Patent ID: 7512119

Claim:
A method for establishing communication paths between access points of a communication system, the communication system including at least one packet transmission network providing a first family of access points, switching means equipped with connection interfaces providing a second family of access points and at least one gateway interface with the packet transmission network, call processing means including at least one call server to store configuration data and context data relating to terminals connected to the system via the access points and to perform processing of signaling relating to said terminals, and at least one call configuration manager cooperating with the call processing means to select a communication path establishment mode from a first mode governed by mechanisms of the packet transmission network and a second mode governed by mechanisms of the switching means, wherein the mechanisms of the switching means governing the second mode exploit predefined data describing a topology of the communication system made up of topological nodes belonging to the switching means and admitted topological paths within the switching means between pairs of topological nodes, wherein a respective reference topological node belonging to the switching means is associated with each access point, such that the reference topological node of each access point of the second family is accessible from said access point without passing via the packet transmission network, wherein establishment of a communication path between access points to place in communication the first and second terminals respectively connected to said access points includes the steps of: creating a first call processing task in a call server associated with the first terminal; forming, at the first call processing task, an establishment message including at least a number of the first terminal, an indication of the family of the access point to which the first terminal is connected and the reference topological node of said access point; in response to reception of said establishment message, creating a second call processing task in a call server associated with the second terminal; and querying the configuration server from the second call processing task, on the basis of the families and the reference topological nodes of the access points to which the first and second terminals are respectively connected, to obtain call configuration data indicating the establishment mode selected for the communication path between said access points wherein, in response to the querying from the second call processing task, the configuration manager selects the first communication path establishment mode when the access points to which the first and second terminals are respectively connected are from different families and have identical reference topological nodes.