WO2000065786A1 - Procede et systeme de messagerie unifie mondial - Google Patents

Procede et systeme de messagerie unifie mondial Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2000065786A1
WO2000065786A1 PCT/US2000/010709 US0010709W WO0065786A1 WO 2000065786 A1 WO2000065786 A1 WO 2000065786A1 US 0010709 W US0010709 W US 0010709W WO 0065786 A1 WO0065786 A1 WO 0065786A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
communications
data
node
message
route
Prior art date
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PCT/US2000/010709
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English (en)
Other versions
WO2000065786A9 (fr
Inventor
Edison Tack-Shuen Tse
Sunyih Juang
Jin Jiang
Yiqing Tu
Original Assignee
Stanford Global Link Corporation
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Application filed by Stanford Global Link Corporation filed Critical Stanford Global Link Corporation
Priority to AU44768/00A priority Critical patent/AU4476800A/en
Publication of WO2000065786A1 publication Critical patent/WO2000065786A1/fr
Publication of WO2000065786A9 publication Critical patent/WO2000065786A9/fr

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
    • H04L69/04—Protocols for data compression, e.g. ROHC
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L45/00—Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks
    • H04L45/24—Multipath
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L51/00—User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
    • H04L51/06—Message adaptation to terminal or network requirements
    • H04L51/066—Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L51/00—User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
    • H04L51/56—Unified messaging, e.g. interactions between e-mail, instant messaging or converged IP messaging [CPM]
    • 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
    • H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
    • H04M3/53—Centralised arrangements for recording incoming messages, i.e. mailbox systems
    • H04M3/5307—Centralised arrangements for recording incoming messages, i.e. mailbox systems for recording messages comprising any combination of audio and non-audio components
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M7/00—Arrangements for interconnection between switching centres
    • H04M7/006—Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer
    • 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
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L63/00—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security
    • H04L63/04—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for providing a confidential data exchange among entities communicating through data packet networks
    • H04L63/0428—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for providing a confidential data exchange among entities communicating through data packet networks wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
    • H04L69/14—Multichannel or multilink protocols
    • 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
    • H04M2207/20—Type of exchange or network, i.e. telephonic medium, in which the telephonic communication takes place hybrid systems
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
    • H04M3/08—Indicating faults in circuits or apparatus
    • H04M3/12—Marking faulty circuits "busy"; Enabling equipment to disengage itself from faulty circuits ; Using redundant circuits; Response of a circuit, apparatus or system to an error
    • H—ELECTRICITY
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    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M7/00—Arrangements for interconnection between switching centres
    • H04M7/0012—Details of application programming interfaces [API] for telephone networks; Arrangements which combine a telephonic communication equipment and a computer, i.e. computer telephony integration [CPI] arrangements
    • H—ELECTRICITY
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    • 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
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04Q—SELECTING
    • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
    • H04Q2213/1305—Software aspects
    • H—ELECTRICITY
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    • H04Q—SELECTING
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    • H04Q2213/13093—Personal computer, PC
    • H—ELECTRICITY
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    • H04Q—SELECTING
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    • H04Q2213/13103—Memory
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04Q—SELECTING
    • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
    • H04Q2213/13106—Microprocessor, CPU
    • H—ELECTRICITY
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    • H04Q—SELECTING
    • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
    • H04Q2213/13141—Hunting for free outlet, circuit or channel
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04Q—SELECTING
    • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
    • H04Q2213/13164—Traffic (registration, measurement,...)
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04Q—SELECTING
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    • H04Q2213/13166—Fault prevention
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04Q—SELECTING
    • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
    • H04Q2213/13175—Graphical user interface [GUI], WWW interface, visual indication
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04Q—SELECTING
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    • H04Q2213/13179—Fax, still picture
    • H—ELECTRICITY
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    • H04Q—SELECTING
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    • H04Q2213/13204—Protocols
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04Q—SELECTING
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    • H04Q2213/1322—PBX
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04Q—SELECTING
    • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
    • H04Q2213/13299—Bus
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04Q—SELECTING
    • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
    • H04Q2213/13336—Store & forward, messaging systems
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04Q—SELECTING
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    • H04Q2213/13339—Ciphering, encryption, security
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04Q—SELECTING
    • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
    • H04Q2213/13352—Self-routing networks, real-time routing
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04Q—SELECTING
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    • H04Q2213/13374—Paging
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04Q—SELECTING
    • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
    • H04Q2213/13375—Electronic mail
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04Q—SELECTING
    • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
    • H04Q2213/13389—LAN, internet

Definitions

  • This invention relates generally to a system and method which permits a variety of different types of message to be sent to anywhere in the world, and in particular, to a system and method for delivering a variety of different message types over an integrated communications systems.
  • a variety of different communications systems are needed.
  • a facsimile machine may be used to communicate a facsimile message
  • an Internet connection and an e-mail software application may be used to communicate e-mail messages
  • a voicemail system may be used to communicate a voicemail message.
  • An obvious disadvantage is that the variety of different systems which are required may be expensive and it is often difficult to have access to all of these system at any one time. It is also undesirable to have to operate each of these different systems to communicate the different types of messages. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a system for communicating a variety of different messages over a single integrated communications network.
