Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M7/00—Arrangements for interconnection between switching centres
  • H04M7/12—Arrangements for interconnection between switching centres for working between exchanges having different types of switching equipment, e.g. power-driven and step by step or decimal and non-decimal
  • H04M7/1205—Arrangements for interconnection between switching centres for working between exchanges having different types of switching equipment, e.g. power-driven and step by step or decimal and non-decimal where the types of switching equipement comprises PSTN/ISDN equipment and switching equipment of networks other than PSTN/ISDN, e.g. Internet Protocol networks
  • H04M7/1285—Details of finding and selecting a gateway for a particular call
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L12/00—Data switching networks
  • H04L12/28—Data switching networks characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks]
  • H04L12/2854—Wide area networks, e.g. public data networks
  • H04L12/2856—Access arrangements, e.g. Internet access
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04Q—SELECTING
  • H04Q3/00—Selecting arrangements
  • H04Q3/0016—Arrangements providing connection between exchanges
  • H04Q3/0029—Provisions for intelligent networking
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04Q—SELECTING
  • H04Q3/00—Selecting arrangements
  • H04Q3/64—Distributing or queueing
  • H04Q3/66—Traffic distributors
  • H04Q3/665—Circuit arrangements therefor
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M2207/00—Type of exchange or network, i.e. telephonic medium, in which the telephonic communication takes place
  • H04M2207/12—Type of exchange or network, i.e. telephonic medium, in which the telephonic communication takes place intelligent networks
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
  • H04M3/38—Graded-service arrangements, i.e. some subscribers prevented from establishing certain connections
  • H04M3/382—Graded-service arrangements, i.e. some subscribers prevented from establishing certain connections using authorisation codes or passwords
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
  • H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
  • H04M3/54—Arrangements for diverting calls for one subscriber to another predetermined subscriber

Definitions

• the present invention relates to telecommunication in general and to voice communication over the Internet in particular.
• the general idea of the above mentioned applications is that a user, connected to Internet via a modem using his ordinary telephoneline, register with a service using a special application in his computer.
• the service connects the users telephone number to a special number activating a IN service so that whenever a call is placed towards the user, it is redirected to the special number.
• the IN service When the IN service is activated it activates a gateway which connects, via Internet or the service providers own IP-based network, to the application in the users computer and alerts the user who can the answer the call .
• None of the above mentioned applications discloses specific methods for routing incoming calls to the client in a manner which maximise the utilisation of the networks, both the telecommunication network and the IP-based network.
• the present invention discloses a method and a network for solving the problem with routing of incoming calls for increased utilisation of the networks.
• the purpose of the present invention is thus to be able to route incoming calls in a efficient manner.
• the problem described above, with how to route incoming calls in an efficient manner is solved by deverting the incoming call to a service node which further diverts the call to a specific node in dependance of the telephone number of the called party in combination with other characteristics.
• the problem described above is solved by divert the telephone number of the users telephone to a service node so that incoming calls will be diverted to said service node.
• said service node detects an incoming call it analyses the A- number called, the location of the user associated with said A- number and the location, or other characteristics, of the multitude of nodes and divert the incoming call in dependance of said analysis.
• One of the advantages of the present invention is that the network is utilised in an efficient manner.
• Another advantage is that the traveling time of the IP-packages may be minimised and thereby reducing disturbances in the quality of service.
• Figure 1 discloses the interfaces for the phonedoubler .
• Figure 2 discloses a more detailed view of the network configuration.
• Figure 3 shows a network configuration for the routing of incoming calls.
• Figure 4 shows a network configuration of another prefered embodiment .
• FIG. 1 depicts the Phone Doubler network and its external interfaces to external networks, users and units.
• a User 101 is the person using Phone Doubler at home. The user 101 is also the subscriber of the service.
• a ISDN 102 Integrated .Services Digital Network
• PSTN 103 Public Switched Telephone Network
• An SP 104 Service Provider
• Client 106 is the part of Phone Doubler that is located at the user's premises.
• a Registry 108 is a node within the gateway that is common for all users of the Phone Doubler service. This node is referred to as the registry in the remainder of this document.
• a VG 107 (Voice Gateway) is the unit that processes all calls and speech transmission. A VG 107 can handle a number of simultaneous calls. In figure 1 are also the interfaces external to the network and nodes identified.
• a UI 109 (User interface) is the interface between the User 101 and the Client 106.
• PRI 110 ISDN Primary Rate interface
• OMI 111 (Operation and Maintenance interface) is the interface between SP 104 and the registry 108 and VG 107.
