Source: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/9013538.html
Timestamp: 2017-10-20 21:53:15
Document Index: 549372392

Matched Legal Cases: ['§119', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', '§119']

IP-based conferencing in a telecommunications network - Level 3 Communications, LLC
IP-based conferencing in a telecommunications network
United States Patent 9013538
Aspects of the present disclosure involve systems, methods, computer program products, and the like, for collaboration conferencing with multiple participants over a communications network, and more specifically for a conferencing routing service for managing and routing collaboration participants. In one embodiment, the conferencing system may utilize Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to conduct the routing of the collaboration conferences within the telecommunications network. The SIP-based routing provides for the exchanging of information from one device of the conferencing system to another that is not available in non-IP based conferencing systems. Thus, through the use of IP-based telecommunication devices, the network provides beneficial features for collaboration conferencing.
13/708713
370/221, 370/235, 370/260, 370/352, 370/392, 709/203, 709/204, 709/205, 709/207, 709/223
H04L12/18; H04L12/801; H04L29/06; H04M3/56
348/14.08, 370/221, 370/230.1, 370/235, 370/236, 370/237, 370/260, 370/352, 370/392, 379/202.01, 379/265.09, 455/416, 455/518, 709/203, 709/204, 709/205, 709/207, 709/223, 715/751
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This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/578,794 entitled “SIP-BASED VOIP COLLABORATION”, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/578,798 entitled “SIP-BASED VOIP COLLABORATION”, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/578,803 entitled “SIP-BASED VOIP COLLABORATION”, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/578,807 entitled “SIP-BASED VOIP COLLABORATION” and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/578,810 entitled “SIP-BASED VOIP COLLABORATION” all filed on Dec. 21, 2011 and each of which is incorporated by reference in there entirety herein. This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to provisional patent application 61/584,115 titled “CENTRAL CONFERENCING ROUTING SERVICE” and provisional patent application 61/584,122 titled “CENTRAL CONFERENCING ROUTING SERVICE,” both filed on Jan. 6, 2012 and both of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
1. A telecommunications network comprising: at least one conference bridge; and at least one routing device configured to: receive a communication from a user of the telecommunications network, the communication comprising a request to initiate a collaboration conference; identify the at least one conference bridge; and transmit a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) refer command configured to route the communication from the user to the at least one conference bridge; wherein, the at least one conference bridge is a SIP-based telecommunications device and is configured to host the collaboration conference in response to the communication from the user.
2. The telecommunications network of claim 1 wherein the at least one routing device is further configured to: transmit a SIP-based request message to the at least one conference bridge, wherein the SIP-based request message comprises at least a request for an open communication port of the at least one conference bridge.
3. The telecommunications network of claim 2 wherein the at least one conference bridge is further configured to transmit an acknowledgement message from the at least one conference bridge in response to the request message, the acknowledgement message comprising at least the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the at least one conference bridge.
4. The telecommunications network of claim 3 wherein the refer command is a SIP-based transmission message comprising at least the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the at least one conference bridge.
5. The telecommunications network of claim 1 wherein the routing device comprises: a network interface unit for receiving the communication from a user of the telecommunications network; and an application server configured to execute an application to transmit the refer command configured to route the communication from the user to the at least one conference bridge.
6. The telecommunications network of claim 2 wherein the communication from the user of the telecommunications network further comprises an identification of the user and the routing device is further configured to: associating a conference identification number with the identification of the user of the communication request; and wherein the SIP-based request message to the at least one conference bridge further comprises the conference identification number.
7. The telecommunications network of claim 6 wherein the identification comprises a text string unique to the user of the telecommunications network.
8. The telecommunications network of claim 6 wherein the collaboration conference comprises a web-based conference component and an audio component and the SIP-based request message to the at least one conference bridge further comprises a request for an audio communication port and an IP communication port.
9. A method for hosting a collaboration conference in a telecommunications network comprising: receiving a SIP request message for access to a collaboration conference from a requester's communication device, the request comprising an identifier of the requester in the header of the SIP request message; selecting a hosting conference bridge from a plurality of conference bridges associated with the telecommunications network and configured to host a collaboration conference, wherein the hosting conference bridge is a session initiation protocol (SIP) based telecommunication device; transmitting a SIP request message to the selected hosting conference bridge, wherein the SIP-based request message comprises at least the conference identification number; and transmitting one or more SIP refer routing messages to the telecommunications network, wherein the one or more routing messages comprise at least an internet protocol (IP) address of the selected hosting conference bridge.
