and the another PID through the one media stream.

22. A method for transferring data between first and second personal information devices (PIDs) across a network, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a first communication link between the first PID and a first network communication device coupled to the network;

providing a second communication link between the second PID and a second network communication device coupled to the network;

establishing a connection through the network between the first and second network communication devices, where the connection includes at least one media stream for transfer of data between the first and second PIDs;

selecting a data object in the first PID;

transmitting the selected data object from the first PID to the first network communication device over the first communication link;

transferring the selected data object from the first network communication device over the media stream to the second network communication device; and

transmitting the selected data object from the second network communication device to the second PID over the second communication link.

23. The method of claim 22, the method further including the step of providing a location server accessible via the network and where the step of establishing a connection through the network further comprises:

sending a connection request from the first PID to the first network communication device, where the connection request includes a user identifier value corresponding to the second PID;

responsive to the connection request, sending a query including the user identifier value to the location server;

searching in the location server for an entry matching the user identifier value, where the matching entry includes a network address value corresponding to the second network communication device;

when the matching entry is found, sending a response message with the network address value corresponding to the second network communication device from the location server to the first network communication device; and

setting up the connection from the first network communication device to the second network communication device using the network address value corresponding to the second network communication device.

24. The method of claim 23, the method further including the steps of:

sending a registration request including the user identifier value from the second PID to the second network communication device via the second communication link;

responsive to the registration request, sending a registration update message including the user identifier value from the second network communication device to the location server via the network; and

responsive to the registration update message, storing the matching entry having the user identifier value and the network address of the second network device in the location server.

25. The method of claim 24, where the location server further comprises a redirect server according to an Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

26. The method of claim 22, the method further including the step of providing a location server accessible via the network and where the step of establishing a connection through the network further comprises:

sending a connection request from the first PID to the first network communication device, where the connection request includes a user identifier value corresponding to the second PID;

responsive to the connection request, sending a query including the user identifier value to the location server;

searching in the location server for an entry matching the user identifier value, where the matching entry includes a network address value corresponding to the second network communication device;

when the matching entry is found, sending a connection set-up message to the network address value corresponding to the second network communication device from the location server; and

setting up the connection between the first network communication device to the second network communication device responsive to the connection set-up message.

27. The method of claim 26, the method further including the steps of:

sending a registration request including the user identifier value from the second PID to the second network communication device via the second communication link;

responsive to the registration request, sending a registration update message including the user identifier value from the second network communication device to the location server via the network; and

responsive to the registration update message, storing the matching entry having the user identifier value and the network address of the second network device in the location server.

28. The method of claim 27, where the location server further comprises a proxy server according to an Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

29. The method of claim 27, including the step of defining the connection through the network between the first and second network devices using a Session Description Protocol (SDP).

30. The method of claim 22, where the first and second communication links are infrared links.

31. The method of claim 30, further including the steps of:

providing a predetermined protocol stack in the first and second PIDs; and

transferring the selected data object between peer layers of the predetermined protocol stack.

32. A system for transferring data between personal information devices (PIDs) across a network, the system comprising:

a first personal information device (PID) having a communication port, where the first PID is configured to transmit a connection request having a user identifier value through the communication port and where the first PID is configured to transmit a selected data object via the communication port;

a first network communication device having a communication port and a network interface connection coupled to the network, where the first network device is configured to receive the connection request and establish a connection with a second network communication device corresponding to the user identifier value from the connection request, where the connection includes a first media stream for transferring data between PIDs, and where the first network communication device is further configured to receive the selected data object via the communication port of the first network device and send the selected data object through the first media stream.

33. The system of claim 32, where:

the first network communication device is further configured to transmit a query message onto the network that includes the user identification value from the connection request and the first network communication device is configured to receive a response message through the network that includes a network address corresponding to the user identification value and establish the connection using the network address; and

the system further includes a location server having a network connection coupled to the network and a data store for storing entries that relate user identifier values to network addresses, where the location server is configured to receive the query message from the first network communication device that includes the user identifier value and, responsive thereto, search the data store for an entry corresponding to the user identifier value and, when a corresponding entry is found, send a response over the network to the first network communication device that includes the network address value from the corresponding entry.

34. The system of claim 33, where:

the user identifier value is a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Universal Resource Locator (URL);

the location server is a SIP location server operating in redirect mode; and

the first network device is configured to define the first media stream using a Session Definition Protocol (SDP).

35. The system of claim 33, where:

the user identifier value is a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Universal Resource Locator (URL);

the location server is a SIP location server operating in proxy mode; and

the first network device is configured to define the first media stream using a Session Definition Protocol (SDP).

36. The system of claim 32, where:

the first network communication device is further configured to transmit a query message onto the network that includes the user identification value from the connection request; and

the system further includes a location server having a network connection coupled to the network and a data store for storing entries that relate user identifier values to network addresses, where the location server is configured to receive the query message from the first network communication device that includes the user identifier value and, responsive thereto, search the data store for an entry corresponding to the user identifier value and, when a corresponding entry is found, establish the connection between the first network communication device and a network communication device corresponding to the network address value from the corresponding entry.

37. The system of claim 32, where the system includes a second PID coupled to the second network communications device, and where the first network communications device is further configured to establish a second media stream for transferring data between the first and second network communications devices while data is simultaneously transferring between the first and second PIDs via the first media stream.