AU2006251158A1

AU2006251158A1 - Method for providing time information for time dependent services in a telecommunications network; telecommunications network and network element of a telecommunications network

Info

Publication number: AU2006251158A1
Application number: AU2006251158A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Bizhan Karimi-Cherkandi; Farrokh Mahammadzadeh Kouchri
Original assignee: Siemens AG
Current assignee: Siemens AG
Priority date: 2005-05-26
Filing date: 2006-05-24
Publication date: 2006-11-30
Also published as: WO2006125804A1; EP1889126A1

Description

WO2006/125804 1 PCT/EP2006/062593 Description Method for providing time information for time dependent services in a telecommunications network; telecommunications 5 network and network element of a telecommunications network This application claims priority of commonly owned U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/684,638 filed May, 26, 2005, titled "Method and Apparatus for Providing CPE Time for 10 Services", the disclosure of which is incorporated fully herein by reference. The present invention relates to a method for providing time information for time dependent services in a 15 telecommunications network, a telecommunications network and a network element of a telecommunications network. Modern telecommunications networks offer value added services which exceed the basic bearer services such as the 20 transmission of voice, data and video. The features of those additional services are initiated in separate servers which usually are part of the network. A number of those services are time dependent services such as automatic wake-up services, automatic meet-me conference or time dependent call 25 filtering. The reference time for those time dependent services usually is determined by the local time of a local server which usually serves as a local switch or physical node for a 30 connection of a customer premises equipment (CPE) and a telecommunications network. Currently those time dependent services assume the CPE time to be the same as the switch time or a provisioned time applicable to the user. If time differences occur then the switch will force its time to the 35 CPEs. This means that a user-configured time information will be ignored by the switch. Additionally presentation of time and date in a call is no more valid for parties with subscribers being located in different time zones. If a WO 2006/125804 2 PCT/EP2006/062593 presentation of time information, e.g. at a called party's terminal, is provided, only the switch time is presented to the called party. 5 Time dependent services operate well as long as the CPE and the switch are in the same time zone. However, using time dependent services across time zones can cause inconveniences for a subscriber, since the assumption of simultaneity between the switch time and the CPE time is no longer valid. 10 For instance if the subscriber travels to a remote location, which is located outside the time zone where the switch is located, the time difference has to be considered for the time dependent services, since the local time of the CPE no longer corresponds to the local time of the switch. In 15 another example the user may wish to set his own defined time to the CPE and he thus disagrees with the switch time. This might be valid for a user with different customer premises equipment each dedicated to different business markets around the globe. In both cases time-dependent services may fail 20 serving their purpose. Time differences between the server time and CPE time will occur independently of the type of the network. Even though in a circuit switched time division multiplex (TDM) network 25 the connection between the CPE and the switch is fixed in a direct line connection, there might occur a time difference because the switch of a different provider is used. In a packet switched as for a Internet Protocol (IP) network with the introduction of Point-of-Presence- and IP-connections the 30 assumption of simultaneity between switch and CPE is less valid. So far, if the customer premises equipment (CPE) is in a different time zone as the service network element, then the 35 problem can be solved only with human interaction by compensating the time difference.

WO 2006/125804 3 PCT/EP2006/062593 In US patent 6,097,945 time zones are handled in a telecommunications system with personal mobility and time dependent routing. The system is arranged to calculate the time difference between a time zone which is obtained from a 5 subscriber, particularly a time zone where a subscriber permanently or temporarily is located, and a time where the routing takes place, particularly where a node is located. In US patent 6,546,084, a voice mail system and method with 10 subscriber selection of agent personalities telephone user interface address book and time zone awareness is disclosed. The system calculates the calling party's time based on the provisioned database related to calling party's time-zone. 15 In US patent 6,000,817 a method and apparatus for monitoring communication connections within and across time zones are disclosed, so as to prevent calls placed at undesirable times from being automatically connected to the target communication terminal. Here the country codes or area codes 20 are related to time zones by means of a database. All presented methods are related to time dependent services with respect to the respective local time which in all cases has been determined by the time zone where the switch is 25 located. In each document a compensation of the time difference was necessary. Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for providing an arbitrarily time information for time dependent services in a telecommunications network. It is a further object of the 30 invention to provide a telecommunications network with an arbitrarily chosen reference time. It is yet another object of the invention to provide a novel network element for supporting time dependent services based on an arbitrarily chosen reference time. 35 In accordance with the foregoing objectives , there is provided by the invention a method for providing time information for time dependent services in a WO2006/125804 4 PCT/EP2006/062593 telecommunications network, the telecommunications network comprising multiple network entities including a first terminal equipment and a first network element, the first network element having means for initializing and processing 5 of time dependent services. The method comprises the steps of: - determining a first time information of the first terminal equipment, - inserting said time information into a first signaling 10 message, and - transmitting said first signaling message to a first destination entity comprising the first network element, wherein said time information of said first signaling message is used during an initialization of a time dependent service. 15 The advantage of the invention is that the reference time which is relevant for the time dependent services is now advantageously determined by the first terminal equipment, and thus can be chosen in an arbitrarily manner. The inventive method provides a differentiation of the switch 20 time, the local time or the user time. In another embodiment of the invention, said first signaling message comprising the time information of the first terminal equipment is transmitted to a second destination entity of 25 the network. There a second time information of said destination entity is determined and inserted into a second signaling message and said second signaling message is transmitted back to the first network element, wherein said second time information of said second signaling message is 30 used during an initialization of a time dependent service. This way, time information originating from multiple network entities can be used during an initialization of a time dependent service. 35 In another embodiment the time information can originate besides from a first network terminal from either a second network element or a second terminal equipment.