• a CLGI 112 (Client Gateway Interface) is the interface between the Client 106 and the registry 108 respectivly the client and the VG 107.
• a REGI 113 (Registry interface) is the interface between the registry 108 and the VG 107.
• the client 201 is running on a PC (not shown), connected to the ISP's (internet Service Provider) AS 207 (Access Server) at the ISP's POP (Point Of Presence) via a modem 202 and PSTN 203.
• the PC is given an IP address by the ISP. This is normally done dynamically when connecting to the POP.
• the ISP and the SP 104 is the same organisation or service provider.
• the VG 203, 204 is connected to the ISP's IP network, typically on the same ES 205, 206 (Switched Ethernet) as the POP.
• Several VGs 203, 204 can be connected at one POP.
• Each VG 203, 204 is connected to ISDN 208 via PRI 209, 210.
• One Registry node 211, 212 can handle several VG:s 203, 204.
• the Registry node 211, 212 can physically be remotely placed.
• the VG 203, 204 and Registry 211, 212 are then typically connected to each other via the ISP's backbone IP network 213.
• the Registry node 211, 212 is normally duplicated for redundancy reasons .
• Several Routers are denoted with an R in figure 2.
• a client 301 is connected to a service providers IP- network 302.
• the PSTN network 304 is connected with the ISDN network 305 which in turn is connected to the service providers IP-network through a modem pool 306.
• the service providers IP- network is also connected to Internet 307 via a router 308.
• a subscriber 309 calls the client 301 over the PSTN network 304 but will of course get a busy tone if not the client 301 has diverted his telephone.
• the client 301 has diverted his telephone to a IN service located in an SSCP 310. This could of course also be an SSP and a separate SCP but for this embodiment an SSCP is sufficient.
• Two VG:s 311 and 312 (Voice Gateway) connects the ISDN network 305 with the service proveders IP- network.
• the SSCP is constantly updated with the load situation on the different VG:s and divert the incoming call to VG 312 which for the moment is the VG with the lowest load. Through this procedure the IP-packets delivered from the VG 312 to the client 301 will have minimum delay.
• Figure 4 shows an embodiment for devirting on geographic location. In this situation it is preferrable to have the longest part of the call in the PSTN network so the SSCP 401 diverts the incoming call from the subscriber 402 to the VG 403 closest to the client 404.
• the central registry nodes may serve several distributed voice gateway modules and form a wide area distributed gateway.
• each POP has one or several VGs, served by a central registry node. This ensures that voice traffic is guaranteed to have minimum latency and jitter, since the voice traffic through routers is avoided.
• the client has the following data:
• ONF ONe way Function
• country code The combination of country code, area code, and local number identifies each subscriber uniquely.
• the VG IP address attribute also represents the state of the client : A null address indicates signed-off, any other address indicates signed-on .
• the client IP address attribute also represents the state of the subscriber record (a null IP address represents signed-off, any other address represents signed-on) .
• E.164- IP-address association When a user is connected to the Internet, the IP address of the client is entered into the subscriber record in both registry nodes. Since both the telephone number and this IP address are keys, an E. 164 - IP-address association between the telephone number are and IP address is maintained in the subscriber record.
• the gateway configuration is defined by a set of VG records. This set of records is held by the registry, and updated on certain events such as start-up and shut-down of VGs.
• the VG holds a set of configuration data that are unique for each VG:
• POP point-of-presence
• the sign-on and sign-off functions comes in two flavours, depending on the setting of the authentication mode attribute of the registry configuration.
• the user In the auto provisioning mode the user is allowed to use the service if it's IP-address matches any client networks attribute of the VG-records. In this case the PoP's authentication is trusted and once passed, the user is trusted.
• the other, manual, mode means that user must be registered in the system by some administrative procedure into the system, see the subscriber management function. In order to use the service in this mode the users have to go through an authentication procedure also in the Phone Doubler system.
• the authentication procedure is based on the challenge response mechanism [Ref . Computer Communications Security, Warwick Ford, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-799453-2] .
• ONF the MD5 algorithm can be used [RSA Data Security, Inc. MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm].
• ONF (X+Y) denotes below the application of the one way function to the concatenated string X+Y.
• This usage case may only be entered if the state of the client is signed-off .
• the user Prior to this usage case the user is assumed to have set up Call Forwarding or (better) Call Forwarding on Busy to the ISDN number of the VG. This can be done with a telephone set or otherwise (software support for this is not provided in the product) . In another embodiment the Call Forwarding is handled automatically by the service.
• the client checks that the user's Internet session is active.
