FR2910205A1 - Information e.g. multi-media business card type information, transmitting method for multi-network telecommunication system, involves delaying restitution of information by device as long as other information is not arrived at device - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves transmitting information (Is1) e.g. multi-media business card type information, from a communication device (T1) toward another communication device (T2) via a communication link i.e. communication network (NTW1), by a transmitting unit. Restitution of the information by the device (T2) is delayed by using a delaying unit having a memory (MEM2) and a central processing unit (CPU2) as long as other information e.g. voice communication request (Comrq), transmitted via another communication link i.e. communication network (NTW2), is not arrived at the device (T2). Independent claims are also included for the following: (1) a multi-network telecommunication system comprising two communication devices communicated with each other via communication links (2) a computer program comprising a set of instructions for executing an information transmitting method (3) an information medium comprising a set of instructions for performing an information transmitting method.

Description

The present invention relates to a method of transmitting information

  in a telecommunication system including at least a first and a second communication device capable of communicating with each other via first and second communication links.

  Multi-network telecommunication systems already exist in the current state of the art. Known systems generally propose a juxtaposition of a broadband network and a network with a lower bit rate intended to overcome certain coverage gaps in geographical areas where the hait rate network is not yet deployed. Thus, in known multi-network systems, the first and second networks each form a communication link and are intended to be used alternately and not cumulatively. However, the inventors have identified unexplored possibilities of implementing synergies between different networks included in a multi-network telecommunications system, aiming to enrich a communication established by means of a first network by a transmission via a second network of networks. additional information, see supplementary to the communication established via the first network. Thus, a set of information forming multimedia content such as an audiovisual presentation of a caller can be transmitted to a called party via a first network operating in packet mode, such as a GPRS mobile network, in addition to a conversation established between caller and called on a second network operating in circuit mode such as a mobile network of GSM type (abbreviation of the English expression "Global System for Mobile" well known to those skilled in the art) or a third generation network type 3G or UMTS (abbreviation for "Universal Mobile Telecommunications System"). The inventors have however observed that in many situations, it will be desirable to synchronize the restitution of the set of information transmitted via the first network with the communication established via the second network, so that this restitution is not prevented. decorated with the conversation that she would not come to enrich. However, since, in the known multi-network systems, the implementations of the different networks are done in an alternative and non-cumulative way, there are no synchronization mechanisms or methods in the current state of the art. events occurring in different networks of a multi-network system, except, of course, special processes for switching from one network to another when necessary. The present invention offers a solution that does not have these drawbacks by proposing a method of transmitting information in a multi-network telecommunication system allowing a synchronization between a return of information transmitted via a first communication network, on the one hand , and a communication established via a second communication network, on the other hand. Indeed, according to the invention, a method according to the introductory paragraph includes at least: 2910205 2. a step of transmitting at least one information of a first type from the first device to the second device through the first communication link, and. a delay step of a return of said first type information by the second device as long as information of a second type transmitted through the second communication link will not have reached the second device. Such a delay of the restitution of the information sent via the first communication link makes it possible to subject the reproduction of this information to the reception of information of another type, for example a request for placing in voice communication via the second communication link, and therefore synchronizes between these two events. The invention will make it possible, for example, to produce to a called party a multimedia calling card of a caller at the precise moment when said caller will be warned, by ringing or vibrating, of the arrival of a call intended for him, so as to give this called party information about the origin or purpose of the call intended for him. In a particular embodiment of the invention, the return of the information transmitted through the first communication link may also be subject to an express agreement manifested by the called party by means of a human interface. / machine allowing him to control his communication device. In another particular embodiment of the invention, which may be implemented cumulatively or alternatively with the previous one, an effective establishment of a communication through the second communication link may also be delayed until end of the return of the information transmitted through the first communication link, so as to give the called party an opportunity to choose whether or not to answer a call on the basis of the content of the information of the first type which is associated with it. According to a first variant of the invention, the delay step is executed by timer means included in the second device. This first variant makes it possible to prevent the implementation of the invention from generating an increase in the volume of communication traffic, since the second device then intrinsically includes all the means necessary to synchronize the restitution of the information transmitted. via the first communication link, on the one hand, and the receipt of the second type information via the second communication link, on the other hand. According to a second variant of the invention, the delaying step is performed by timer means included in a third communication device, arranged in flux cutoff on the first communication link.