WO2006/125804 5 PCT/EP2006/062593 In another embodiment the time information form a second network element or a second terminal equipment is transmitted back to the first terminal equipment. This is advantageous especially for presentation services. 5 In other preferred embodiments the time information relevant for the time dependent service is either extracted from a local server or set up by a user of a terminal equipment. This way the user determines which reference time is 10 considered during an initialization of a time dependent service. In another preferred embodiment the signaling messages which contain the relevant time information comprise at least of 15 one time field. Using more time fields allows the transmission of a large number of signaling information usable during an initialization of a time dependent service. In another preferred embodiment the signaling messages 20 further contain information about the terminal equipment and/or the network element which has inserted the time information. Such an array of times with the corresponding identification of the inserter allows for a larger variety of features of time dependent services. 25 In another preferred embodiment the signaling messages contain information controlling the presentation or presentation restriction of the time information of the respective network entity, thus offering an additional 30 feature of time dependent services. In another preferred embodiment the first terminal equipment requests another network entity to insert its time information to the signaling message. This is advantageously 35 either implemented on a per call basis or profile based. It is the advantage of the presented method to offer the possibility to enhance the signaling protocols by indicating WO2006/125804 6 PCT/EP2006/062593 the time information of a terminal equipment. Once the terminal equipment's time is known to the service, more reliable and desired time-dependent functions can be provided. No human interface shall be required to compensate 5 for arising time issues caused by the time difference between a network element such as a switch and a terminal equipment. The invention will now be described with reference to the figures: 10 In the drawings: Figure 1 shows a schematic view of a telecommunication system according with the present invention incorporating the 15 flow of the signaling messages for an origination feature. Figure 2 shows a schematic view of a telecommunication system according with the present invention incorporating the flow of the signaling messages between a first and second 20 terminal equipment. With reference to both, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, a communications system is shown. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 the system comprises a customer premises equipment CPE A (also referred 25 to as first terminal equipment) being connected to a communications network NET. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2 the system comprises a first customer premises equipment CPE A and a second customer premises equipment CPE B (also referred to as second terminal equipment), both being 30 connected to a communications network NET. The network may be implemented as TDM or as IP network or as hybrid network. Inside of the network NET there are depicted a first and a second network element NE1 and NE2. The first network element NE1 may comprise a proxy-Server, and the second network 35 element may comprise switching equipment, such as a soft switch.

