PH12018000125A1 - System for extending the fixed telephone service - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is a system for extending the fixed telephone service beyond the confines of the home to smart mobile phones and other smart devices. The system for extending the fixed telephone service has two primary components - a converged communication device and a large-scale softswitch running in the Internet cloud. The converged communication device includes a docking station, a handset, a tablet computer to which a software phone application is installed. The docking station has a small-scale softswitch that connects calls from one endpoint such as an extension to another. The software phone application can also be installed in other smart mobile devices, such as smartphones and other tablet computers, to turn such devices into extensions that can make and receive calls from the fixed telephone service beyond the confines of the home through the Internet. The softswitch in the docking station in tandem with the softswitch on the Internet allows routing of calls to and from extensions regardless of location.

Description

fd 12. From Internet 36, registered smart 28 receives VoIP data and the call is ~ progressed. y

The above use case is very similar to the case where the origin of the call is on from a mobile phone 34, and the destination of the call is a registered smart i. device 28 outside the subscriber's home. Using FIG. 4 as reference, the starting we point is a mobile phone 34 connecting to the service provider 20 via PLMN 35. ~

From that point onwards, the sequence of events is the same. -

For a call from a registered smart device outside the subscriber's home to =

PSTN with reference to FIG. 1B and as described in FIG. 5, below is the sequence Fe of events to progress the call: 1. Call is originated by registered smart device 28 and is transmitted as VoIP data to the Internet 36; Destination of the call which is analog phone 33 is encoded into the VoIP data; 2. From Internet 36, softswitch 25 receives VoIP data; 3. Softswitch 25 determines from VoIP data that the recipient of the call is analog phone 33; Softswitch 25 is configured in such a way that calls through PSTN are routed through softswitch 19; Softswitch 25 sends VoIP data back to Internet 36; 4. From Internet 36, service provider 20 receives VoIP data; 5. Service provider 20 forwards VolP data to data network interface 22; 6. Data network interface 22 sends VoIP data to router 18; 7. Router 18 forwards VoIP data to softswitch 19; 8. Softswitch 19 determines from VoIP data that the recipient of the call is analog phone 33; Depending on the type of connection of the subscriber to service provider 20: a. Softswitch 19 sends VolP data back to router 18; b. Softswitch 19 sends VoIP data to voice network interface 23 which converts VoIP data to voice signals; 9. Router 18 forwards VolP data to data network interface 22;

wo 10. Depending on the type of connection of the subscriber to service provider 20: a. Data network interface 22 sends out the VoIP data to service i provider 20; - ; b. Voice network interface 23 sends out the voice signals to service » provider 20; 11. Service provider 20 converts VoIP data to voice signals if necessary, and - sends out the voice signals to PSTN 21; 12. From PSTN 21, analog phone 33 receives the voice signals and the call is = progressed. =

The above use case is very similar to the case where the origin of the call is a registered smart device 28 outside the subscriber's home and the destination of the call is a mobile phone 34. Using FIG. 5 as reference, the starting point up to service provider 20 are the same. From service provider 20, the voice signal is received by mobile device 34 through PLMN 35.

For a call from PSTN to subscriber's home with reference to FIG. 1B and as described in FIG. 6, below is the sequence of events to progress the call: 1. Call is originated by analog phone 33 and is transmitted as voice signals to

PSTN 21; 2. Voice signals arrive at service provider 20; 3. Depending on the type of connection of the subscriber to service provider 20: a. Service provider 20 converts the voice signals into VoIP data and sends to data network interface 22; b. Service provider 20 sends the voice signals to voice network interface 23; 4. Data network interface 22 sends the VoIP data to router 18; 5. Depending on how the voice signals arrived at the subscriber's home: a. Router 18 forwards the VoIP data to softswitch 19;

bo b. Voice network interface 23 converts voice signals to VolP data and = forwards VoIP data to softswitch 19; = 6. Softswitch 19 is configured in such a way that calls from PSTN are o predefined to land on a specific device or group of devices - in this case any of the devices at home - wireless handset 12, wired handset 29 and - software phone 14 installed in tablet 13; Softswitch 19 then sends back the “

VoIP data to router 18; - 7. Router 18 sends VolP data to Wi-Fi 24; - 8. Depending on the receiving device; 5 a. Wireless handset 12 receives the VoIP data through Wi-Fi 24 and o the call is progressed: a b. Wired handset 29 receives voice signals through FXO port 17 through which VoIP data was sent by softswitch 19, then the call is progressed; c. Software phone 14 installed in tablet 13 receives VolP data through

