E911 implementation for IP phones

• US 9,014,197 B2
• Filed: 07/14/2006
• Issued: 04/21/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Nambakkam, Sampath
• Primary Examiner(s): Hamza, Faruk
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRAN, THINH D
• Application Number:
  US11/486,459
• Publication Number:
  US 20080013523A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,203 Days
• Field of Search: 370/352, 379/45
• US Class Current: 370/395.52
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1073 Registration or de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/04 for emergency applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/22 Automatic class or number identification arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42042 Notifying the called party of information on the calling party details within substation equipment H04M1/57, signalling details H04Q3/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0075 Details of addressing, directories or routing tables

Abstract

A system including an application server, the application server communicatively coupled to a service bureau configured to store location information, and communicatively coupled to a communication device over an Internet Protocol (IP) network, the communication device configured to transmit to the application server a call request message in order to establish a voice communication session, and to transmit voice information during the voice communication session; wherein the application server is configured to associate the communication device with a first telephone number and a second number, and the second number is associated with the stored location information.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

an application server communicatively coupled to a service bureau configured to store and determine location information based in part on location and number information associated with a communication device previously stored in a location database located within the service bureau, and communicatively coupled to receive from the communication device over an Internet Protocol (IP) network a call request message for establishing a voice communication session,

wherein the application server is located remotely from the service bureau and is configured to;

associate the communication device with a first telephone number and a second number, the first telephone number being associated with the call request message at the time the call is initiated, and the second number being associated with the stored location information;

receive an emergency services routing number (ESRN) and an emergency service query key (ESQK), wherein the ESRN and the ESQK correspond to the stored location information associated with the second number; and

transmit the ESRN and the ESQK to a gateway controller, wherein the ESQK is provided from the gateway controller to a gateway associated with the ESRN and is used to establish the voice communication session with a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) via a session border control, a gateway, and a selective router associated with the ESRN, wherein a voice communication, provided through the voice communication session, passes through the session border control and is converted from an IP format to a time-division multiplexed format before being received by the selective router.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the application server is further configured to send a query to the service bureau in response to receiving the call request message, the query including the second number, and to receive from the service bureau the stored location information in response to the query.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising the gateway controller communicatively coupled to the application server and configured to receive the ESQK and the ESRN from the application server.

4. The system of claim 3, further comprising the gateway communicatively coupled to the gateway controller and configured to receive the ESQK from the gateway controller, receive voice information from the communication device through a session border control, convert the voice information from an IP format to a time-division multiplexed format, and pass the ESQK to the selective router to connect the communication session with the PSAP, wherein the gateway is further configured to connect to the gateway controller after the application server receives the ESRN and ESQK from the service bureau.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the selective router is communicatively coupled to the gateway and PSAP and configured to route the voice information from the gateway to the PSAP.

6. The system of claim 5, further comprising an Automatic Location Information (ALI) database communicatively coupled to the service bureau and the PSAP and configured to provide ALI to the PSAP in response to a request from the PSAP.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication device is a softphone.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the second number is an emergency number which corresponds to outgoing emergency calls from the IP device so that emergency personnel can locate a user of the IP device using the stored location information.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the application server is provided by a local service provider and the service bureau is provided by a second service provider different from the local service provider.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the second number is a direct inward dialing number assigned to the communication device.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the first telephone number is associated with a plurality of communication devices at the time the call is initiated.

12. A method comprising:

receiving, by an application server, a call request for establishing a voice communication session from a communication device over an Internet Protocol (IP) network, wherein the communication device is associated with a first telephone number and a second number, and the first telephone number is associated with the call at the time the call is initiated;

querying a service bureau, by the application server, using information of the second number, the service bureau configured to store and determine location information associated with the second number based in part on location and number information associated with the communication device previously stored in a database located within the service bureau; and

receiving, at the application server, an emergency services routing number (ESRN) and an emergency service query key (ESQK) from the service bureau in response to the querying, wherein the ESRN and the ESQK correspond to stored location information associated with the second number, and wherein the application server is remote from the service bureau; and

transmitting, by the application server, the ESRN and the ESQK to a gateway controller, wherein the ESQK is provided from the gateway controller to a gateway associated with the ESRN and is used to establish a communication session with a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) via a session border control, a gateway, and a selective router associated with the ESRN, wherein a voice communication, provided through the voice communication session, passes through the session border control and is converted from an IP format to a time-division multiplexed format before being received by the selective router.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising establishing a communication with the communication device prior to receiving an emergency call.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining whether the call is a first type of outgoing call or a second type of outgoing call; and

selecting either the first telephone number or the second number based on the determination.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first type of outgoing call is associated with a determining the physical location of the communication device.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising transmitting the call request, wherein the call request includes the second number when the call is determined to be the first type of call, and the call request includes the first telephone number when the call is determined to be the second type of outgoing call.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the communication device is a softphone.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor, the instructions configured to perform the method of claim 12 when executed by the processor.

19. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

passing the ESQK to the selective router; and

connecting to the PSAP using the ESQK that is passed to the selective router.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein the application server is provided by a local service provider and the service bureau is provided by a second service provider different from the local service provider.