This second variant, if it requires the implementation of at least a third communication device which will also inevitably generate an additional communication volume compared to that generated during the implementation of the first variant described above, however, has the advantage of not requiring 2910205 3 hardware or software changes of the first and second communication devices, which can therefore be constituted by terminals from a pool of existing terminals, so that the implementation This second variant can be made in a perfectly transparent manner for the users of the telecommunication system.

According to a first hardware aspect, the invention also relates to a telecommunication system including at least a first and a second communication device able to communicate with each other via first and second communication links, including: means for transmitting at least one information of a first type from the first device to the second device through the first communication link, and. means for delaying a return of said first type information by the second device as long as information of a second type transmitted through the second communication link has not reached the second device.

According to a first variant of this first hardware aspect, timing means are included in at least the second device. According to a second variant of this first hardware aspect, the delay means are included in a third communication device arranged in flux cutoff on the first communication link.

According to a particular embodiment of this second variant, the telecommunication system described above also includes a gateway capable of establishing a link between the first and second communication links and of transmitting information relating to the third communication device to the third communication device. the second communication link. Such a gateway makes it possible to dispense with the second communication device 25 sending specific information messages to the third device, since the latter will be kept informed of the state of the second communication link by the gateway, which will pass on to it without treatment. particular notifications of events flowing through said second communication link. According to a second material aspect, the invention also relates, as a means 30 useful for its implementation, to a communication device including means for delaying a restitution of at least one information of a first type transmitted to the through a first communication link as long as information of a second type transmitted through a second communication link has not reached a recipient of said information of the first type.

As explained above, such a device may materialize the second or third communication device depending on whether the system in which it is implemented is in accordance with the first or the second variant described above.

According to a third material aspect, the invention further relates, as a further means useful for its implementation, to a computer program including at least one set of program code instructions for the execution of a computer program. at least one timer step included in a method according to the foregoing description when said program is executed by a computing unit. According to a fourth material aspect, the invention also relates, as another means useful for its implementation, to a data medium on which at least one set of program code instructions has been stored for the execution of the data. at least one delay step included in a method according to the foregoing description.

The invention will be better understood with the aid of the following description, given by way of nonlimiting example and with reference to the appended drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a partial block diagram describing a first system of telecommunication according to a first variant of the invention, and - Rg.2 is a partial block diagram describing a second telecommunications system according to a second variant of the invention. FIG. 1 schematically represents a first telecommunication system SYST1 including at least a first and a second communication device T1 and T2, in this example mobile telephones, able to communicate with each other via first and second links communication means embodied here by first and second communication networks NTW1 and NTW2, to which said first and second devices T1 and T2 are intended to be connected via wireless links supported by first and second relay antennas RAI and RA2 which are themselves respectively connected via first and second switching devices SW1 and SW2 to the first and second communication networks NTW1 and NTW2.

According to the first variant of the invention described herein, the SYST1 system includes means for transmitting at least one information of a first type from the first device Ti to the second device T2 through the first communication link. These transmission means here include, in addition to the first network NTW1, the relay antennas RAI and RA2 and the first and second switching devices SW1 and SW2, a transmitting / receiving antenna ANT1 which is provided with the first communication device, the second communication device is here similarly provided with a transmitting / receiving antenna ANT2. The SYST1 system further includes means for delaying a reproduction of said set of information by the second device T2 as long as information of a second type, in this example a Comrq call-up request issued by the first user. device Ti, will not have reached the second device T2 through the second communication link.