  • a message is not guaranteed to be received by the recipient.
  • the electronic message traverses the Internet, no entity is actually tracking the progress of the message to ensure that it is received.
  • the message may travel across a plurality of routers.
  • each router is only concerned with receiving the message and forwarding the message onto the next router.
  • the router does not perform any function to ensure that a successful communication occurs.
  • the message will typically be dropped and must be re-sent by the message source in order to ensure delivery. It is desirable, however, to provide a system which uses the Internet for communication, but ensures that a variety of different messages are being successfully communicated to the recipient.
  • the invention provides a messaging system and method which permits a variety of different messages to be communicated over a communications network.
  • the communications network may include a plurality of communications nodes and a plurality of different communications routes which interconnect the commumcations nodes. Due to the multiple communications routes, a message from an origination node to a destination node may be communicated over any of the communications routes depending on which commumcations route is currently able to handle the message communications. Thus, messages may be routed around a disabled communications route. Thus, in accordance with the invention, the delivery of the message is guaranteed.
  • the invention is global unified messaging system which permits the communication of messages having a variety of different data formats, such as facsimile messages, voice messages, electromc messages and the like.
  • the system ensures that any type of message originating from an originating node will be received by a destination node through the communications network because the communications network includes a plurality of different commumcations routes over which the message may be sent.
  • the system includes a method for dynamically routing the message over the plurality of communications routes to ensure successf l communication of the message from the origination node to the destination node.
  • the messaging system may divide a message into one or more encrypted electronic packets and each electromc packet may be communicated to the destination node over a different communications route so that the message is delivered more rapidly and the message do not congest a particular communications route.
  • Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating a global unified communications system in accordance with the invention.
  • Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a communications network of the system shown in Figure 1;
  • Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating more details of the multiple-IP o commumcations network of Figure 2 ;
  • Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the physical layout of a communications node in accordance with the invention.
  • FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the logical layout of the communications node of Figure 4; 5 Figure 6 is a diagrammatic functional view of the communications node in accordance with the invention;
  • FIG. 7 is a more detailed diagrammatic view of the communications node of Figure 6;
  • Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating details of the message exchange layer of o the communications node in accordance with the invention.
  • Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method for generating a routing table in accordance with the invention.
  • Figure 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method for selecting a routing path in accordance with the invention.
  • 5 Figure 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for electronic packet transmission in accordance with the invention.
  • the invention is particularly applicable to a global unified messaging system which uses the Internet to communicate the messages and it is in this context that the invention will be described. It will be appreciated, however, that the system and method in accordance with the invention has greater utility since the system may use other communication networks.
  • the invention as broadly described, is global unified messaging system which permits the communication of messages having a variety of different data formats, such as facsimile messages, voice messages, electronic messages and the like. It should be noted, however, that the invention is not limited to the particular different types of messages described below.
  • the system ensures that any type of message originating from an originating node will be received by a destination node through the communications network because the communications network includes a plurality of different communications routes over which the message may be sent.
  • the system also includes a method for dynamically routing the message over the plurality of communications routes to ensure successful communication of the message from the origination node to the destination node.
  • the system may fragment a message into one or more packets and each packet may be sent over a separate communications route.
  • FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a global communications system 30 in accordance with the invention in which an originating node 32 may communicate a variety of different messages to a destination node 34 over a communications network 36.
  • a single origination node and a single destination node are shown for clarity, the invention is not limited to a single origination node or a single destination node.
  • each communications node in the messaging system may operate as both a origination node and a reception node.
  • the origination and destination nodes may be physically located in remote geographic locations since messages may be communicated to any geographic location over the communications network 36.
  • a single communications node may both receive and send messages over the system 30.
  • the origination and destination nodes 32, 34 may each have a plurality of different products/services which send and/or receive (i.e., communicate) messages through the communications network 36.
  • each node may include a telephone 38, a facsimile machine 40, a desktop computer 42, a laptop computer 44, a cellular phone 46 and a pager 48 which communicate messages over the global messaging system.
  • the messages generated or received by these products/services may be communicated over an intermediary communications medium, such as a telephone network 50 or an Internet 0 connection 52, which is in turn connected to a central communications network 54.
  • the central communications network 54 may include one or more computer systems 56 interconnected together by the Internet so that the messages being communicated over the communications network may be dynamically routed through a variety of different communications routes, as described below, to 5 ensure that the message is successfully communicated from the origination node to the destination node.
  • a user connected to the origination node 32 may desire to send a facsimile o message to a user in Singapore.
  • the user connected to the origination node may generate the facsimile message by some conventional means and then request that the global communications system 30 send the facsimile message to Singapore.
  • the global messaging system may convert the facsimile message into a unified digital format, as described below, and request that the message be sent over the 5 communications network 36.
  • the communications network 36 may then determine, in real-time, an optimal routing path for the message over the one or more communications routes which make up the communications network, as described below, and send the message to the destination node which may be in Singapore.
  • the communications network 36 may include Internet communications routes 54 as well as conventional telephone line communications routes and, if the Internet cannot deliver the message in a timely fashion, the system 30 may automatically select to send the facsimile message from the least expensive originating country directly to Singapore over a conventional telephone line commimications route using typical facsimile technology.
