Patent ID: 7266611

Claim:
A system for transferring multimedia information between a first device operating on a packet-switched network and a second device operating on a circuit-switched network, the system comprising: a first port adapted to: establish a first communication session with the first device; send a first stream of information to the first device, wherein the first stream of information is characterized by a packet-switched protocol and comprises first session control information; and receive a second stream of information from the first device, wherein the second stream of information is characterized by the packet-switched protocol and comprises second session control information; a second port adapted to: establish a second communication session with the second device; send a third stream of information to the second device, wherein the third stream of information is characterized by a circuit-switched protocol and comprises third session control information; and receive a fourth stream of information from the second device, wherein the fourth stream of information is characterized by the circuit-switched protocol and comprises fourth session control information; a first bidirectional transcoding module coupled to the first port and the second port, wherein the first bidirectional transcoding module is adapted to: decode a media content associated with the second stream of information and encode a media content associated with the third stream of information based on the media content associated with the second stream of information; and decode a media content associated with the fourth stream of information and encode a media content associated with the first stream of information based on the media content associated with the fourth stream of information; a second bidirectional transcoding module coupled to the first port and the second port, wherein the second bidirectional transcoding module is adapted to: decode a portion of the second session control information and encode the third session control information based on the portion of the second session control information; and decode a portion of the fourth session control information and encode the first session control information based on the portion of the fourth session control information; and a session negotiation module adapted to perform: a first capability negotiation process between the system and the first device; and a second capability negotiation process between the system and the second device.