In this first variant of the invention, the delay means comprise a memory MEM2 and a calculation unit CPU2 which are included in the second communication device T2. A synchronization phase achieved by this first variant of the invention can be described as follows: during a transmission step, a set of information Is1 is transmitted from the first device Ti to the second device T2 through of the first communication link including the first network NTW1, which is for example a GPRS data packet-switched network, this transmission being then performed during a packet mode communication session initiated at the instigation of the First communication device Ti. This set of information Is1 may for example include a multimedia business card representative of a user of the first device Ti or a URI or URL type address (abbreviations well known to those skilled in the art of English expressions "Uniform Resource Identifier and "Uniform Resource Locator") pointing to a memory area that the second communication device will be able to consult during the communication session currently open at the instigation of the first communication device Ti. This set of information Is1 will have been previously extracted from a memory MEM1 by a processing unit CPU1, both included in the first device Ti, and sent in the direction of the first relay antenna RAI by means of an antenna system ANT1 own to said first device Ti. At the end of the transmission step, the set of information Is1 is received by the second device T2 through an antenna system ANT2 of its own, said set of information then being stored on order of a CPU2 calculation unit in a memory MEM2, both included in the second device T2. In this exemplary embodiment, the CPU2 calculating unit executes, after reception of the information set Is1, a timing step defined by a series of program code instructions which may have been previously stored in the memory MEM2 or in a cache memory included in the CPU2 calculation unit. This delay step is intended to delay the return of the contents of the set of information Is1 to a user of the second device T2 as long as a Comrq communication request sent by the first device Ti through the second connection. communication network including the second network NTW2, which is for example a circuit-switched network type UMTS, will not have reached the second device T2. If no such request reaches the second device T2 before the CPU2 calculating unit finds a predetermined maximum delay time has expired, the contents of the set of information Is1 will not be restored. to the user of the second device T2 and the open packet mode communication session at the instigation of the first communication device Ti will be interrupted at the instigation of the second device T2.

If, on the other hand, the Comrq communication request sent by the first device Ti arrives at the second device before the predetermined maximum delay time expires, the calculation unit CPU2 will then extract from the memory MEM2 the set of information Is1. and will command, on the one hand, a screen SCR2 to restore a video component Iv of the content of said set Is1, and, on the other hand, a speaker SPK2 to restore an audio component of the content of said set Is1. It should be noted here that, in certain other embodiments of the invention, the first communication link may be the one operating in circuit mode and the second communication link that operating in packet mode. In this case, the information of the first type transmitted via the first link may be representative of a call transmitted by the first device Ti to the second communication device T2, the information of the second type conveyed by the second link communication can then be for example constituted by a multimedia business card of the caller, so that it is the return of the call will then be subordinated to the receipt, or even the return of said multimedia business card by the second device T2. FIG. 2 diagrammatically represents a second telecommunication system SYST2 similar to the first system described above, except that the delay means are included in a third communication device SRV, which is constituted by a server arranged in a flow cutoff. on the first communication link. This second SYST2 system further includes a PGW SI gateway capable of establishing a link between the first and second communication links and of transmitting information relating to the second communication link to the third communication device SRV. In the context of this particular example, the first NTW1 communication network has been shown in more detail to illustrate a particular embodiment of the third SRV communication device included therein. The operation of this particular mode of implementation, which uses a SIP type communication session management protocol (abbreviation of the English expression "Session Initiation Protocol" well known to those skilled in the art) can be described. as follows: during a transmission step, a set of information Is1 is transmitted from the first device Ti to the second device T2 through the first communication link including the first network NTW1. This transmission activates a first session management module I MST1 included in the first communication network NTW1 and specific to the first communication device Ti. The first NTW1 network further includes a second IMST2 session management module specific to the second communication device T2. The first management module IMST1 then generates an invitation message InvT2 (Is1) for the second communication device T2 and including the set of information Is1. The users of the first and second communication devices Ti and T2 having hypothetically previously subscribed to a service providing for the implementation of this second variant of the invention 2910205 7 the first and second management modules IMST1 and IMST2 are preprogrammed for perform their transmission operations through the third communication device SRV. Thus, the invitation message is transmitted by the first management module IMST1 to the third communication device SERV, which includes the delay means comprising a memory MEM3 and a CPU3 calculation unit. In this exemplary embodiment, the calculation unit CPU3 executes, after reception of the set of information Is1, a timing step defined by a series of program code instructions which may have been previously stored in the memory MEM3 or in a cache memory included in the CPU3 calculation unit.