Wi-Fi 24 and the call is progressed;

For a call from subscriber's home to PSTN with reference to FIG. 1B and as described in FIG. 7, below is the sequence of events to progress the call: 1. Call is originated by any of the devices inside the subscriber's home: a. Software phone 14 installed in tablet 13 originates the call and sends VoIP data to Wi-Fi 24; b. Wireless handset 12 originates the call and sends VolP data to

Wi-Fi 24; c. Wired handset 29 originates the call and transmits voice signals through FXS port 17 which converts voice signals to VoIP data, and sends VoIP data to softswitch 19; 2. Wi-Fi 24 sends VoIP data to router 18; 3. Router 18 forwards VoIP data to softswitch 19; 4. Softswitch 19 determines from VoIP data that the recipient of the call is analog phone 33; Depending on the type of connection of the subscriber to service provider 20:

bo a. Softswitch 19 sends VoIP data back to router 18; b. Softswitch 19 sends VoIP data to voice network interface 23 which ol converts VolP data to voice signals; 5. Router 18 forwards VoIP data to data network interface 22; 6. Depending on the type of connection of the subscriber to service provider i 20: w a. Data network interface 22 sends out the VoIP data to service provider 20; b. Voice network interface 23 sends out the voice signals to service & provider 20; on 7. Service provider 20 converts VoIP data to voice signals if necessary, and sends out the voice signals to PSTN 21; 8. From PSTN 21, analog phone 33 receives the voice signals and the call is progressed.

In the above use case, the software phone may be installed in a smart device inside the subscriber's home. In which case, the call flow from tablet 13 to analog phone 33 is the same.

For a call from wireless handset 12 to tablet computer 13 within the subscriber's home with reference to FIG. 1B and as described in FIG. 8, below is the sequence of events to progress the call: 1. Call is originated by wireless handset 12 and is sent as VoIP data to Wi-Fi 24; 2. Wi-Fi 24 sends VoIP data to the router 18; 3. Router 18 forwards VolP data to softswitch 19; 4. Softswitch 19 determines from the VolP data that the recipient of the call is the tablet computer 13 with software phone 14; Softswitch 19 then sends

VoIP data back to router 18; 5. Router 18 forwards VolP data to Wi-Fi 24; 6. From Wi-Fi 24, software phone 14 installed in tablet computer 13 receives

VoIP data and the call is progressed.

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The above use case also applies when wireless handset 12 is replaced iy with smartphones and other smart devices having software phone 14, and are ol within the home and wirelessly connected to the docking station 11. =

For a call from subscriber's home to a registered smart device 28 outside i the subscriber's home with reference to FIG. 1B and as described in FIG. 9, below oe is the sequence of events to progress the call: - 1. Call is originated by wireless handset 12 and is sent as VolP data to Wi-Fi i. 2 5 2. Wi-Fi 24 sends VoIP data to the router 18; =) 3. Router 18 forwards VoIP data to softswitch 19; 4. Softswitch 19 determines from the VoIP data that the recipient of the call is registered smart device 28 outside the subscriber's home; Softswitch 19 then sends VoIP data back to router 18; 5. Router 18 forwards VoIP data to data network interface 22; 6. Data network interface 22 sends VolP data to service provider 20; 7. Service provider 20 sends VolP data to Internet 36; 8. Softswitch 25 receives VoIP data and determines that the destination of the call is registered smart device 28; Softswitch 25 sends back the VolP data to Internet 36; 9. From Internet 36, registered smart device 28 receives VoIP data and the call is progressed.

For a call from a registered smart device 28 outside to subscriber's home with reference to FIG. 1B and as described in FIG. 10, below is the sequence of events to progress the call: 1. Call is originated by registered smart device 28 and is transmitted as VolP data to Internet 36; Destination of the call which is wireless handset 12 is encoded into the VoIP data; 2. From Internet 36, softswitch 25 receives VoIP data;

. ¥ 3. Softswitch 25 determines from VoIP data that the recipient of the call is . wireless handset 12, and wireless handset 12 is registered to softswitch y 19; Softswitch 25 sends VoIP data back to Internet 36; = 4. From Internet 36, service provider 20 receives VoIP data; we 5. Service provider 20 forwards VoIP data to data network interface 22; - 6. Data network interface 22 sends VoIP data to router 18; * 7. Router 18 forwards VolP data to softswitch 19; - 8. Softswitch 19 determines from VoIP data that the recipient of the call is = wireless handset 12; Softswitch 19 sends VoIP data back to router 18; = 9. Router 18 forwards VoIP data to Wi-Fi 24; o> 10. From Wi-Fi 24, wireless handset 12 receives VoIP data and the call is - progressed.