10. The method of claim 9 further comprising: receiving a SIP-based acknowledgement message from the selected hosting conference bridge in response to the SIP-based request message, the acknowledgement message comprising at least the IP address of the selected conference bridge.
11. The method of claim 9 further comprising associating a conference identification number with the identification of the user of the communication request; and wherein the SIP-based request message to the at least one conference bridge further comprises the conference identification number.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the identification comprises a text string unique to the requester of the telecommunications network.
13. The method of claim 11 wherein the identification comprises a telephone number of the requester's communication device unique and an access code number.
14. The method of claim 9 further comprising: transmitting a SIP-request command requesting operational information of the plurality of conference bridges, the operational information comprising at least the available capacity for the plurality of conference bridges.
15. The method of claim 9 wherein the SIP based conference bridge is configured to provide high definition audio and high definition video capabilities for the collaboration conference.
16. The method of claim 9 further comprising: receiving a SIP-reinvite command comprising at least the identifier of the requester, the SIP-reinvite command configured to switch the requester from a first collaboration conference to a second collaboration conference.
17. A system for hosting a collaboration conference in a telecommunications network, the system comprising: a network interface unit configured to receive a communication from a user of a communications network to establish a collaboration conference on the network; an application server in communication with the network interface unit; and a computer-readable medium connected to the application server configured to store information and instructions that, when executed by the application server, performs the operations of: receiving a session initiation protocol (SIP) request message from a routing device of the network, the SIP request message comprising a request for at least one communication port of a hosting conference bridge associated with the network, wherein the hosting conference bridge is a SIP based telecommunication device; reserving at least one communication port of the hosting conference bridge; transmitting a SIP-based acknowledgement message in response to the SIP request message, the acknowledgement message comprising at least the IP address of the hosting conference bridge; receiving a SIP refer message; and hosting a collaboration conference of a plurality of users of the network.
18. The system of claim 17 wherein the communication port is a video communication port configured to transmit video packets through the network.
19. The system of claim 17 wherein the communication port is a web-based communication port configured to transmit internet protocol (IP) data packets through the network.
20. The system of claim 17 wherein the SIP request message from the routing device comprises an identifier of the requester's communication device in a header portion of the SIP request message from the routing device.
Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to systems and methods that provide for collaboration conferencing with multiple participants using devices connected to a telecommunication network, including a VoIP network, and more specifically for a conferencing system utilizing one or more Internet Protocol (IP)-based telecommunication devices.
One implementation of the present disclosure may take the form of a telecommunications network. The network may include at least one conference bridge and a least one routing device. The routing device is configured to receive a communication from a user of the telecommunications network, the communication comprising a request to initiate a collaboration conference, identify the at least one conference bridge and transmit a refer command configured to route the communication from the user to the at least one conference bridge. Further, the at least one conference bridge is a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) based telecommunications device and is configured to host the collaboration conference in response to the communication from the user.
Another implementation of the present disclosure may take the form of a method for hosting a collaboration conference in a telecommunications network. The method include the operations of receiving a SIP request message for access to a collaboration conference from a requester's communication device, the request comprising an identifier of the requester in the header of the SIP request message and selecting a hosting conference bridge from a plurality of conference bridges associated with the telecommunications network and configured to host a collaboration conference, wherein the hosting conference bridge is a session initiation protocol (SIP) based telecommunication device. In addition, the method includes transmitting a SIP request message to the selected hosting conference bridge, wherein the SIP-based request message comprises at least the conference identification number and transmitting one or more SIP refer routing messages to the telecommunications network, wherein the one or more routing messages comprises at least an internet protocol (IP) address of the selected hosting conference bridge.
Yet another implementation of the present disclosure may take the form of a system for hosting a collaboration conference in a telecommunications network. The system includes a network interface unit configured to receive a communication from a user of a communications network to establish a collaboration conference on the network, an application server in communication with the network interface unit and a computer-readable medium connected to the application server. The computer-readable medium is configured to store information and instructions that, when executed by the application server, performs certain operations. Such operations include receiving a session initiation protocol (SIP) request message from a routing device of the network, the SIP request message comprising a request for at least one communication port of a hosting conference bridge associated with the network, wherein the hosting conference bridge is a SIP based telecommunication device, reserving at least one communication port of the hosting conference bridge and transmitting a SIP-based acknowledgement message in response to the SIP request message, the acknowledgement message comprising at least the IP address of the hosting conference bridge. Additionally, the operations also include receiving a SIP request message for access to a collaboration conference from a requester's communication device, the request comprising an identifier of the requester in the header of the SIP request message and hosting a collaboration conference of a plurality of users of the network.