This delay step is intended to delay the return of the contents of the set of information Is1 to a user of the second device T2 as long as a Comrq communication request (T2) sent by the first device Ti through the second communication link including the second NTW2 network will not have reached the second device T2. In this case, the third communication device SRV will delay a transmission from the invitation message InvT2 (Is1) to the second communication device T2 as long as it does not receive confirmation of receipt of a request from placed in communication by the second device T2, until a predetermined maximum delay time elapses beyond which the communication session opened at the instigation of the first communication device will be interrupted at the instigation 20 of the third communication device. In the example represented here, the gateway IF PGW will transmit to the second management module IMST2 a signaling signal t [Comrq (T2)] of a transmission through the second communication link of a communication access request Comrq (T2) for the second communication device T2. This warning signal t [Comrq (T2)] 25 will then be transmitted to the third communication device SRV by the second management module IMST2 according to a pre-programmed operating mode. The reception of this signal by the third device SRV may in some embodiments be sufficient to interrupt the delay and then transmit to the second management module IMST2 the invitation message InvT2 (Is1) for the second communication device T2 and Including the set of information Is1. In other embodiments, the third device SRV will wait, to interrupt the delay, to receive from the gateway SI PGW via the second management module IMST2 a confirmation signal t [Rng (T2)] that a presentation signal Rng call (T2), for example a ringing or vibration, has indeed been produced by the second communication device after receiving the Comrq communication request (T2), so that the return of the content of the set of information Is1 by the second communication device T2 is well synchronous with the establishment of the communication via the second network NTW2.

Claims (10)

  A method of transmitting information in a telecommunication system including at least a first and a second communication device capable of communicating with each other via first and second communication links, the method including at least: a step of transmitting at least one information of a first type from the first device to the second device through the first communication link, and. a step of delaying a restitution of said first type information by the second device as long as information of a second type transmitted through the second communication link will not have reached the second device.   2. The method of claim 1, wherein the delay step is performed by timing means included in the second device.   3. The method of claim 1, wherein the delay step is performed by timer means included in a third communication device, arranged in flux cut on the first communication link.   Telecommunication system including at least a first and a second communication device capable of communicating with each other via first and second communication links, including: means for transmitting at least one information of a first type from the first device to the second device through the first communication link, and. means for delaying a return of said first type information by the second device as long as information of a second type transmitted through the second communication link has not reached the second device.   5. System according to claim 4, characterized in that delay means are included in at least the second device.   6. System according to claim 4, characterized in that the delay means are included in a third communication device arranged in flux cutoff on the first communication link. 2910205 9   7. System according to claim 6, characterized in that it further includes a gateway adapted to establish a link between the first and second communication links and to transmit to the third communication device information relating to the second communication link. 5   8. Communication device including means for delaying a restitution of at least one information of a first type transmitted through a first communication link as long as information of a second type transmitted through a second communication link will not have reached a recipient of said first type information. 10   A computer program including at least one set of program code instructions for executing at least one timer step included in a method according to one of claims 1 to 3 when said program is executed by a computing unit.   Data carrier on which at least one set of program code instructions has been stored for executing at least one timer step included in a method according to one of claims 1 to 3.