  • the system 30 has a plurality of different communications routes which ensure that a message from the origination node 32 reaches the destination node 34 in a timely manner.
  • FIG 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the communications network 36 of the system 30 shown in Figure 1.
  • each computer system 56 which makes up a portion of the communications network, may be a communications node which may receive and/or send messages over the system 30. Therefore, as shown in Figure 2, each computer system 56 may have one or more services or products 60, such as a facsimile machine, a desktop computer and a laptop computer, connected to it which may receive and/or send messages over the communications network 36.
  • the products and services and the communications node may be connected together.
  • the commumcations node and the communications network may be connected together using a variety of different conventional technologies, such as the Internet, a frame relay network, an ISDN or dial-up link, a leased telephone line or a TCP/IP connection.
  • the communications network 36 may include the computer systems 56 which are interconnected together by a plurality of commumcations routes in a communications mesh so that a message may be communicated between two communications nodes over a variety of different communication routes.
  • the system 30 has redundant commumcations routes to ensure message delivery.
  • the communications network 36 may dynamically route a message through the one or more communications routes to ensure timely delivery.
  • the communications network 36 also tracks each communicated message to ensure successful message communications and to permit a user of the system 30 to track his message.
  • each message may be encrypted and broken apart into a plurality of packets, as described below, so that it is difficult to intercept a message. Now, more details about the communications network will be provided.
  • FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating more details of the multi-path commumcations network 36 in accordance with the invention.
  • a simple communications network containing three commumcations nodes (A, B and C) will be described although the invention typically has many more communications nodes interconnected together.
  • each communications node may have one or more computer systems so that each communications node may have multiple commumcations routes coming into and out of the communications node.
  • communications node A may have a first computer system 70 and a second computer system 72 each of which may have a different IP protocol address (EP1 and IP2) so that communications node A has two commumcations routes attached to it.
  • IP protocol address EP1 and IP2
  • communications node B may have two computer systems 74, 76, each with separate IP addresses
  • communications node C may have three computer systems 78, 80, 82, each also with separate IP addresses. Due to the multiple IP addresses at each communications node, multiple communications routes are available between each communications node. In accordance with the invention, data from any of the communications nodes to any other communications node may be routed along any of these communications routes.
  • the network topology shown above also permits multiple end-to-end connections between the communication nodes to provide multiple end-to-end communications paths so that data destined for a particular communications node may be routed over one of multiple communications paths.
  • the commumcation of a data packet from node A to node B as shown in Figure 3 may occur over multiple end-to-end communications paths.
  • the data packet may be sent from node A directly to node B (over one of the IP protocol addresses) or from node A to node C and then from node C onto node B.
  • This routing of data over any of the communications routes permits dynamic routing of the data based upon a variety of factors, such as cost of communications, reliability of that communications route currently, the network load of a communications route currently and the total capacity of each communications route.
  • the message may be routed either over any of the four communications routes which directly connect the two communications nodes (e.g., IP 1 to IP2, IPl to IPl, IP2 to IPl and IP2 to IP2) or over any of the communications routes which include communications node C.
  • the communications network shown in Figure 3 there may be sixteen different communications routes between communications node A and commumcations node B.
  • the system may include a feedback mechanism in which each communications node may feed back information about each other communications node and itself so that the system may avoid communicating messages through communications nodes which are, for example, congested or not operating.
  • each communications node may feed back information about each other communications node and itself so that the system may avoid communicating messages through communications nodes which are, for example, congested or not operating.
  • FIG 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the physical layout of a communications node 90 of the system shown in Figure 1.
  • a communications node 90 may both send and receive messages and thus may be both the originating commumcation node 32 and the destination communications node 34 as shown in Figure 1.
  • the communications node 90 may include one or more computer systems which may be interconnected over a backbone network 92, such as an Ethernet local area network (LAN).
  • the communications node 90 may communicate with the communications network 36 over a communications medium, such as the Internet, via a router 94 owned by a first Internet Service Provider (ISP) connected to the backbone network.
  • ISP Internet Service Provider
  • the communications node 90 may include, for example, a communications station 96, a workstation 98, a communications server 100 and a backup server 102 interconnected together by the backbone network so they can share data and information.
  • a communications station 96 may include, for example, a communications station 96, a workstation 98, a communications server 100 and a backup server 102 interconnected together by the backbone network so they can share data and information.
  • the workstation 98 may permit a user to send and receive messages over the system as well as, for example, use an Internet phone product.
  • the communications server 100 may be connected, via a modem over a PPP protocol link, to a second Internet service provider (ISP) for redundancy so that, if the router 94 fails, messages may still be communicated.
  • ISP Internet service provider
  • the backup server 102 may also be connected, via a modem over a PPP protocol link, to another backup Internet service provider (ISP) for further redundancy.
  • ISP Internet service provider
  • the communications station 96 and the communications server 100 may have one or more telephone lines connected to them so that messages may be received over the telephone lines, such as facsimile messages.
  • the communications node 90 may communicate messages over both the Internet and over typical phone lines as needed so that a message can be communicated to the destination.