Customer network 106 can include communication devices such as, but not limited to, a personal computer or a telephone 110 connected to a router/firewall 114. Although shown in FIG. 1 as computer 110, the communication devices may include any type of communication device that receives a multimedia signal, such as an audio, video or web-based signal, and presents that signal for use by a user of the communication device. The communication and networking components of the customer network 106 enable a user at the customer network 106 to communicate via the VoIP network 102 to other communication devices, such as another customer network and/or an analog telephone 115, 120. Components of the customer network 106 are typically home-based or business-based, but they can be relocated and may be designed for easy portability. For example, the communication device 110 may be wireless (e.g., cellular) telephone, smart phone, tablet or portable laptop computer.
In general, the conference bridges 142, 144 provide a hosting site for a collaboration conference between a plurality of users of the network 102. Thus, the conference bridge A 142 may host a collaboration conference while the conference bridge B 144 may host an additional collaboration conference. In particular, the conference bridge A 142 is connected to the communications network 102 through a media gateway 133 similar to the media gateway disclosed above. This configuration may be utilized when the conference bridge 142 is a time division multiplex (TDM) bridge. Conference bridge B 144 is internal to the VoIP network 102 through which the communications of the conference are transmitted. This configuration is utilized for Internet Protocol (IP) based bridges and is generally described in more detail below.
One particular network and/or conference bridge platform supported by the network configuration 102 of FIG. 1 is a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) based network. For example, the conference bridge B 144 may be a SIP-based conference bridge. Such IP-based components may provide additional conferencing features to the network by providing information concerning the collaboration conference in a header of a message transmitted through the network such as an identification of the collaboration conference, video integration, Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) based routing and conference integration, conference access credentials for authentication and permission to enter the requested conference. SIP-based conference bridges may also provide high definition audio, additional security features and transitions between collaboration conferences without having to redial into the system. In general, because components operating utilizing SIP can exchange information within a header, many additional features for a collaboration conference can be offered to participants on a SIP-based conference bridge. In addition, SIP-based CCRS devices may utilize many of the advantages of information exchange within the header when communicating with TDM-based network devices.
To connect to a collaboration conference, each participant to the conference may be routed to the same conference bridge 144 for the duration of the conference. The conference bridge 144, in turn, provides communication ports for each participant such that each participant can hear or otherwise participate in the collaboration conference. Any conference bridge known in the art or hereafter developed may be integrated into the system 100 of FIG. 1 for hosting a collaboration conference, including IP-based conference bridges. In addition, the term “conference bridge” or “bridge” includes any component of a communication network that provides an access point to one or more users of the network for a collaboration conference. For example, a “conference bridge” may also include such devices as a media server device, a gateway server device or the like as configured within the network 102.
In some instances, the conference bridge 144 or routing device 140, upon receipt of the request to initiate or join a collaboration conference, executes an application that queries the requester to enter an access code number that the requester enters into the communication device 110, 115, 120. With this information, the network 102 determines that the requester intends to initiate or join a collaboration conference and routes the request to a conference bridge, as explained in greater detail below.
In a SIP-based implementation of the network 102 and the conference bridge 144, the routing of the request to the conference bridge may include the transmission of one or more SIP-based commands, with each command including a header with information concerning the routing of the request. For example, the network 102 may route a request to the routing device 140. In one particular embodiment, the request is a SIP-based command and includes an identifier of the requester in the header portion of the command. The requester identifier may be any character based identifier, including telephone number, name of the requester, name of a group of company associated with the requester, or other identifier. In response, the routing device 140 selects a conference bridge that is hosting or will host the collaboration conference identified in the request. The routing device 140 then issues a SIP refer command to route the request from the ingress network of the requester to the selected conference bridge. The SIP refer command may include, among other information, an identification of the conference bridge in the header of the command. In response, the network then routes the requester's request to the conference bridge for connection to the collaboration conference. The operation of the routing device 140 and the conference bridge 144 are described in more detail in relation to FIGS. 3.