• the client saves its current IP address in the client IP address attribute of the client, for reference by other usage cases (outgoing call set-up and sign-off) .
• the client connects to the registry and transfers the telephone number of the user.
• the registry retrieves the IP address of the client as a parameter of the ongoing TCP session. Note that the client IP address will be different between Phone Doubler sessions if DHCP is in use.
• the registry selects a VG and hands over its IP address to the client.
• the selection of a VG is done by the registry as follows: (1) select those VG records for which the user's IP address match the primary client networks attribute of the VG, (2) select the VG record having the greatest difference between maximum signed-on users and primary signed-on users, (3) check that the maximum signed-on users limit will not be exceeded for the selected VG, and (4) check that the selected VG is not disabled.
• the selected VG record's currently primary signed-on attribute is incremented.
• the registry checks for the existence of a subscriber record with the stated telephone number. A check is made that the client IP address is not associated with any telephone number in the registry at this point. A check is made that the state of the subscriber record is enabled and signed-off .
• the subscriber record is updated (the client TP address, number of sign-ons, and last sign-on attributes are updated) .
• the PSTN- IP association is thereby established, and the previous checks ensure that it is unambiguous in both directions.
• the currently signed-on users attribute of the VG record is incremented.
• the VG IP address is set in the client. The client disconnects from the registry.
• the user is advised to start an Internet session and try to sign on again. If the registry is not accessible, the user is informed of this and asked to retry later. The incoming and outgoing call functions will not be available until the client has been successfully signed on. The usage case is terminated.
• the usage case is terminated. No information is presented to the user, as this exception may be a case of illegal use.
• a new subscriber record is created.
• the following attributes are filled in: telephone number, client IP address, first sign-on . Obvious default values are filled in for the remaining attributes . After this the present usage case may proceed. In another embodiment is no new subscriber record created but rather the usage case terminated.
• the client IP address is associated to some user's telephone number in the registry, this association is obviously invalid.
• the forced sign-off usage case is executed repeatedly for every such telephone number, until no association from the client IP address to some user's telephone number remains. After this the present usage case may proceed.
• the forced sign-off usage case is executed. After this the present usage case may proceed. If the subscriber's state is disabled the user is rejected access and the usage case is terminated.
• the client first request to start the sign-on procedure by signalling this to the registry. In this message the telephone number is transferred.
• the registry checks that a subscriber record, with that telephone number as key, exists and retrieves a non repeating value (NRV) and associates that NRV with the subscriber. This NRV is sent to the client which then responds with ONF (ONF (telno+password) +NRV) .
• ONF ONF (telno+password) +NRV
• NRV can be for instance current time is milliseconds.
• ONF telno+password
• the registry takes the authentication data (AD) in the subscriber record, then compares ONF (AD+NRV) with the value received from the client. If these values are equal the user is authenticated and a counter of authentication failures to zero.
• the client checks that its state is signed-on .
• the forced sign-off usage case is executed.
• the client disconnects from the registry.
• the usage case is terminated with no further action (shutdown of the client may proceed) .
• the usage case is terminated. Shutdown of the client may proceed. This will lead to an invalid association between the user's telephone number and the client IP address, lasting until it is cleared by a sign-on, auto-sign- off or incoming call set-up usage case.
• the client checks that its state is signed-on . A reminder to cancel his Call Forwarding setting is presented to the user. Unfortunately, cancellation of Call Forwarding cannot be done until the Internet session is finished (outside the scope of the Phone Doubler product) .
• the forced sign-off usage case is executed.
• the client disconnects from the registry.
• the usage case is terminated with no further action (shutdown of the client may proceed) .
• the usage case is terminated. Shutdown of the client may proceed. This will lead to an invalid association between the user's telephone number and the client IP address, lasting until it is cleared by a sign-on, auto-sign- off or incoming call set-up usage case.
• the association between the user's telephone number and the client IP address is broken (The subscriber record is updated) .
• the registry log is updated.
• Auto-sign-off This usage case is executed periodically in the registry, without manual intervention. The purpose is to remove incorrect information from the subscriber records. The periodicity is given by the auto sign-off period attribute of the registry. It should be reasonably short, since this is how an accidentally disconnected user gets salvaged and can sign on again. It must however be longer than the PPP inactivity time-out, in order not to interfere with that function of the ISP's Internet service.
• the client If the client is alive but its telephone number does not match the telephone number attribute in the subscriber record, issue a number inconsistency at auto-sign-off alarm and execute the forced sign-off usage case for the subscriber indicated by the subscriber record.
• the subscriber record is deleted.
• the UI of the client is closely related to the sign-on and sign- off usage cases.