WO2006/125804 7 PCT/EP2006/062593 The flow chart boxes and the attached arrows representing the signaling messages show the steps during initializing a feature of a service. 5 A first embodiment of the invention is related to an origination feature in telephony also called A-side feature, where communication is provided between a first subscriber A (A-side) and a switch or feature provider. This embodiment will be explained with reference to Fig. 1. In the example, a 10 subscriber A has traveled to a place which is located in a different time zone compared to his home office. The subscriber A now wants to use his/her terminal, for example a cell phone, for a feature of a time dependent service. The service shall not involve additional intervention of a 15 person. An example for such an origination feature including an time dependent service would be a wake-up service or a hot-line service. The subscriber may alternatively use any telephone equipment or a IP enabled equipment such as a PC with suitable software. 20 Before initiating or configuring the feature of the wanted time dependent service the subscriber may have to configure his/her terminal equipment. In this example the subscriber A may wish to synchronize his/her phone with the local time. 25 The time information CPE A time comprises either date and time or only the time or the date set up in the first terminal equipment CPEA. The time information may be configured by the user of the terminal equipment for example 30 manually by using the keypad of the first terminal equipment CPEA or it may be configured by a local server with respect to the local time zone. The time information provided by an terminal equipment CPE may either be provided as - absolute CPE-local time 35 - relative to the Greenwich Mean Time (GTM) - relative to the provider time zone WO2006/125804 8 PCT/EP2006/062593 For CPEs not capable of providing such time information, the existing methods shall be applied and the time information is based on the feature provider system. 5 After setting the time of his/her terminal equipment the subscriber A may dial the number of the server providing the time-depending service. This way a first signaling message is generated. 10 The signaling message may comprise any known signaling protocol message such as SIP:INVITE message (SIP= Session initiation protocol). It shall comprise at least one time field. If multiple time fields are provided, a plurality of additional information which might be relevant for the time 15 dependent service can be conveyed implicitly. Newer SIP signaling methods may also allow the user to transmit or activate applications like Java. All information embedded in the signaling message shall be propagated transparently throughout the whole network. 20 In this example the first signaling message contains the time information CPE A time which has been configured before dialing, an additional flag Service Wake_up for indication of which service is invoked, and an additional WakeupTimeX, 25 as wished by the subscriber. The signaling message Setup(CPE A time, ServiceWake up, Wake up Time X) is then provided to the first network element NE1, which might be a proxy server. After receiving the first signaling message the first network element will transmit the signaling message to 30 a second network element NE2, which may comprise the hardware and the software to process the feature. After the feature has been initiated, the second network element NE2 will send an acknowledgement message Ack back to the CPE of subscriber A and process the feature based on the information embedded 35 in the signaling message. A second embodiment of the invention is related to an termination feature in telephony also called B-side feature, WO2006/125804 9 PCT/EP2006/062593 where communication is provided between a first and second subscriber. Examples for time dependent termination features are calling/call presentation with time display, return call services with time indication or time based call forwarding 5 adapting the users setup-time. Referring now to Fig. 2, a subscriber A has again traveled to a place which is located in a different time zone compared to his service providing home office. The subscriber A now may 10 want to use his/her personal computer (PC) for IP telephony for a termination feature of the time dependent service. Subscriber A may want to call a subscriber B being located in a different time zone which is not the time zone of the home office of subscriber A. 15 In this example subscriber A may want to configure his/her own user time and the subscriber may chose to set the local time of his/her home office as time of his/her PC terminal equipment. Then subscriber A may dial subscriber B's PSTN 20 (Public switched telephone network) directory number. A corresponding setup message Setup(CPE A Time), for example a SIP:INVITE message (SIP= Session initiation protocol), is generated. This first signaling message contains the time information CPE A time which has been configured by 25 subscriber A before dialing. In this example the time information CPE A time may correspond to the local time of the home office of subscriber A. After passing through the first network element NE1 the 30 signaling message Setup(CPE A Time) is transmitted to another network element NE2 such as a switch. The second network element NE2 forwards the message to the second terminal equipment CPE B of subscriber B. There a second signaling message Ack(CPE B Time) is generated, which may optionally 35 contain the time information of the second terminal equipment CPEB for use during the initialization of the time dependent service. From CPE B the second signaling message is returned to one or more network elements. If the time information of WO2006/125804 10 PCT/EP2006/062593 the second terminal equipment CPEB is provided, the network element associated with the service provider can optionally use the information for processing the time dependent service. One possibility is that the time information of the 5 second terminal equipment CPE B is analyzed in the server and a feature of the time dependent service will be activated in dependence of the time information of both terminal equipments CPE A and CPE B. It will depend on the feature of the time service, which time information is used. 10 In a next step the feature of the time dependent service is activated by sending a feature request message to the network element where the targeted time-depending service is residing. The service may reside in a feature server and may 15 be located at an arbitrarily place inside of the network. Another possibility is that the service resides in the call or signaling partner. In this case the second time information being embedded in the second signaling message (here ACK(CPE B Time)) will be transmitted back to the first 20 terminal A. The signaling messages may additionally contain an information about the origin of the time information. A flag inside of the signaling protocol may be reserved for 25 indicating which entity of the communications system has inserted the time relevant for the service. Another flag or time field of the signaling message could be reserved to control the presentation or presentation restriction of the time information of the involved parties. It may be 30 advantageous to provide different time fields and the identification of the inserter, so that the feature handling consideres different treatment for the case that B-side is provided or if A-side is provided. 35 It might be relevant for the processing of the time dependent service that not only the CPEs insert their time information into the signaling message but also the network elements comprising for example switches. In this case each network WO2006/125804 11 PCT/EP2006/062593 element may comprise means for inserting its time. For example a switch may insert the local switch time. The time dependent service and also all network entities may be enabled to differentiate between the switch generated time 5 information and the time information delivered by a call partner or a terminal equipment. In another embodiment of the invention, a CPE shall be able to request of the switch to insert its time information. This may be initiated either on a per call basis or pre-provisioned per subscriber profile 10 basis. That means a feature can be provisioned in such a way that always the switch is requested to insert its time, or in such a way, that for while establishing a call, the caller requests the switch to insert its time for this specific call. 15