In the above use cases, docking station 11 has a Local Area Network (LAN) port 30 to which a VoIP phone 31 or a desktop computer 32 can be connected such that they can act as other registered smart devices.

To extend landline voice service to another smart device, VoIP softphone 14 is downloaded in that smart device. VoIP softphone 14 gets its configuration information from the provisioning server 27. The provisioning server 27 has a database of configuration settings for the VoIP softphone 14 to know as to which softswitch 19 or softswitch 25 to communicate with.

Referring to the block diagram as shown in FIG. 1B and the use cases as shown in FIGS. 4 to 10, a notification server 26 pushes calls and messages to the

VoIP softphone 14 regardless of whether the VoIP softphone 14 is active or not at the time when the call or message was sent.

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SPECIFICATION Re y Ry fle) or -

SYSTEM FOR EXTENDING THE FIXED TELEPHONE SERVICE Cop

FIELD OF THE INVENTION ~

The invention relates to the field of communication systems, and more - particularly to a system for extending the fixed telephone service. ~ ey

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION =

The number of fixed telephone subscriptions has been in steady decline for I over a decade mostly because people are opting to get a wireless telephone service instead. Such decline is driven mainly by the mobility inherent to wireless telephone service as opposed to the lack of it in fixed telephone service. With a fixed telephone service, subscribers can only make and receive calls where the telephone is installed - in their house or office. As a result, many people are compelled to get a mobile phone so that they are within reach wherever and at all times. With having a mobile phone, the fixed telephone service becomes an avoidable cost to carry.

But the fixed telephone service or at least the infrastructure used to deliver the service - copper wires - are still around serving a different purpose: deliver

Internet service to subscribers. The mobile phone service may have become the preferred service for telecommunications, but fixed-line Internet subscriptions have been on the rise, and is considered a necessity for homes and offices.

It is worth noting that while mobile phones have the clear edge in terms of mobility, the fixed telephone is better in terms of call quality and reliability. In the case of copper lines, the service is not interrupted by electric power outages. In addition, the fixed telephone service is still considered important by some or perhaps many people because it is associated to a house or office address. This is important in case of emergencies, and convenient in case of taking orders from a nearby restaurant for example. Also, having a telephone number associated with the home instead of the individual reinforce the sense of family or group.

”

Thus, in order to bring back people’s interest in the fixed telephone service = and revitalize this industry, there is a need to add the aspect of mobility to the ol fixed telephone line by capitalizing on the Internet subscription. It is desirable to © have a device that converges landline and mobile, allowing users to make and Zi receive calls via the landline using their smartphones and tablet computers even bt when outside the home. = ~

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION -

The primary object therefore of the present invention is to remedy the = aforementioned limitation by providing a system for extending the fixed telephone ~ service beyond the confines of the home to smartphones and other smart mobile devices. The present invention includes a handset, a tablet computer, a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) softphone, a docking station, and softswitches - one inside the docking station and another outside and on the Internet. The docking station connects to the Internet via a network interface and is also wirelessly connected to the tablet computer. The handset is also connected to the docking station either by wire or wirelessly. The docking station communicates with the tablet computer and smart devices that have the VoIP softphone installed such that the capability of making and receiving calls via the fixed telephone service is extended to the tablet computer and smart devices. Moreover, the calls can be transferred from the handset to the tablet computer or any other smart device and vice-versa. With the present invention, it is possible to use the tablet computer to make and receive calls via the fixed telephone service regardless of the tablet computer's docking state.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TABLES AND DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of the system for extending the fixed telephone service embodying subject invention;

FIG. 1B is a block diagram of the system for extending the fixed telephone service showing the internal components of the converged communication device;

FIG. 1C is a table of all call scenarios made possible by the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the converged communication device;

FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG. 2; iy

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating a call from PSTN to a registered - smart device outside the subscriber's home; @

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating a call from a registered smart device outside the subscriber's home to PSTN; pi

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating a call from PSTN to subscriber's w home; ~

FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating a call from subscriber's home to _

PSTN; =

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating a call from handset to tablet = computer within the subscriber's home;

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram illustrating a call from subscriber's home to a registered smart device outside the subscriber's home; and

FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating a call from a registered smart device outside to subscriber's home.