Beginning with operation 302, a participant to a conference communication may dial into or otherwise contact the network to join the conference using a communication device 110, 115 and/or 120. For example, the participant may dial a conference number and/or enter a conference code to access the collaboration conference. The media gateway 130, 132 or other switching device routes the request from the participant to the routing device 140 through the network 102. In FIG. 1, the request is illustrated by the dashed line between the media gateway 130, 132 and the routing device 140. As should be appreciated, in some IP networks, the request may be a SIP-based command routed to the routing device 140 on a signaling plane and does not include the audio portion of the communication. The request is then received by the routing device 140, as indicated by operation 302 of FIG. 3.
Upon receipt, the routing device 140 determines, in operation 304, which of the available conference bridges 142, 144 associated with the network 102 that is hosting or will host the collaboration conference requested by the participant. The routing device 140 may utilize several factors to determine which conference bridge 142, 144 hosts the collaboration conference. In addition, the routing device 140 may communicate with one or more of the conference bridges 142, 144 associated with the network 102 in operation 304. This communication between the routing device 140 and the conference bridges is illustrated by the dashed lines between the routing device and the conference bridges in FIG. 1. Further, in the embodiment in which the conference bridge 144 is within the network 100, the routing device 140 would communicate directly with the conference bridge without going through a media gateway device 133.
In operation 308, the routing device 140 receives the acknowledgement message from the conference bridge 144. In one embodiment, the acknowledgement message contains information that identifies the open port to the routing device 140. For example, in the SIP-based embodiment, the acknowledgment may include the IP address of the conference bridge in the header of the message. In response to receiving the acknowledgement message, the routing device 140 routes the participant's communication to the open port in the conferencing bridge 144 in operation 310. In one embodiment, the routing device 140 facilitates the communication to the conference bridge 144 such that the audio portion of the communication from the participant is no longer routed through the routing device. For example, in a network 102 that utilizes Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), the routing device 140 may issue a “SIP Refer” command to route the participant communication to the conference bridge 144, effectively removing the routing device from the communication flow. This refer message may include the IP address of the selected conference bridge in the header such that the network can route the communication to the selected conference bridge. The connection of the communication bypassing the routing device is illustrated in FIG. 1 as the solid line connecting the media gateway 130 associated with the participant's telephonic device 120 and the media gateway associated with conference bridge 144. Thus, through the use of the method outlined in FIG. 3, the CCRS 140 may receive a request from a participant of a collaboration conference and route the participant to the proper conference bridge that hosts the specific collaboration conference. In a similar manner, collaboration conference participants may be routed to media gateway 133 and conference bridge A 142 such that multiple conferences may be occurring simultaneously through the network 102 on multiple conferencing bridges 142, 144.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating several components of a routing device 140 that may be implemented on the network 100 of FIG. 1. The components outlined may be implemented by one or more processors executing one or more computer instructions stored in a computer-readable medium. Examples of systems that may execute or implement the components are provided below with reference to FIG. 6. Also, as mentioned above, the components of the routing device 140 may be located on any number of computing devices within the network, on any number of computing devices outside of the network, and/or a combination of both.
The routing device 402 may include a database 404 configured to store information concerning an associated network, one or more customers or users of the network 416, identification numbers 414, and/or any other information useful by the routing device in routing, billing, load balancing, disaster recover and the like for collaboration conferencing communications. For example, the database 404 may store identification numbers 414 for individuals or groups of users to the network who have access to a collaboration conference feature. Associated with the identification numbers may be one or more telephone numbers, access codes, communication device identifications, master identifications and routing rules associated with the users. The database 404 may also store information associated with the routing 412 and handling of collaboration conferencing, such as accepted communication devices, welcoming messages and operational rules for conducting the collaboration conference. In general, any information that may be utilized by the routing device to route a collaboration communication and conduct the collaboration conference may be stored in one or more databases associated with the routing device.
In operation, the routing device 402 may perform the operations of the flowchart of FIG. 3B. In particular, the routing device 402 receives a request to establish a collaboration conference at the network interface 410 in operation 352. The request may include information concerning the requestor, such as requestor's telephone number and access code number. However, although the operations of FIG. 3B are described in reference to the request comprising the requestor's telephone phone number and access code number, this is but one example of the information used by the CCRS to identify the requester. For example, the request may include an identification of the requester's communication device in the request header, such as a text string of the requester's personal computer. In another example, the requester's name may be used as the identifier of the requester in the request. Thus, any operation described herein utilizing the requester's telephone number and access code may be applied to other information contained in the request. For ease of instruction, however, the example of the telephone number and access code number is used.