Claims

1. A method for providing time information for time dependent services in a telecommunications network, the 5 telecommunications network comprising multiple network entities including a first terminal equipment (CPEA) and a first network element (NEl), the first network element (NEl) having means for initializing and processing of time dependent services, 10 the method comprising the steps of - determining a first time information (CPE A Time) of the first terminal equipment (CPEA), - inserting said time information (CPE A Time) into a first signaling message, and 15 - transmitting said first signaling message to a first destination entity comprising of a first network element (NEl), wherein said time information (CPE A Time) of said first signaling message is used during an initialization of a time dependent service. 20

2. The method of claim 1, wherein - said first signaling message comprising the time information (CPE A Time) of the first terminal equipment 25 (CPEA) is transmitted to a second destination entity of the network, - a second time information (CPE B Time) of said destination entity is determined - said second time information (CPE B Time) is inserted into 30 a second signaling message, and - said second signaling message is transmitted back to the first network element (NEl), wherein said second time information (CPE B Time) of said second signaling message is used during an initialization of a time dependent service. 35

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said second destination entity comprises of a second network element (NE2) or a second terminal equipment (CPEB). WO 2006/125804 13 PCT/EP2006/062593

4. The method of claim 2, wherein said second time information (CPE B Time) of said second signaling message is further transmitted back to the 5 first terminal equipment (CPEA).

5. The method of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein said first and/or second time information (CPE A Time, CPE B Time) is extracted from a local server. 10

6. The method of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein said first and/or second time information (CPE A Time, CPE B Time) is set up by a user of the respective terminal equipment (CPEA, CPEB). 15

7. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein said signaling messages comprise at least one time field. 20

8. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein said signaling messages further contain information about the terminal equipment (CPEA, CPEB) and/or the network element (NE1, NE2) which has inserted the time information. 25

9. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein said signaling messages contain information controlling the presentation or presentation restriction of the time information of the respective network entity (CPE_A, 30 CPE_B, NE1, NE2).

10. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the first terminal equipment (CPEA) requests the first or second network entity (NE1, NE2, CPEB) to insert 35 its time information to the signaling message.

11. The method of claim 10, WO2006/125804 14 PCT/EP2006/062593 wherein said request of the time information is implemented on a per call basis or profile based.

12. Telecommunications network 5 comprising a number of network entities including - a first network element (NEl) having means for initializing and processing of time dependent services of time dependent services, - a first terminal equipment (CPEA) coupled to the first 10 network element (NEl) for providing a first signaling message, the first signaling message comprising a first time information (CPE A Time) determined by said first terminal equipment (CPEA) for use during an initialization of a time dependent service. 15

13. The telecommunications network of claim 12, further comprising an additional network entity coupled to the first network element (NEl) for providing a second signaling message, the second signaling message comprising a second 20 time information (CPE B Time) determined by said additional network entity for the use during an initialization of a time dependent service.

14. The telecommunications network of claim 13, 25 wherein said additional network entity comprises a second terminal equipment (CPEB) or a second network element (NE2).

15. The telecommunications network of any of claims 12 to 14, wherein the first and/or second terminal equipment (CPE_A, 30 CPEB) comprise user-configurable time information (CPE A Time, CPE B Time) for insertion in the respective signaling message.

16. The telecommunications network of any of claims 12 to 15, 35 wherein said signaling messages comprise at least one time field.

17. The telecommunications network of any of claims 12 to 16, WO2006/125804 15 PCT/EP2006/062593 wherein said signaling messages further contain information about the network entity (CPE A, CPE B, NE1, NE2) which has inserted its time information. 5

18. The telecommunications network of any of claims 12 to 17, wherein said signaling messages contain information controlling the presentation or presentation restriction of the time information of the respective network entity (CPE_A, CPE_B, NE1, NE2). 10

19. The telecommunications network of any of claims 12 to 18, wherein said first terminal equipment (CPEA) comprises of means to request a network entity (NE1, NE2, CPEB) to insert its time information to the respective signaling message, 15 said request being implemented either on a per call basis or profile based.

20. Network element of a telecommunications network, comprising 20 means for initializing and processing time dependent services depending on at least one time information (CPE A Time, CPE B Time) in at least one signaling message received from at least one terminal equipment (CPE A, CPE B). 25

21. The network element of claim 20, further comprising means for extracting the time information (CPE A Time, CPE B Time) from at least one field of the respective signaling message. 30

22. The network element of claim 21, further comprising means for inserting a time information generated locally at the network element.

23. The network element of claim 22, 35 further comprising means to identify the terminal equipment (CPEA, CPEB) or another network element (NE1, NE2) which has inserted the time information (CPE A Time, CPE B Time). WO2006/125804 16 PCT/EP2006/062593

24. The network element of claim 23, further comprising means to identify information controlling the presentation or presentation restriction of the time information of a terminal equipment (CPEA, CPEB) or another 5 network element.