Establishing communication in a packet data network

The present invention relates to a method of setting up communication between a source user and a destination user. [Introduction] Traditionally, communication between remote terminals is based on the use of dedicated lease lines or public switched networks, essentially analog speech-based public switched telephone networks. Subsequent digitization of trunk networks has facilitated the installation of exchange digital communication channels and the adoption of international standards such as Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN). Recently, the use of data services has increased dramatically due to the expansion and availability of the Internet, which has led to long-distance data communication by means of local calls to Internet service providers. With increasing demand for data services, access to the Internet has led many users to install personal computers with data communication devices such as modems and similar computer engines, thereby further increasing across voice-based transmission channels. Enables new advances in data-speed transmission. The need for data transmission in addition to common voice and facsimile transmissions was also recognized when new digital transmission standards were established for mobile communications such as GSM, which typically involve large levels of interleaving. It provides an enhanced transmission protocol for communicating existing data, thereby reducing data loss caused by common burst errors in wireless communication. In a business environment, personal computers and workstations have become commonplace and are beginning to be adopted daily and are ubiquitous as desktop fixtures on the side of telephone handset. In addition, in order to strengthen and improve the working relationship between personal computers and telephones, a number of exclusive programs replace many calendars, diaries, address books, etc. on a daily basis to record information used by executives and office workers. Used for. In addition, a modem located between the personal computer and the telephone line keeps a record of the communication as it occurs, while the modem is used to connect phone calls and send data by point-to-point or email providers. It is possible to provide a facsimile directly. Many of these different types of communications work very well and appear to provide excellent problem-solving when viewed individually. However, there is also much to be desired in the interaction between these different services. Therefore, it is possible to set up phone calls, send faxes, send data, and provide software to access large networks such as the Internet and per-use payment networks, but establish specific connections. However, careful processing must be done to switch between different connections. Therefore, after using a modem for a particular function, such as setting up a phone call, the modem usually needs some reconfiguration to access other services such as data services or facsimiles before further transmissions are made. And. Thus, for example, a personal computer may consist of a facsimile drive, which allows the fax to be received and transmitted by its associated modem before accessing other databases, which is driven from memory. It needs to be removed, so it is not possible for a personal computer to receive a fax while communicating with the database. Therefore, according to the technique of the present invention, the personal computer is secondary when high communication capacity is present, and the start call is usually made by telephone. When many types of communications such as audio telephones, mobile telephones, video transmissions and data transmissions are made, it becomes very difficult to identify the exact location of the destination. Existing exchange techniques set physical links between users, which are only efficient if the destination user stays in a certain position. Similarly, when exchanging packets of data to which each destination address is attached, the source user needs to know the destination of the intended recipient. As a result, increased use involves storing and transferring systems such as email, which is less reliable for direct real-time communication technology. The problem with this type of development today is that these developments tend to reduce the utilization of real-time connections, which reduce the overall efficiency of the communication structure for a customer. [Summary of invention] According to the first feature of the present invention, a source terminal in which data is transmitted by a packet having a destination address portion and a communication data portion and is connected to a first communication network operating according to a first transmission protocol. Provides a method of configuring data transmission to a desired receiver at a contactable address in a second communication network that operates according to a second transmission protocol and has an access gateway. In that method, the source terminal is given the distinguished name of the desired recipient of the data to be transmitted, and an address request packet containing the given distinguished name is transmitted from the source terminal to the service control system, and the service control system In, the address request packet is received and the database is used to obtain the actually contactable network address of the desired recipient in the second communication network, and the address containing the actually contactable address. The request response packet is sent from the service control system to the source terminal, and the source terminal sends the data to the access gateway of the second communication network data in response to the reception of the address request response packet from the service control system. It includes the step of sending data to the desired recipient, and the data sent to the access gateway includes the address of the access gateway as well as to send the data to the desired recipient in the second communication network. , It is characterized in that a contactable