DESCRIPTION OF DOCKING STATION COMPONENTS

Data Network Interface Interface through which data are transmitted to or received from the service provider's data network which is interconnected to the Internet.

DSL modems for copper wire networks, cellular and satellite modems for wireless, and fiber optic modems for fiber optic networks are typical data network interfaces.

Voice Network Interface Interface through which voice signals are transmitted to or received from the service provider's voice network which is interconnected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN), or the public land mobile network (PLMN). The plain old copper-wire telephone

[ON network and cellular networks are typical voice hy networks. For fiber optic and satellite networks, voice signals are typically converted to data = before transmitting to (or converted from data Le after receiving from) the service provider. tr

Wide Area Network (WAN) | Connection point for other Internet sources via hs poi

Port RJ45 connector. Other Internet sources are external DSL modems, external cellular = modems, external fiber optic modems and = external satellite modems. =

Forwards data packets along the network

Local Area Network (LAN) Connection point for VoIP phone or computer

Port

Softswitch (Software Switch) Connects telephone calls from one phone to another, across an Internet

Protocol (IP) network. In the present invention, the docking station has a built-in small-scale softswitch. The docking station, in turn, connects to a large-scale softswitch residing in the Internet cloud.

Wi-Fi Enables the docking station to wirelessly connect to peripheral devices in the computer network.

FXS Port (Foreign Exchange Subscriber) Port that receives/transmits the analog telephone signals between the docking station and a wired handset. In this document, FXS port includes the function of converting voice signals to/from VolP data.

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FXO Port (Foreign Exchange Office) Port that i receives/transmits the analog telephone signals tr between the docking station and the Public ot

Switch Telephone Network (PSTN). -

Prose 7 poe fede

DESCRIPTION OF DOCKING STATION'S PERIPHERAL COMPONENTS

Wireless Handset A fully-functional wireless telephone that can = make or receive calls from a telephone exchange 2 or switching system such as the docking station -

Wired Handset A fully functional analog telephone that can make or receive calls by plugging it to an FXS port

Tablet Computer A portable computer in tablet form capable of 16 running a software phone

DESCRIPTION OF SUPPORTING COMPONENTS

These components may not be physically part of the device itself but they play important roles in the functionality of the device. In the system for extending the fixed telephone service of the present invention, the large-scale softswitch is a key element in the solution as it helps establish the connection between the docking station and VoIP softphones regardless of whether the softphones are inside or outside the subscriber's home. Meanwhile, the provisioning server is included to provide a hassle-free way of configuring the device. The notification server enables incoming calls and messages to be received even when the softphone in the registered smart device is not active at the time the call is made.

Provisioning server Stores configuration information to be retrieved by the VoIP softphone for its initial registration fu ¥

Notification server Pushes messages and calls to the VoIP wd softphone, regardless of whether the VoIP o softphone in the registered smart device is active = or not at the time when the call is made w ~

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION ~

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like numerals designate the = same part throughout, there is shown in the drawings particularly in FIG. 1A, a = system for extending the fixed telephone service having two primary components - a converged communication device generally designated as 10, and a large-scale softswitch designated as 25. In FIG. 1A, the converged communication device 10 includes a docking station 11, a handset 12, a tablet computer 13 and, a VoIP softphone 14. In FIG. 1B, the docking station 11 connects to PSTN 21 and PLMN 35 through service provider 20 via data network interface 22 and voice network interface 23, and is connected to the handset by wire 29 or wirelessly 12, and wirelessly to the tablet computer 13. The docking station 11 communicates with the tablet computer 13 that has the VoIP softphone 14 installed such that the capability of making and receiving calls via the fixed telephone service is extended beyond the confines of the home to the tablet computer 13 or to a registered smart mobile device 28. Since the tablet computer 13 and registered smart mobile device 28 have the the VoIP softphone 14 installed, it is possible to make and receive calls via the landline or wireless telephone service. The docking state of the tablet computer 13 does not affect its ability to make and receive calls.

The docking station 11 integrates the functions of a data network interface 22, voice network interface 23, router 18 and softswitch 19.

The docking station 11 has a Wide Area Network (WAN) port 16 that serves as an alternate source for Internet connectivity via RJ45 connector. The docking station 11 is designed in such a way that it can accommodate the wireless handset 12 or wired handset 29, and tablet computer 13 on their respective docking areas at the same time.

