Systems and methods for setting up a session in a collaborative communication system

• US 8,467,319 B1
• Filed: 04/16/2004
• Issued: 06/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: West Corporation
• Inventors: Jones, Dan, Vernon, Todd, Puentes, Emmanuel, Wanek, Charles, Marcum, William
• Primary Examiner(s): Moore, Jr., Michael J
• Application Number:
  US10/826,863
• Time in Patent Office: 3,350 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/260
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1813 for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms instant messaging H04L51/04; protocols for multimedia communication H04L65/1101; arrangements for multi-party communication H04L65/403; telephonic conference arrangements H04M3/56; television conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1818 Conference organisation arrangements, e.g. handling schedules, setting up parameters needed by nodes to attend a conference, booking network resources, notifying involved parties
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1886 with traffic restrictions for efficiency improvement, e.g. involving subnets or subdomains
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/083 using passwords cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using a predetermined code H04L9/3226
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/147 Signalling methods or messages providing extensions to protocols defined by standardisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users

Abstract

A collaborative communication system comprises a highly flexible architecture that facilitates connecting communication devices and networks to establish multimedia collaboration sessions in a manner that allows distribution of various services and features throughout the collaborative communication system to provide scalability and selectable combination of cost, resource usage, and performance.

Claims

1. A method for logging-in to a collaborative communication session, comprising:

a connection being established between a media switch and an endpoint;

the media switch applying a set of rules to verify that the connection is permissible;

the media switch establishing a channel for the endpoint;

the media switch notifying a presence service of the connection via a channel hook configured to send a publish command to the presence service, which sets an administrative level of presence for the endpoint that will allow a system including the media switch to be aware of the endpoint, but that does not publicly announce the presence of the endpoint to other endpoints in the system; and

when a conference is not running, the presence service is configured to create a pending presence entry and select a conference service, wherein selecting the conference service comprises the presence service locating a conference service that has a green light status.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the endpoint publishing its presence with the presence service.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the endpoint requesting system information.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the endpoint receiving the system information and enabling or disabling functionality based on the received system information.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the endpoint subscribing to presence information related to another endpoint.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the other endpoint is a conference endpoint.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the presence service notifying the endpoint that an associated conference ID is in use.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising authenticating the endpoint.

9. A method for starting a collaborative communication session, comprising:

a client endpoint indicating a desire to start or join a collaborative communication session;

a presence service determining an endpoint for the collaborative communication session if the collaborative communication session is running and receiving a publish command which sets an administrative level of presence for the endpoint that will allow a system to be aware of the endpoint, but that does not publicly announce the presence of the endpoint to other endpoints in the system,

wherein, when the collaborative communication session is not running, the presence service create a pending presence entry for the collaborative communication session and selects a conference service on which the collaborative communication session will be hosted

wherein the selecting of the conference service comprises the presence service locating a conference service that has a green light status.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the presence service returning an address of the selected conference service endpoint to the client endpoint.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the client endpoint sending a request to begin a collaborative communication session to the selected conference service endpoint.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the request includes an ID.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising the selected endpoint establishing the collaborative communication session in response to the request.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising authenticating the established collaborative communication session.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising the established collaborative communication session publishing its presence once it is established.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising the established collaborative communication session sending a success response to the client endpoint.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising the client endpoint joining the established collaborative communication session.

18. The method of claim 13, further comprising other client endpoints joining the established collaborative communication session.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising sending a conference history to another client endpoint when the other client endpoint joins the established collaborative communication session.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising the client endpoint sending a request to the established collaborative communication session to initiate a feature to be used in the collaborative communication session.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising the established collaborative communication session initiating the feature in response to the request.

22. The method of claim 9, further comprising the presence service returning an address of the endpoint for the collaborative communication session to the client endpoint if the collaborative communication session is running, and the client endpoint joining the collaborative communication session.

23. A collaborative communication system, comprising:

a client endpoint;

a presence service; and

a media switch configured to establish a connection with the client endpoint, apply a set of rules to verify that the connection is permissible, establish a channel for the endpoint, and notify the presence service of the connection via a channel hook configured to send a publish command to the presence service, which sets an administrative level of presence for the endpoint that will allow a system including the media switch to be aware of the endpoint, but that does not publicly announce the presence of the endpoint to other endpoints in the system,

wherein, when a conference is not running, the presence service is configured to create a pending presence entry and select a conference service, wherein the selection of the conference service comprises the presence service locate a conference service that has a green light status.

24. The collaborative communication system of claim 23, wherein the client endpoint is configured to publish its presence with the presence service.

25. The collaborative communication system of claim 23, wherein the client endpoint is configured to request system information.

26. The collaborative communication system of claim 25, wherein the client endpoint is further configured to receive the system information and to enable or disable functionality based on the received system information.

27. The collaborative communication system of claim 23, wherein the client endpoint is configured to subscribe to presence information related to another endpoint.

28. The collaborative communication system of claim 23, wherein the presence service is configured to notify the client endpoint that an associated conference ID is in use.

29. The collaborative communication system of claim 23, further comprising an authentication service configured to authenticate the endpoint.

30. A collaborative communication system, comprising:

a client endpoint configured to attempt to join a collaborative communication session; and

a presence service configured to determine an endpoint for the collaborative communication session if it is running and receive a publish command which sets an administrative level of presence for the endpoint that will allow a system to be aware of the endpoint, but that does not publicly announce the presence of the endpoint to other endpoints in the system; and

a conference service configured to receive a command from the endpoint,

wherein, when the conference is not running, the presence service is configured to create a pending presence entry for the collaborative communication session and select a conference service, wherein the selection of the conference service comprises the presence service locate a conference service that has a green light status.

31. The collaborative communication system of claim 30, wherein the presence service is further configured to return an address of the selected endpoint to the client endpoint.

32. The collaborative communication system of claim 30, wherein the client endpoint is further configured to send a request to begin a collaborative communication session to the selected endpoint.

33. The collaborative communication system of claim 32, wherein the request includes an ID.

34. The collaborative communication system of claim 32, wherein the selected endpoint is configured to establish the collaborative communication session in response to the request.

35. The collaborative communication system of claim 34, further comprising an authentication service configured to authenticate the established collaborative communication session.

36. The collaborative communication system of claim 34, wherein the established collaborative communication session is configured to publish its presence once it is established.

37. The collaborative communication system of claim 34 wherein the established collaborative communication session is further configured to send a success response to the client endpoint.

38. The collaborative communication system of claim 34, wherein the client endpoint is further configured to join the established collaborative communication session.

39. The collaborative communication system of claim 34, further comprising other client endpoints configured to join the established collaborative communication session.

40. The collaborative communication system of claim 39, wherein the established collaborative communication session is further configured to send a conference history to another client endpoint when the other client endpoint joins the established collaborative communication session.

41. The collaborative communication system of claim 38, wherein the client endpoint is further configured to send a request to the established collaborative communication session to initiate a feature to be used in the collaborative communication session.

42. The collaborative communication system of claim 41, wherein the established collaborative communication session is further configured to initiate the feature in response to the request.

43. The collaborative communication system of claim 30, wherein the presence service is further configured to return an address of the endpoint for the collaborative communication session to the client endpoint if the collaborative communication session is running, and wherein the client endpoint is further configured to join the collaborative communication session.