address of a desired receiver received from the service control system is attached. In a preferred embodiment, the data is transmitted according to the internet acquisition protocol. Preferably, the destination name is identified from the list of names. The name display list is obtained from a local database, but in a preferred embodiment, the name display list is obtained from a database maintained by the service control platform. Preferably when a communication session is initiated, name data is sent to the user, thereby ensuring that the list is regularly updated. The name data may be sent as an HTML page. According to the second feature of the present invention, a source user device arranged to receive a command from an operator is provided to set communication to a destination user, and this device is a means for identifying a destination name to a service platform. A means of receiving a contactable address from the service platform in response to the identification, and a means of supplying a data packet to the destination user identified by the received contactable address. .. In a preferred embodiment, the device is connected to a plurality of similar services via a local network, the network including nodes connected to the service platform. Preferably the ISDN connection is provided between the node and the platform. Further, the transmission between the user device and the service node may be performed according to the Internet protocol. A service platform is provided according to a third feature of the present invention, which includes a user terminal and a database containing user addresses having means for receiving inquiries about user destination addresses from source users. It includes means for communicating, means for accessing the database to obtain the destination address of the destination user, and means for returning the details of the destination address to the source user, whereby the destination address. The source user provides communication with the destination user by generating a data packet using. In a preferred embodiment, the gateway to the World Wide Web is aligned to receive commands that allow the user to remotely control the features of the platform's functionality. [Simple explanation of drawings] Figure 1 shows a typical circuit switching network for voice telephones. Figure 2 shows a typical packet-switched network such as the internationally recognized Internet. FIG. 3 shows a network in which the service platform implements the present invention in which mutual communication is performed in a plurality of transmission environments including a local network. Figure 4 details the type of local network shown in Figure 3. Figure 5 shows the details of the service platform shown in Figure 3. Figure 6 shows the user display on which the data page is displayed. FIG. 7 shows the operation of the network shown in FIG. [Explanation of preferred embodiments] The present invention will be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings described above. A typical circuit exchange environment is shown in FIG. 1, where a telephone handset such as the handset 101 is connected to an exchange node such as the exchange node 102. To initiate the call, outgoing signaling information is generated by the telephone handset 101 and this information is relayed to the exchange node 102. Intelligent controls for exchanging signals are distributed over the network or a high percentage of controls are centralized, and signal transmission information is transmitted across a common signal transmission transmission path. Therefore, exchange node 102 and a plurality of other exchange nodes 103, 104, 105 may be controlled under service control point (SCP) 106. Having such a controlled network can include additional services known as intelligent networks. Therefore, for a customer who normally uses the telephone handset 107, it is possible to convey information to the control processor 106, which means that the user is at the telephone handset 108 for a certain period of time. Under these circumstances, the first customer supplies the signal transmission from the telephone handset 101, which is interpreted by the switching node 102. This information is relayed to SCP106, which is programmed to recognize this signaling information instead, which directs the call to the telephone handset 108 in preference to the telephone handset 107. Problems with such configurations require the network to include a large amount of processing capacity to reorient this type of call. Network providers are in one position to justify the cost of setting up such networks, but it must be recognized that such network providers are facing competition from alternative structures. It makes such an investment less attractive in the future. An alternative structure is shown in FIG. 2, where source user 201 has data to be sent to destination user 202. Information is transmitted as data packets, and the center of the network is considered packet switch 203. The entire typical packet is indicated by 204, which consists of an address section 205 and a communication data section 206. User terminal 202 may be identified by an address that can be limited by a source terminal such as terminal 201. When the terminal 201 has the communication data of the terminal 202, the data is grouped into a plurality of packets, and an appropriate address is added to each packet before the packet is supplied to the packet switch 203. Each packet is analyzed, usually within a packet switch consisting of a plurality of programmable processing devices, and as a result of this analysis, the passage is identified through the network, and as a result, the packet is received by the user terminal 202. No permanent circuit is configured through packet switch 203, and each packet must be individually considered and routed. Packet loss is actually possible, ensuring that in such an environment, when information is lost and therefore the lost packet is retransmitted, the information is relayed back to the transmitting terminal. A protocol is usually given to do