• the client When the client is started it will establish a connection to the ISP's IP network, if not done already by some other application.
• the sign-on usage case will then be executed automatically.
• the client UI also provides a menu choice or push-button by which the user may request a sign-on. This is meaningful e. g. if the initial sign-on failed for some reason.
• the incoming call function makes it possible for the user to be connected to the point-of-presence (POP) , using his telephone line, and still be able to receive telephone calls on that line and number.
• POP point-of-presence
• the A-party is the party calling the user's telephone number, which is diverted to the ISDN group number of a VG cluster.
• the telephone number of the user may be diverted to a IN service .
• A-part dials B-part's telephone number, which is forwarded to the UAN (Universial Access Number) .
• the call is originated from the PRI interface.
• call set- up the B-part's telephone number is extracted from the Q.931 signalling over PRI.
• the type of number to extract is configured in the number extraction method.
• trunk prefix parameter If the trunk prefix parameter is present its value is prepended to the B-number.
• the VG connects to the registry and looks up the subscriber record of the B-part's telephone number.
• the client IP address is retrieved from this record.
• the VG disconnects from the registry.
• a connection is established to the client, using the IP address that was fetched from the registry.
• the client indicates an incoming call to the user via the UI .
• the A-party' s telephone number is not presented.
• the call cannot be handled.
• the VG disconnects from the registry, the B-part is signalled to be busy in the PRI and the usage case is terminated.
• the VG disconnects from the registry and the B-part is signalled to be busy in the PRI. The usage case is then terminated. This exception will occur for a user who has signed off and forgotten to cancel his call forwarding.
• the B-part is signalled to be busy in PRI. The present usage case is then terminated.
• connection to the client succeeds, but the telephone number of the client is not equal to the B-part's telephone number, the B-part is signalled to be busy in PRI. The present usage case is then terminated.
• the reject incoming calls flag is set in the client the B- part is signalled to be busy in PRI and the usage case is terminated.
• a message is presented to the user. This message informs him that there is an incoming call, and that he has two options: (1) terminate the application that uses audio and pick up the call, or (2) reject the call. If (2) is selected, the B-part is signalled to be busy in PRI and the usage case is terminated. If (1) is selected, another attempt is made to set up the call . Should this attempt also fail because the audio device is not free, the same message and options are presented repeatedly.
• This usage case can only occur after the incoming call set-up has succeeded.
• the user chooses to answer the call.
• the client updates its status message. Speech transmission starts.
• This usage case can only occur after the incoming call set-up has succeeded.
• the B-part is signalled to be busy in the PRI All resources that were allocated for the call are released in the client and the VG.
• the VG disconnects from the client.
• This usage case can only occur after the incoming call set-up has succeeded.
• This usage case is triggered from the PRI .
• the VG disconnects from the client.
• This usage case can only occur after the incoming call set-up has succeeded.
• This usage case is triggered from the PRI. It occurs after a while if the B-part (i. e., the Phone Doubler user) does not act at all, and the A-part does not hang up.
• the B-part i. e., the Phone Doubler user
• the VG disconnects from the client.
• Incoming call B-part hangs up during talking This usage case can only occur after the incoming call answer has succeeded, i. e. when speech transmission has been established.
• This usage case can only occur after the incoming call answer has succeeded, i. e. when speech transmission has been established.
• This usage case is triggered from the PRI. All resources that were allocated for the call are released in the client and the VG.
• the user is informed that the A-part has hung up (the VG does not wait for user confirmation of this message) .
• the VG disconnects from the client.
• POP point-of-presence
• the client performs a very limited number analysis of the B- number .
• A-part dials B-part's telephone number. No number analysis is performed in the client.
• the client checks that its current IP address, as reported by the operating system, equals the previously saved client IP address attribute of the client.
• the client checks for the existence of a free audio device on the client platform and reserves it.
• a connection is established to the VG that was assigned to the client at sign-on.
• the dialled number is transferred to the VG.
• a very limited number analysis is performed as follows: If the trunk prefix parameter of the VG is non-empty. A check is made that the leading digits of the dialled number do match the trunk prefix. If the dial -out parameter is present its value is prepended to the dialled number.
• An ISDN call is set up to the called number.
• the user's telephone number is signalled as user provided A-number in the PRI.
• the state of the client is set to signed-off .
• the user is advised to sign on again, and the usage case is terminated. This situation may arise if a user signs on, the PPP connection goes down, and a new PPP connection with a different client IP address is established.
• connection to the VG cannot be established, or if the state of the VG is disabled, the client tries to connect to the secondary VG. If this fails the user is advised to close the client and restart it (on the hypothesis that the user will thus be assigned another and better suited VG) . The audio device is released and the usage case is terminated.