  • the various functionality within the communications node may be split up in a variety of different ways between the various computer systems. An example of the logical functional layout of the communications node 90 will now be described.
  • FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the logical layout of the commumcations node 90 of Figure 4.
  • the communications station 100, the communications station 96 and the backbone network 92 are shown.
  • the backbone network 92 as described above, permit the communications station 96 and the communications server 100 to communicate with each other.
  • the communications station 96 and the communications server 100 may each include a message transport server 110 and a packet transport server 112.
  • the message transport server 110 may control the processing of each incoming and outgoing message while the packet transport server 112 may receive or send the incoming and outgoing messages over the communications network and begin to process them as described below in more detail.
  • incoming and outgoing messages may be split between the communications station 96 and the communications server 100 since both have the packet transport server 112 with multiple IP connections.
  • the message transport servers and packet transport servers may be interconnected to each other.
  • the communications station 96 and the communications server 100 may also each include a storage folder 114 for temporarily storing information about each message which may be then stored in a single SQL server database 116 which may be located, for example, in the communications server 100.
  • the communications server 100 may also include a task dispatch server
  • FIG 6 is a diagrammatic functional view of the communications node 90 in accordance with the invention.
  • the commumcations node 90 may include a presentation layer 120, a message exchange layer 122, a message unification layer 124, a task dispatching layer 126 and a packet exchange layer 128.
  • Each of these different logical layers of the communications node will be briefly described and then described in more detail below.
  • the functionality of each of these layers may be embodied in one or more pieces of software being executed by one or more of the computer systems shown in Figure 5.
  • the presentation layer 120 may receive a variety of different messages from a variety of different sources and thus act as an interface between the global messaging system in accordance with the invention and the messaging systems and the various messages being communicated.
  • the message exchange layer 122 may perform system administration and billing functions as well as ensuring that a message has the proper authorization to be sent over the global messaging system to ensure security.
  • the message unification layer 124 may convert the different messages with the different formats and protocols into a single unified message format to be communicated over the global messaging system, store the message in a digital format, and generate a task associated with the message.
  • the task dispatching layer 126 may schedule the message tasks, prioritize the message tasks as necessary, determine the routing of the message over the communications network, and if necessary, acknowledge receipt of an incoming message.
  • the packet exchange layer 128 may prepare the message for communication and send/receive the message.
  • the layers will be described for outgoing messages, but it should be noted that each of the layers may also receive messages and perform the appropriate processes to receive a unified message and output the appropriate message to the appropriate messaging system.
  • the presentation layer 120 may include interfaces to a variety of different sources for messages which may be communicated over the global messaging system.
  • a voice message source 130 such as voice over IP service
  • a facsimile message source 132 an e-mail source (e.g., MIME format) 134
  • a document source 136 which may include hypertext mark-up language (HTML) and text documents
  • HTTP hypertext mark-up language
  • the message exchange layer 122 may include third party computer telephony integration (CTI) devices 140 which receives the voice or facsimile messages and converts them into digital data messages and a message exchange server 142 which converts e-mail, HTML, documents and data into digital data. These two systems may also authenticate the identity of the message source and confirm that the sender/receiver of the message is a customer of the umfied messaging system.
  • CTI computer telephony integration
  • the message exchange layer 122 may also include an administrative system 144 and a database 145.
  • the database 145 may store a variety of information about the messages passing through the global messaging system, such as the owner of the message, the task assigned to that message and the like.
  • the administrative system 144 may further include a system administration unit 146 for ensuring the global messaging system is operating properly, a billing/accounting unit 148 for tracking the billing of the messages to users, and a system management unit 150 for periodically checking the characteristics of the system, such as the backlog of messages which may be waiting to be sent and the like.
  • the message unification layer 124 may perform various functions such as security functions, storage functions, and generating task types.
  • the message unification layers 124 may include a message unifier 152 which receives the various types of messages from the CTI devices 140 and the message exchange server 142 and generates unified digital messages which may be transmitted over the global messaging system.
  • the message unifier may append header information, such as the sender and his address, onto the message and remove any other information not needed to transmit the message.
  • the unified messages may be stored in a storage unit 154 which may be a hard disk drive, an optical drive, a tape drive or any other type of suitable media for storing the unified messages.
  • the task dispatching layer 126 may perform various functions such as scheduling each task which may be to send or receive an individual message, prioritization of the tasks to ensure that priority messages are sent promptly, load control to ensure that the messages being sent over the communication routes, as described above, connecting the particular communications node to the rest of the global messaging system are being properly utilized, routing to ensure that a message is transmitted through the communications path which best matches its criteria, such as cost or time, and acknowledgment to acknowledge to other layers of the system receipt of the outgoing message.
  • the task dispatching layer may include a task scheduler 156 and a router 158.
  • the task scheduler may schedule the tasks generated by the message umfier 152 wherein each task may be a separate message being sent or received by the global messaging system.
  • the task scheduler may also be connected to the database 145 so that information about each scheduled task may be entered into the database so that the client may be charged and other data about the load on the system may be later analyzed.
  • the task scheduler 156 may also be connected to the router 158 which determines, for each task, the appropriate communications route through which the message may be communicated. The task scheduler and the router will be described in more detail below with reference to Figure 7.