this. Similar protocols also exist as a mechanism for giving levels such as error correction. The Internet represents a robust example of the environment shown in Figure 2. The Internet is configured with its own transmission protocols, including Transfer Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP) and Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and the use of the latter (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is "Worldwide Web (WWW). ) , Recognized by a unique subset of the Internet. The Internet uses a decentralized processing engine, and individual user terminals are effectively part of the network as if they were connected to the network. Therefore, in order to perform data communication via the Internet, a program called a "browser" needs to be executed on the user terminal, so that the entire network maintenance is highly dependent on the processing device given by the user himself. Many problems arise on the Internet, most of which are due to the limited bandwidth available to most users. Experiments have shown that high bandwidth connections overcome a number of problems and that real-time voice and real-time video communications are possible using the Internet Protocol. The Internet itself has a number of limitations and is very robust when it comes to directing messages to destinations, but it cannot provide any type of "intelligent network" service that can be used within a circuit switching environment. Not possible. Therefore, in general, it is not possible for a user residing in the terminal 202 to give a command to the Internet to the effect that the user residing in the terminal 206 resides in the terminal 206 on a specific day. The usual arrangement of the Internet holds messages in the form of e-mail in a buffer and accesses the e-mail periodically. The user identifies the username from a different terminal and allows the email to be accessed, but if the source user is not informed that the destination user has moved, then the source user is actually the destination user. It is not possible to know where to live in, and therefore it is not possible for the source user to direct the information to an alternative location. The network in which the present invention is implemented is shown in FIG. Most networks appear to be similar to the configured Internet in that they utilize the Internet Protocol and their own servers and browsers. However, the level of bandwidth given to the user has been enhanced, communication is managed by an intelligent service control system, hereinafter referred to as the service platform, and the associated intelligent protocol provides a level of call redirection. The networks are very different. Information is transmitted in the packet-switched environment of the type shown in Figure 2 according to the configured Internet Protocol. Within the environment, the source user can identify the destination user's address, thereby sending packets over the network. However, in addition to this basic level of service, it is also possible for the call to be redirected in response to information received from the service platform. However, the service platform does not include a common circuit switching element and therefore this redirection cannot be done using the type of technology used within the circuit switching environment shown in Figure 1. Moreover, with competition from networks such as the Internet, large amounts of processing power cannot be generated within the service platform and must depend on the distributed processing power available on the user terminal. Therefore, the present invention addresses the problem of how to make intelligent node type transmissions in an environment where processing capacity is distributed between network elements and user terminals. As mentioned above, it is possible for the source user to generate a packet with a destination address, which packet is distributed over the network and received by the addressed destination according to the Internet Protocol technology set by it. .. This mechanism was developed in the present invention to set up a connection from the source user to the network element and the addressed customer. When performing the processing of the present invention, the source user effectively identifies the destination name to the service platform. The service platform is not involved in setting up a connection to the destination user at this stage. As mentioned above, the configuration of this type of connection must be initiated by the source user according to the intelligent protocol overlaid to the configured Internet Protocol. The service platform therefore parses this information, references the database, and in response to this analysis, the service platform returns to the source user information that identifies the contactable address of the previously identified destination. Therefore, it is not necessary to first know the actual address of the destination user that the source user wants to contact. However, identifying the destination user to the service platform, the address information returns to the source user, which allows the source user to assemble a new packet with the true destination user address identified. A packet of communication data can be sent to the network at the appropriate address attached. Therefore, the behavior of the network shown in Figure 3 is very different from the environment shown in Figures 1 and 2. In the environment shown in Figure 1, sending data to set up a call is effectively a one-way process. In a packet switching environment such as the Internet, packets are generated by addresses and guided to users. In a circuit exchange environment, signaling information is supplied to the network, resulting in the establishment of physical channels between sources and destinations. In embodiments of the invention, the destination address is initially unknown. The source user effectively queries the service platform by automatically generating messages. The service platform queries its database and generates the returned message of the source user. The source