.

In use cases: 7

For a call from PSTN to a registered smart device outside the subscriber's ~ home with reference to FIG. 1B and as described in FIG. 4, below is the sequence o of events to progress the call: o os 1. Call is originated by analog phone 33 and is transmitted as voice signals to ~

PSTN 21; = 2. Voice signals arrive at service provider 20; ~ 3. Depending on the type of connection of the subscriber to service provider =" 20; = a. Service provider 20 converts the voice signals into VoIP data and - sends to data network interface 22; b. Service provider 20 sends the voice signals to voice network interface 23; 4. Data network interface 22 sends the VoIP data to router 18; 5. Depending on how the voice signals arrived at the subscriber's home: a. Router 18 forwards the VoIP data to softswitch 19; b. Voice network interface 23 converts voice signals to VoIP data and forwards VolP data to softswitch 19; 6. Softswitch 19 is configured in such a way that calls from PSTN are predefined to land on a specific device or group of devices - in this case registered smart device 28. Softswitch 19 encodes the recipient of the call into the VoIP data and sends back the VoIP data to router 18; 7. Router 18 sends the VolP data through the data network interface 22; 8. Data network interface 22 forwards the VoIP data out to the service provider 20; 9. Service provider 20 forwards VolP data out to the Internet 36; 10. From Internet 36, softswitch 25 receives VoIP data; 11. Softswitch 25 determines from VoIP data that recipient of the call is registered smart device 28; Softswitch 25 sends the VoIP data back to

Internet 36;

Claims (7)

~ , . Te pei WE CLAIM: Zs 2 ~

1. A system for extending the fixed telephone service, comprising: : a docking station that is connected to a telecommUnications o network by means of at least one of an analog phone Mine interface - module, a cellular network interface module, an optical ng¢twork interface module, and/or satellite interface module; - a telephone handset that is connected to said docking station by - wire or wirelessly; @ a tablet computer that contains a software phone application and is oo wirelessly connected also to said docking station; = said docking station includes a small-scale softswitch that converts calls from the telecommunications network to Voice over Internet Protocol (VolP), allows multiple devices to register as extensions concurrently, and allows the docking station to route calls to and from extensions, such as handset, tablet computer, and other smart devices that were made extensions; said software phone application that is installed in said tablet computer can also be installed in other smart devices, such as smartphones and other tablet computers, to turn such devices into extensions that can make and receive calls when connected to the docking station; characterized in that: a large-scale softswitch is connected to said docking station by means of a VoIP trunk line; said large-scale softswitch is running in the Internet cloud, publicly accessible, and is capable of handling many thousands of telephone calls concurrently; said small-scale softswitch in said docking station routes calls to said large-scale softswitch whenever the tablet or other smart devices are not connected to docking station;

- said docking station automatically forwards calls to unregistered - extensions to said VoIP trunk line; y said software phone application can alternatively connect to the = said large-scale softswitch whenever said docking station is not reachable; om and os said large-scale and said small-scale softswitches have dialing - instructions that make dialing telephone numbers on said software phone - application identical regardless of whether it is connected to said docking ~ station or to said large-scale softswitch. = o

2. A system for extending the fixed telephone service in accordance with claim 1, wherein said large-scale softswitch facilitates the exchange of calls between extensions, such as handset, tablet computer, and other smart devices, whenever such devices are outside the home and connected to the Internet via public Internet access points.

3. A system for extending the fixed telephone service in accordance with claim 1, wherein said software phone application maintains two sets of usernames and passwords - one is for registering to said small-scale softswitch in the docking station, and another is for registering to said large-scale softswitch in the Internet.

4. A system for extending the fixed telephone service in accordance with claim 3, wherein the username for said large-scale softswitch is the combination of a prefix and the username for said small-scale softswitch.

5. A system for extending the fixed telephone service in accordance with claim 4, wherein said prefix uniquely identifies each docking station connected to said large-scale softswitch.

6. A system for extending the fixed telephone service in accordance with claim 1, wherein said large-scale softswitch checks if the dialed telephone

[a e ¥ number is registered to said large-scale softswitch, and if so forwards the ny call to the dialed number, and if not, forwards the call to said small-scale o softswitch in said docking station. =

7. A system for extending the fixed telephone service in accordance with be claim 1, wherein said large-scale softswitch determines which docking “ station a call from said software phone application should be forwarded to. i o , [9]