  • the packet exchange layer 128 may perform various functions, such as communication of the umfied messages, controlling the flow of the messages being communicated over each communications route attached to the communications node, and load balancing to ensure one of the commumcations routes attached to the communications node is not overloaded.
  • the packet exchange layer 128 may include an electronic packet unit 160 and a packet transmission unit 162.
  • the electronic packet unit 160 may, at times, divide a unified message from the storage 154, based on instructions from the task scheduler 156, into smaller pieces which may be communicated over different commumcations routes as described below, generate appropriate headers for each smaller piece so that the unified message may be reconstructed at the reception communications node, and encrypt each piece of the message.
  • the encrypted pieces of the message are then forwarded to the packet transmission unit 162 which communicates the encrypted pieces of the message, based on instructions from the router 158, over the global messaging system to the reception communications node.
  • a message may be received from an authenticated user by the communications node.
  • the commumcations node may convert the incoming message, which may be in a variety of different formats, into a unified digital format, schedule a task to send the message and determine the routing of the message over the communications routes connected to the communications node. Based on the determined routing, the communications node may split up the message into smaller pieces of data, which may be encrypted. In accordance with the invention, each smaller piece of encrypted data may then be communicated to the reception commumcations node over a possibly different communications route. When the communications node receives pieces of a message, it may reconstruct the message from the encrypted pieces and distribute the message to the appropriate person based on the information in the header of the message.
  • FIG 7 is a more detailed diagrammatic data flow view of the commumcations node 90 and in particular the router 158, the electronic packet generator 160 and the packet transmission unit 162.
  • the router 158 may communicate with the task scheduler 156 shown in Figure 6 and one or more tasks associated with each message to be sent or received by the particular communications node generated by the task scheduler may be placed into a task queue 170 in the router 158.
  • the task queue may contain a list of the pending tasks for the communications node which are then routed to the appropriate destination communications node by the router 158 which will now be described.
  • the router may also include a routing table 172, a destination decider 174, an SChannel task queue 176, a task queuing and routing unit 178, a DChannel dispatch and traffic controller 180, a server table 182, and a routing path decider 184.
  • a routing table 172 a destination decider 174
  • SChannel task queue 176 a task queuing and routing unit 178
  • DChannel dispatch and traffic controller 180 a server table 182
  • a routing path decider 184 a routing path decider 184.
  • a facsimile message destined for Singapore may be sent to a communications node in Singapore and then locally faxed to the recipient.
  • the Singapore commumcations node is currently unable to accept incoming messages, then the message may be sent to a China communications node and then faxed directly to Singapore.
  • the commumcations node may transmit the facsimile over a telephone line directly to Singapore which incurs long distance telephone charges.
  • there may therefore be a variety of different communications paths to the communications node which may include a variety of different technologies, such as the Internet or facsimile machines.
  • the message is guaranteed to reach its destination.
  • the destination decider 174 may receive information, such as cost of each communications path, facsimile balance information which indicates the current facsimile capacities of the destination communications node, and the most recent status of the destination commumcations node as provided by the feedback mechanism as described below.
  • the cost of the commimications path depends on the method for communications since transmission over the Internet is considerably less expensive than a long distance facsimile transmission. In most cases, the communications node attempts to communicate the message using the least expensive communications path to maximize the profit margin for each message being communicated.
  • the least expensive commumcations path such as the direct Internet connection to a communications node in the destination country
  • a more expensive commumcations path may be used, such as sending the message to a commumcation node is a neighboring country and then transmitting the message via facsimile from the neighboring country to its destination.
  • the destination decider 174 may also take advantage of oddities in global telephone rates. For example, it is often less expensive to call from another country into Japan than to make a call between, for example, Tokyo and Osaka due to high telephone call rates within Japan.
  • the destination decider may compile a complete list of communication routes to all location in the global messaging system and load that complete list into the routing table 172 while the rest of the system is handling the message traffic.
  • the destination decider may also update the information in the routing table from time to time as needed in the background so that the processing of the messages is not interrupted by the determination of the destinations.
  • the information in the routing table 172 and the information from the task queue 170 may be fed into the task queuing and routing unit 178 which takes the next task from the task queue and places the task into the SChannel task queue 176 which schedules the message represented by the task to be communicated to a particular destination communications node based on the information in the routing table.
  • the task is passed on to the DChannel dispatch and traffic controller 180.
  • the DChannel dispatch and traffic controller 180 may determine the appropriate communications routes over which to send the packets of the message to the destination communications node.
  • the DChannel dispatch and traffic controller may receive information from the server table 182 which may contain a list of communications routes which are suggested communication routes at the particular time since the list in the server table may be updated constantly based on traffic information from the routing path decider 184.
  • the routing path decider may, based on traffic status information about the communications network, as described below, decide the appropriate routing (forwarding) path and calculate the DChannel traffic control information which is then written into the server table.
  • the server table information is then used by the DChannel dispatch and traffic controller to enter the tasks into a DChannel task queue 190 as described below to schedule the packets of the message to be communicated over the one or more communications routes.