user then automatically reassembles new packets with the destination address identified by the service platform. An additional level of complexity arises in which the source user knows the destination address but is not given the information to identify the communication characteristics being made. The source user therefore effectively sends a message to the identified destination and asks for the destination if communication can be set up. If the identified destination is operational, the information is returned to the source, which first states that it is communicable and secondly identifies the protocol that sets up the communication. Thus, for example, these protocols state that the destination can perform video transmission. Instead, it returns information to the effect that the destination is only capable of audio communication. When this information is returned to the source user, the source user is in a position to generate a packet of meaningful communication data for the identified destination. Therefore, transmission of these packets is started and a communication channel is generated between the source user and the destination user. The information is received by the destination user, the information includes address information, and the destination user alternately returns the information to the source user. In this way, it is possible to provide complete bidirectional two-way communication between the starting source user and the receiving destination user. In addition to allowing communication to be configured in this way, the service platform 301 can also perform additional functions. Customers of a particular service are provided with relatively high bandwidth digital communication links, such as ISDN channels 302, 303, 304 to their respective user locations 305, 306, 307. Each user location takes the form of a local area network, allowing multiple individual users to gain access to the user port. In this way, the user at position 305 requests a connection to a user who normally resides at position 306. However, the user at location 306 has instructed the service platform to reside at location 307 on a particular day. In these situations, the username does not change, but the user's address changes in the database, resulting in the message being directed directly to the new destination. Under some circumstances, it is not available to the user and therefore the service platform makes selections such as data messages, voice messages, fax messages, emails, etc. stored within the platform for later retrieval. In addition, the message may be searched using the configured service connection (302, 303, 304, etc.). Alternatively, different means of access, such as the World Wide Web, set up as described in UK Pat. No. 9527326 may be provided. In particular, such a connection sets up a method of redistributing calls and retrieves stored messages. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, yet another function is provided by accessing a configured communication system operating in a unique and different protocol. In this way, service platforms can gain access to public switched telephone networks (PSTN) 308, general ISDN networks 309, cellular networks such as GSM310, and other packet-switched networks such as Worldwide Web 311. To. In addition, access is done in the opposite direction so that PSTN, ISDN, GSM, or WWW users access service users at any available location 305, 306, or 307. A typical user position, such as user position 305, is shown in FIG. A plurality of terminals 401, 402, 403 are connected to a private communication network 404 such as an Ethernet or ATM network. The network is also connected to network server 405, which alternately accesses service platform 301 over connection 302 via ISDN2 interface 406. The private network 404 is configured to allow the transmission of packets according to the Internet Protocol, which causes the terminal 401 to generate a TCP / IP address of another terminal connected to the local network 405. Similarly, the address may be identified at other user positions 306, 307 and the address may be generated in other environments 308-311. The system is configured so that the actual destination location is virtually transparent to the operator, and simple user actions can be made anywhere in the service world as shown in Figure 3. To. At this stage, it is important to recognize the distinction between a manual operation performed by an actual human being, which is hereinafter referred to as an "operator", and an automatic processing operation performed by an operator terminal, which is hereinafter referred to as a "terminal". Similarly, multiple terminals are connected together via a premises communication network, thereby combining with a server, the user perceived by the service platform 301 as a user residing in a particular user location such as location 305, 306 or 307. It is expressed as. The service platform 301 is shown in FIG. 5, which includes an interconnect circuit 501, a service control node 502, a database 503, a message storage device 504, a PSTN gateway 505, an ISDN gateway 506, and a GSM gateway 507. , WWW gateway 508. Circuits 501 to 508 operate under the control of service control node 502 and communicate with the ATM premises communication network 509 implemented as a Unix processing environment. The interconnect circuit 501 provides a physical interface for ISDN transmission through communication paths 302, 303, 304. The interconnect circuit receives ISDN transmissions and modifies such transmissions, thereby making them suitable for feeding to the service control processor 502. Similarly, interconnect circuit 501 receives transmissions from service control processor 502 and modifies them to transmit over ISDN connections 502 to 504. The interconnect circuit 501 interconnects service users and thus allows the user to communicate with the configured TCP / IP protocol. Therefore, the processing equipment available at the user location is utilized without imposing a processing burden on the available processing resources provided by the