As mentioned above, the database 402 may include a subscriber information table 414 that associates information of the requester (such as a telephone number, access code number or other identification or reference of a requestor) to a group ID number for the routing device system. Thus, several different requester references can be associated with the same group ID number, such as a customer number. In addition, one or more routing rules 412 can be associated with a group ID number in the database 402. For example, one routing rule 412 may restrict all collaboration conferences for a particular group ID number to a particular conference bridge. This removes the need to manually change the routing rules for each individual requester for all of the members of a particular group ID number. Further, the database 404 of the routing device 402 may be utilized by a control engine 418 of the routing device system to store information 416 utilized by the control engine, such as associating a master ID number of a collaboration conference with an ID of the conference bridge on which the conference is hosted, the status of a collaboration conference 420, the start time of the collaboration conference, the participant count of the conference, the maximum number of participants that have attended the particular conference, and the like. In general, the database 404 may include any information concerning collaboration conferences hosted by the telecommunications network.
As described, by utilizing one or more of the embodiments described above, the routing device system may route a collaboration conference communication to an appropriate conference bridge based on any number of preferences or information about the requester and/or communication network. In one example, the routing device may employ one or more control or state engines that monitor or maintain a status of the collaboration conferences occurring over the network. The control engines maintain information about each collaboration conference, such as a master identification number for the conference, a status (such as active, inactive, temporary, or unknown), the conference bridge on which the conference is hosted, a start time for the conference, a participant count, a maximum participant count and a stop time for the conference, among other information. In general, the control engines may obtain or receive any information about the conference and maintain a record of the information for use by the routing device system. As such, each control engine in the routing device may be connected to or otherwise associated with the conference bridges associated with the communications network to provide and receive information concerning the collaboration conferences of the network. In one embodiment, the control engines may be an application executed by the application server 408 with the information or data stored in the database 404. The operation of the control engine in relation to the routing device is described in more detail in concurrently filed nonprovisional application Ser. No. 13/708,659 titled “METHOD FOR ROUTING IN A CENTRAL CONFERENCING ROUTING SERVER,” which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. Related features are also described in concurrently filed nonprovisional application Ser. No. 13/708,636 titled “Central Conferencing Routing Server,” which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
In addition to the master control engine feature, the routing device system may also incorporate a priority table or list into a decision process when determining which conference bridge to host the collaboration conference. The information or data within the priority table may be stored in one or more databases of the routing device. In general, the priority list is associated with a customer number or other identifying number of a requester that lists one or more conference bridges that may host a collaboration conference and a priority associated with each conference bridge in the list. For example, the priority list for one customer may include three conference bridges ranked in order by the highest priority to the lower priority. In some embodiments, a plurality of conference bridges may be grouped into a single priority group. Upon receipt of a request for a collaboration conference, the master control engine may identify the requester, access the priority list associated with the requester and select a conference bridge based on the priority list. As discussed in more detail below, the priority of the conference bridges for any requester may be based on several criteria. The operation of the load balancing and priority routing in relation to the CCRS is described in more detail in concurrently filed nonprovisional application Ser. No. 13/708,678 titled “LOAD BALANCING IN A CENTRAL CONFERENCING ROUTING SERVER,” which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Another advantage that the priority list provides is in the situation when a conference bridge is placed offline or suffers a failure. For example, a scheduled maintenance on one of the conference bridges may be desired by a network administrator. Thus, conferences currently being hosted on the conference bridge for repair may be maintained by the CCRS, but new conferences may be directed to other conference bridges in an effort to remove the conferences from the selected conference bridge. To accomplish this, the CCRS may remove the selected conference bridge from the priority lists for each requester. Thus, when a request is received and the CCRS consults the priority list for the requester, the selected bridge is not an available option. However, the master control engine may continue to direct requests for ongoing conferences to the proper conference bridge. The operation of disaster recovery in relation to the CCRS is described in more detail in concurrently filed nonprovisional application Ser. No. 13/708,689 titled “DISASTER RECOVERY WITH A CENTRAL CONFERENCING ROUTING SERVER,” which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
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