  • the DChannel dispatch and traffic controller may also ensure that a particular DChannel is not being overloaded (traffic control) and may re-route some traffic to other DChannels as needed to control congestion problems. For each SChannel (commumcations node), there may be several DChannels which represent the different communications routes (IP addresses), as shown in Figure 3, which may connect the originating communications node and the destination communications node.
  • the tasks that are entered into the DChannel task queue 190 have been assigned one or more particular commumcation routes over which portions of the message will be commumcated. In particular, the division of the message into multiple smaller uniform sized packets has been determined and the communications route that each packet may use has also been determined.
  • the tasks in the queue are matched up with the actual message in the storage and the information is passed onto the electronic packet generator 160 which will now be described.
  • the electronic packet generator 160 may include a compressor 192, a encrypter 194 and a fragmenter 196.
  • the electronic packet generator may compress the message as much as possible to reduce the total amount of data in the message, encrypt the message for security and divide the message into one or more electronic packets.
  • the compressor 192 may get the next task from the DChannel task queue and compress the data in the corresponding message.
  • the compression may be accomplished using any well- known conventional compression method and the invention is not limited to any particular compression technique.
  • the compressed message is passed onto the encrypter 194 which may encrypt the message.
  • the encryption may be accomplished using a variety of different well- known encryption techniques, such as RSA's Public Key User Authentication and Symmetric Key Encryption.
  • the encryption may be based on Microsoft's Cryptography application program interfaces (APIs).
  • APIs application program interfaces
  • the encrypted message may then be passed onto the fragmenter 196.
  • the fragmenter may, based on current Internet traffic information, divide the encrypted message into one or more electronic packets which may be stored in a database 198.
  • Each packet of a message may also include a header so that the individual packets which make up the message may be reconstructed once received at the destination communications node.
  • each electronic packet of a message may be communicated over a different communications route depending on traffic conditions.
  • each electromc packet may be assigned to a particular commumcations route and then the routing of each electronic packet may be stored in a Packet DChannel queue 200.
  • the routing information in the Packet DChannel queue and the actual packets in the database 198 may be forwarded to the packet transmitter 162 which will now be described in more detail.
  • the packet transmitter 162 may include a bank of transmission units 202 which has one or more transmission units (TU1, TU2, ...TUn). Each transmission unit may be responsible for communicating packets over a particular communications route. Each transmission unit may obtain traffic information about the particular communications route and then attempt to communicate the packets.
  • each transmission unit may simultaneously communicate the electronic packets assigned to its communications route to the destination communications node.
  • the transmission units may also receive data about traffic problems in their particular communications route which may be passed on to a traffic status repository 204 which will now be described.
  • the traffic status repository 204 may continuously contain updated traffic information about the communications routes in the global messaging system so that the communications node may properly assign messages and packets to communication routes which are not currently suffering from traffic problems.
  • the traffic status repository may receive traffic information about various different portions of the global messaging system. For example, it may receive information about traffic problems over particular communication routes from the transmission units.
  • the traffic status repository may also receive traffic information from a network collector 206 which may collect Internet traffic status information from other communication nodes so that the communications nodes in the global messaging system share traffic information with each other.
  • the traffic status repository 204 may also receive information from a DChannel Explorer 208 which continuously tests each broken DChannel (communications route) associated with the communications node for a quality connection.
  • the traffic status repository may collect the traffic status information and provide the information to the routing path decider 184 to optimize communications route being taken.
  • the traffic problems may be caused by a variety of different problems. For example, traffic problems may occur if a communications node has crashed and cannot receive any messages, if a communications route has been disabled for some reason, if the entire Internet network crashes, or if a particular DChannel has too much data currently being communicated over it.
  • each communications node may continuously monitor the traffic of its environment and the rest of the global messaging system so that messages may be routed around traffic problems to ensure that every message is communicated to its destination. Now, more details of the message exchange layer of a commumcations node will be described.
  • FIG 8 is a diagram illustrating details of the message exchange layer 122 of the communications node in accordance with the invention.
  • the message exchange layer may receive a variety of different messages, such as a voice message 210, a facsimile message 212, an electronic mail message (email) 214 and a file transfer protocol (FTP) message 216.
  • FTP file transfer protocol
  • each message the various portions of the message are separated out and analyzed.
  • each message may include authentication information 218, destination information 220, type information 222 and the actual data 224.
  • the authentication information 218, which is used to determine if the message sender is a current customer of the global messaging system, is checked for authentication 226 by well-known techniques, and the authenticated customer information may be passed onto the task queue 170.
  • the destination and message type information 220, 222 may be passed onto a mapper 228 which uses the message type and destination information to determine the appropriate destination communications node within the messaging system of the message. For example, a message destined for China may be assigned to a communications node in China since the messaging system does not have any communications nodes in Cambodia.
  • the mapper may also use information from a broadcasting and customization database 230 to help identify the proper destination communications node of the message. The results of the mapping may be fed into the task queue 170.
  • FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method 240 for generating a routing table in accordance with the invention for a particular message to a particular destination in a particular country.
  • the routing table is generated based on a cost table 242 which will be briefly described here.
  • the cost table may include information about each country code in the world and the area code delivery cost from each communications node in the global messaging system.