service platform. In this way, the processing utilization level of the service platform is substantially reduced, increasing the competitiveness of the communication environment. Three different nodes may be identified to allow configuration of the connection. First, the terminal probably refers to a locally stored directory to generate the address of another terminal, which causes the transmission to simply be contained within a local network such as network 404, or instead, for example ISDN. After being received at connection 302, the communication is redirected by the interconnect circuit 501 to an alternative ISDN channel such as 304 for use within user position 307. Under these circumstances, the service platform is not used at all and the sending address is exclusively controlled by the user equipment. Under the second mode of operation, the operator identifies the destination name, and as a result, each terminal of the operator generates an address for supplying the data packet to the service control node 502 via the interconnection circuit 501 . At service control node 502, the required user is identified and database 503 is accessed. In response to the information received from database 503, service control node 502 can identify the actual destination address of the calling user, who is the resident user in location 307. Is. This information is returned to the communication path 302, where it is processed by an operator terminal such as terminal 401. The human operator is not effectively aware of this communication, and the terminal 401 automatically generates a new information packet containing the address supplied to it from the service control node 502. In this way, the terminal 401 can generate a new packet with the true destination address attached. Therefore, after receiving this information, it is possible that the second type of communication is substantially performed according to the first type of communication. In particular, the information packet is further fed to the interconnect circuit 501 without resources to the service control processor 502 and immediately redirected to user position 307. Under the third mode of operation, the operator again identifies a particular destination name, so that each terminal generates an information packet intended for service control node 502. Under the control of service control processor 502, information is retrieved from database 503, which allows service control processor 502 to assemble information packets that are retransmitted and returned to terminal 401, effectively at the destination. Identify the true address. However, in this case, the destination is not the actual customer of the service, i.e. instead the customer instructs the service platform that the call should be redirected to another transmission environment. Under these circumstances, the address data identifies the address of a particular gateway 505-508 to which additional address information is attached, and the attached address information is acted upon by the gateway, thereby calling PSTN, ISDN. Allows connection through, GSM, WWW, etc. Therefore, in these situations, the terminal 401 generates an information packet in the usual way, which is redirected through the interconnect circuit 501 to the appropriate gateway. This imposes additional communication on the ATM network 509, but does not depend on the service control processor 502. At the selected gateway, the address information is identified, which allows the call to be set up in the appropriate environment, resulting in protocol translation, and thus speech data generated by the user location and transmitted in the form of packets, for example. Is aggregated into a continuous stream and converted to PCM stream or analog speech so that it is transmitted via the PSTN. Similarly, this type of conversion is done to be transmitted via ISDN309, GSM310, WWW311, etc., and WWW311 requires substantially less conversion if similar protocols are used. Service platform 301 is not part of the configured "Internet", but uses a protocol configured for the Internet, and terminal 401 runs a TCP / IP-based HTML "browser". Communication between the service control processor 502 and individual terminals such as the terminal 401 is done using HTTP for service presentation, and the service control processor 502 is associated with an HTTP daemon (HTTPD). When connected to the service platform, the operator is in a position to perform all communications via the service terminal. As a result, if it is possible to achieve a connection to the PSTN 308 via the service platform 301, then it is necessary to give the operator an internal private switch and finally a separate telephone connected to the configured PSTN. Absent. Moreover, individual operators do not need to make any special preparations to achieve a special type of communication. In particular, the operator is given a coordinated directory, and the operator is connected to other local operators, remote operators, and finally any type of network that accesses service platform 301 through the appropriate gateway. Allows you to quickly set up communication with someone who is. Therefore, it is conceived that the operator terminal starts the operation in a mode suitable for communication. This is especially appealing if the operator regularly checks email messages or other memorized messages before starting other work. These other tasks are often done using irrelevant applications, perhaps due to communication applications that exist as background processes, especially multitasking environments such as Unix or Windows 95. Therefore, while active in other tasks that use other applications, the local browser is operational, thereby alerting the operator to incoming calls and allowing the operator to take appropriate action. .. The terminal therefore provides the operator with the only means of accessing both local, regional and ultimately global communications. The operator usually urges the terminal, which automatically executes a stored program or script to make a connection to the communication service. In