• a rejected IP address at outgoing call alarm is issued.
• the audio device is released and the usage case is terminated. If the VG has no free capacity the user is informed of this and advised to retry later. A VG capaci ty exceeded alarm is issued. The audio device is released and the usage case is terminated.
• the dialled number is an emergency number. If it is an emergency number the usage case continues other wise the user is informed of that the number has an illegal format and the usage case is terminated.
• the user is informed of the reason (busy, congestion, etc.).
• the audio device is released and the usage case is terminated.
• This usage case can only occur after the outgoing call set-up usage case has succeeded.
• the B-part chooses to answer the call .
• the client updates its status message.
• This usage case can only occur after the outgoing call set-up usage case has succeeded.
• the B-part chooses to reject the call (as may occur if the B- part uses a GSM telephone) .
• the VG sees a busy signal in the PRI. All resources that were allocated for the call are released in the client and the VG. The user is informed that the B-part rejected the call (the VG does not wait for user confirmation of this message) .
• the VG disconnects from the client.
• This usage case can only occur after the outgoing call set-up usage case has succeeded.
• the VG disconnects from the client.
• This usage case can only occur after the outgoing call set-up usage case has succeeded.
• This usage case is triggered from the PRI. It occurs after a while if the B-part does not act at all, and the A-part does not hang up.
• This usage case can only occur after the outgoing call answer has succeeded, i. e. when speech transmission has been established.
• the VG disconnects from the client.
• This usage case can only occur after the outgoing call answer has succeeded, i. e. when speech transmission has been established.
• the B-part hangs up. After a while the ISDN network disconnects the call (the VG sees this in the PRI) .
• the VG disconnects from the client.
• Subscriber management function To make it possible to administrate the subscribers of the service.
• the need for service is expected to be small, consisting of occasionally deleting a subscriber record for which the password has been lost .
• the subscriber record of a user that does not sign on for a very long time gets deleted from the registry. See the auto- sign-off usage case under Fault Management. This will limit the subscriber table in the registry to consist of reasonably active Phone Doubler users. A user that gets removed from the registry can sign on again at any time.
• a management system can add a specified users via the OMI FTP- interface.
• a human administrator can remove a specified user via the OMI HTTP-interface.
• a management system can remove a specified users via the OMI FTP-interface.
• a human administrator can remove a specified user via the OMI HTTP-interface . Changes made in one registry node are replicated to the redundant registry node .
• the subscription's state is set to disabled/enabled.
• a human administrator can retrieve the subscriber-records via the OMI HTTP-interface.
• the authentication scheme is described in the sign-on and sign- off function.
• Registry logs is generated and can be retrieved for the purpose of charging periodical fees or statistical purposes. Call logs are generated and can be retrieved for the purpose of charging per call charges or statistical purposes.
• users can be authenticated to be the legitimate user of its telephone number or user-id.
• IP-address Users can charged based on their IP-address if the charging system can determine the user of a certain IP-address at a certain time. This must be based on logs from the access servers if DHCP is used.
• Incoming calls can be charged based on service rates on the UAN.
• outgoing calls can be made with user provided A-number which can be used in the telephone networks charging system for charging of outgoing calls.
• Traffic in and out of the gateway is measured on the ISDN side, for which well known and understood tools and methods exist.
• the registry log can be used for statistical analysis of sign-on and sign-off behaviour.
• the call logs can be used as complement to the ISDN tools to analyse the telephony behaviour.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Telephonic Communication Services (AREA)
• Data Exchanges In Wide-Area Networks (AREA)
• Sub-Exchange Stations And Push- Button Telephones (AREA)
• Exchange Systems With Centralized Control (AREA)

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• 1997
  • 1997-03-11 SE SE9700872A patent/SE517567C2/sv not_active IP Right Cessation
• 1998
  • 1998-02-24 WO PCT/SE1998/000331 patent/WO1998041043A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1998-02-24 BR BR9807997-2A patent/BR9807997A/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1998-02-24 CA CA002283793A patent/CA2283793A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1998-02-24 CN CN 98804982 patent/CN1255269A/zh active Pending
  • 1998-02-24 EP EP98909894A patent/EP0966848A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 1998-02-24 JP JP52709898A patent/JP2001517385A/ja active Pending
  • 1998-02-24 AU AU64263/98A patent/AU733799B2/en not_active Ceased
• 1999
  • 1999-08-27 NO NO994172A patent/NO994172L/no not_active Application Discontinuation

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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