  • the cost table may, for example, contain a plurality of data elements in which each data element may have a structure such as structure ⁇ itemlD, countrycode, areaCode, serverlD, deliveryCost, backupFlag
  • the cost table may contain a data element which identifies, for example, the appropriate communications node (serverlD) and its associated cost (deliveryCost).
  • serverlD the appropriate communications node
  • deliveryCost the cost of the cost table 242 based on the deliveryCost information. This may be the least cost method for delivery of a message from a particular communications node to a particular destination in a particular country.
  • step 246 the next least cost country, area code pair data element is retrieved for the cost table.
  • the current data element is analyzed to determine if it is an appropriate communications node for the particular message.
  • the fax balance value i.e., total facsimile capacity for the particular communications node
  • a predetermined maximum threshold fax balance value (Threshold_Fax_Balance)
  • the method rejects the current data element representing a particular communications node and returns to step 246 so that the data element representing another communications node may be retrieved and analyzed.
  • step 254 it is determined if a value equal to the number of successful electronic packets recently sent to the particular destination communications node divided by the total number of electronic packets sent to the destination commumcations node (E_Pak_successful/E_Pak) during a predetermined time is greater than a minimum threshold E_Pak_successfi ⁇ l value to determine if the percentage of successful electronic packet communications is above some mimmum level. If the percentage of successful electronic packet communications is not above the mimmum, another pair is selected in step 246 and the new data element representing a new communications node is analyzed.
  • step 256 it is determined whether a value equal to the total number of successfully communicated tasks to the destination communications node divided by the total number of tasks (count_task_ack/count_task) for the particular destination communications node over a predetermined time is greater than a mimmum acknowledged task value (Threshold Task). If the percentage of acknowledged tasks is not greater than the mimmum value, then the method loops back to step 246 and another pair is retrieved and analyzed.
  • step 258 it is determined whether a value equal to the successful tasks over the acknowledged tasks (count_succ_task/count_task_ack) for the particular destination commumcations node over a predetermined time, such as ten minutes, is greater than a mimmum threshold successful task value (Threshold succ) to determine if the percentage of successful tasks is greater than the mimmum. If the percentage of successful tasks is not greater than the minimum, then the method loops back to step 246 so that another pair may be retrieved and analyzed. If the percentage of successful tasks is greater than the minimum value, the pair is entered into the routing table.
  • step 248 ensures that at least one data element (representing a particular communications route) is entered into the routing table 250 for each destination country and area code.
  • a routing table for each destination communications node is generated.
  • the data element in the routing table for each destination communications node may have a structure, such as structure
  • FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method 260 for selecting a routing path in accordance with the invention in order to determine an appropriate Channel over which to transmit a message and to update traffic information about each DChannel.
  • the method analyzes each DChannel.
  • step 262 the first possible DChannel is selected and the successful delivery ratio and the smoothed trip time from a local site information is determined.
  • step 264 a decision about the current status of the DChannel is determined.
  • step 266 the method retrieves another DChannel in step 266 and loops back to step 262 to test that new DChannel. If the status of the DChannel is bad (i.e., there is a problem with the particular DChannel), then in step 268, the particular DChannel is closed, a DChannel Counter is decremented (indicating that there are fewer DChannels to select from) and a DChannel probe process is activated which will now be described.
  • the DChannel probe process analyzes the bad DChannel continually over predetermined time periods since the DChannel may eventually return to the good status and be returned to the available DChannels. Thus, in step 270, a DChannel probe test is performed and in step 272, the status of the DChannel is tested again. If the DChannel status is still bad the method loops back to step 270 and the DChannel probe test is repeated after some predetermined time interval until the status changes. Once the status changes to "Good" for the particular DChannel, the DChannel Counter is incremented and the DChannel is re-opened for use in step 274 and the method loops back to step 262 to test other DChannels.
  • the method in step 276 may determine if DChannelCount is greater than zero (i.e., there are other available DChannels to transmit data), the method loops back to step 262. If there are no other DChannels available, then the method retrieves the successful delivery ratio and the smoothed trip time from the traffic status table in step 278 and determines a forwarding path 20 (through one or more communications nodes) in step 280 based on this information. If no forwarding path for the particular message is determined, then the method sets the commumcation node to send an event to update the routing table with this information in step 282.
  • the communications node may communicate the message over more expensive communications paths, such as using a conventional facsimile machine or a facsimile board in a computer to transmit the message directly to the destination phone number.
  • the message is guaranteed to be delivered to the recipient unlike conventional e-mail messages in which there is never any guarantee that the message has been commumcated successfully.
  • the method sets the selected forwarding path in step 284.
  • FIG 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method 300 for electronic packet transmission in accordance with the invention.
  • Each electronic packet may have a structure, such as struct ep ⁇ short TaskType, unsigned TaskID, unsigned short TotalSegs, //total number of segments/packets in this task unsigned short SegNo, //sequence number of particular segment unsigned PacketLengthn, //length of packet char UrgentFlag, //Urgent Data Flag unsigned CkSum, //checksum value int DestinationServerlD, //ID of destination server TASKINFO HEADER Tasklnfo, //Info, of the task IPADDR SourcelP, //IP address of source
  • IPADDR DestinationIP //IP address of destination unsigned char *EP-Data //variable length data
  • the electronic packet structure may thus include a header containing information so that the electromc packets associated with a particular message may be reconstructed from the electronic packets.