this way, the urging of the terminal sends a message to the service processor 502 to notify the processor that the operating terminal is active. The HTTPD associated with the service control processor 502 returns the HTML customized page to the operator terminal and scripts to display the graphic image to the operator on a visible display device such as device 601 shown in Figure 6. Run. The page generated by HTTPD contains user special information obtained from database 503 and contains window 602 showing information identifying the existence of individual stored calls 603. These are calls directed to the operator and the operator's terminal is not active. These calls may be other types of transmittable data such as voice calls, emails, or fax transmissions. The window contains a scroll bar 604, as is well known in the window environment. A similar window 605 with a similar scrollbar 606 identifies a directory with the name specified by the operator and makes a quick connection to a regularly called destination. This type of private directory is colloquially known as a "buddy list" and identifies frequently called destinations, that is, destinations for people with whom the operator usually has an intimate relationship. Therefore, individual entries 607 may be displayed in the directory and the entire entries may be expanded by manual action performed by the operator. The page displayed by the display device 601 also includes a soft button, which consists of a search button 608, a contact button 609, and an expand button 610. These buttons are accessed by adjusting the position of the displayed cursor arrow 611 by a control device, often by manual mouse operation. The mouse and its associated cursor device make it possible to retrieve stored calls and contact directory entries. This type of operation consists of moving the cursor 611 to a position that identifies one of the stored call entries 603. The left mouse button is then urged and the entry selection is identified by changing the color. Furthermore, the manual operation of the mouse points the cursor 611 to the search button 608. When the appropriate mouse button is pressed while the cursor is over the search button 608, the selected call is retrieved from storage. This is the form of the audio signal given to the appropriate device. Facsimile information is displayed instead or other types of stored data are made accessible. The memory of this type of facsimile information is substantially similar to that described in the previously filed specification. A similar mechanism is used to select a directory entry and urge contact button 609 by moving cursor 601 to the appropriate entry 605. When urged in this way, the packets are aggregated by the terminal and transmitted to the service control processor 502. The third soft button 610 allows other characteristics to be accessed by the deployment function. In this way, entries may be added to the directory to access changes in functionality and selection to access central directories such as business, residential phone books or classified directories. The expand button also terminates certain functions, but as mentioned earlier, the system is designed so that the process is active as a background process, which allows the operator to engage in other tasks while communicating. The setting is possible. The process of making calls between users using the service control processor 502 is shown in detail in FIG. At step 701, the destination is identified by the name from the directory, where the contact button 609 is urged at step 702. This process is performed manually by the operator as described above, and no further operation is required on the operator side, except for the generation of source information in the form of voice communication. At step 703, the operator's terminal sends a message to the service control processor 502 on platform 301, which instead returns the destination address to the terminal at step 704. At step 705, the terminal uses the address returned by the service control processor 502 to generate a new message to the destination requesting communication settings. The message is sent to the destination, either directly through the interconnect of circuits 501 or through the appropriate gateway, so that the analysis of the message is done by the destination terminal in step 706. Step 707 asks if communication is possible, and if the answer is negative, step 708 asks if the source operator requests recording of the message. Under these circumstances, a new HTML page is generated by the service control processor 502 and supplied to the operator terminal. This replaces soft buttons in the form of "yes" and "no" and requires yet another manual action by the operator. When the operator gives a positive answer, ask the terminal if another message exists, keep in mind that the message is considered as a discrete package, and the question in step 709 is complete when the operator recognizes it. Effectively ask if a message requires the transmission of another packet in order to send the entire message. When affirmatively answered, the next packet is sent in step 710 and control is returned to step 709. Thus, the packetized message continues to be transmitted until the question in step 709 gets a negative answer, and as a result the call is cleared in step 714. If the answer to the question that communication is possible at step 707 is affirmative, control is directed to step 711. At step 711, a question is asked if another message exists, and if the answer is affirmative, the message is sent at step 712. When all packets have been sent, the question in step 711 is answered negative and control is directed to step 713. At step 713, a question is asked as to whether the call is cleared, which is answered affirmatively if no further communication is required. However, the called party tends to need to send a message, so the question in step 713 is answered negatively. Eventually, bidirectional communication is complete, the question in step 713 is answered affirmatively, and the call is cleared in step 714.