  • the packet transmission process may use the various data in the packet DChannel queue 200 as described above which contains the packets destined to be communicated over particular DChannels.
  • each transmission unit associated with each DChannel may retrieve an electronic packet for the appropriate queue for that DChannel and send the electronic packet to its destination.
  • each transmission unit determines whether the transmission was successful based on whether the transmission unit received an acknowledgment signal from the destination. If the transmission was successful for a particular transmission unit, then the method returns to step 302 and the transmission unit retrieves another electronic packet and sends it.
  • the unsuccessful electronic packet may be rerouted to the next DChannel be placing it in the packet DChannel queue 200 for the next DChannel in step 306 so that the electronic packet is retried for each DChannel associated with the commumcations node.
  • the transmission method may also be affected by changes in the routing table since the routing table may change the routing of particular messages. In addition, since the routing table is continuously updated, the transmission method constantly receives routing information which may change the DChannels being used, for example. Thus, in step 308, it is determined if there is a routing table change event. If there is not a routing table change, then the method loops back to step 308 to continuously checks for a routing table change.
  • the method may delete the electronic packets to be communicated over that communications route from the packet DChannel queue and send the task containing those deleted electronic packets back to the task queue to be reassigned to a new communications route in step 310. In this manner, it is ensured that the electronic packets are successfully communicated over the DChannel or rerouted to another DChannel to ensure successful commumcation of every message.
  • the customer may transmit a facsimile message to an origination communications node which may contain the user's identification number, the destination phone number (Dphonenumber) and the content of the facsimile message.
  • the origination communications node may receive the facsimile over a CTI device, such as a GammaLinkTM fax board.
  • the communications node may check that the user's identification is valid during an authentication process, digitize the facsimile message content and encrypt the facsimile message.
  • the communications node may enter a task into the task queue for the facsimile delivery based on the task type, task priority and other factors and store the digitized facsimile content into a storage.
  • the task queue routing process may occur which routes the task through a particular communications node.
  • the communications node may select a next task (the facsimile message) from the task queue and identify a Dphonenumber in the task information. Based on the country code and area code of the Dphonenumber, the communications node chooses, from the routing table, the destination communications node.
  • the communications node may send the task to the appropriate SChannel task queue to send the task over the Internet to the destination communications node.
  • the DChannel dispatch and traffic controller may select a best routing path through a communications route to the destination communications node based on the information in the server table. The task may then be passed on to the packet exchange layer.
  • the packet exchange layer may perform routing path decision processes on the task.
  • the communications node may, based on the selected best routing path, send the task to the appropriate DChannel task queue.
  • the digitized facsimile message from the storage is retrieved, compressed and encrypted.
  • the encrypted message is segmented into multiple electromc packets and each packet is sent to the packet DChannel queue to be communicated over one or more DChannels as described above.
  • the packet transmission layer may then pick up the packets from the packet DChannel queue and attempt to send the packets through the Internet to the destination communications node.
  • the electronic packet will not be successfully communicated and the electronic packet is sent back so that it may be sent through a different DChannel which does not have the traffic problems.
  • the unsuccessful electronic packet will continue to cycle through the system until it is successfully communicated over a DChannel.
  • the total time of the transaction and the DChannel used is recorded and sent to the traffic status updater to update the traffic status as needed. Now, the reception of a message will be briefly described.
  • the packet exchange layer of the communications node may process the incoming message.
  • the packet exchange layer may receive the multiple elecfromc packets. If the electronic packets are for a new task, as determined based on the header information, a new task is generated. Once all of the electronic packets for the particular task are received, as determined by the information in the header of each electronic packet, the electronic packets are recombined together and decrypted to generate the incoming facsimile message which is entered into a facsimile message queue. Then facsimile message may then be sent, via the same CTI device such as the GammaLinkTM facsimile board, to the recipient and an acknowledgment signal is sent back to the originating commumcations node.
  • CTI device such as the GammaLinkTM facsimile board

Abstract

Cette invention porte sur un système et un procédé de messagerie qui permet d'envoyer des messages ayant différents formats de données tels que des messages par télécopie, des messages vocaux, des messages électroniques et analogues. Ce système permet que tout type de message provenant d'un noeud d'origine soit reçu par un noeud de destination dans le réseau de communication du fait que le réseau de communication comprend une pluralité de voies de communication différentes dans lesquels sont envoyés les messages. Ce système comprend un procédé permettant d'acheminer de manière dynamique le message dans la pluralité de voies de communication qui assurent la bonne transmission du message de son noeud d'origine à son noeud de destination. Selon un autre aspect de cette invention, le système de messagerie peut diviser un message en un ou plusieurs paquets électroniques codés, chaque paquet électronique pouvant être transmis au noeud de destination par une voie d'acheminement différente de sorte que le message soit distribué plus rapidement et qu'il ne congestionne pas une voie de communication particulière.
PCT/US2000/010709 1999-04-26 2000-04-20 Procede et systeme de messagerie unifie mondial WO2000065786A1 (fr)

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