A voip communication system

DESCRIPTION

A VOIP COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to systems that provide IP communications over the Internet, including VOIP (Voice over IP) and VIP (Video over IP). More specifically, effective IP (VOIP, VIP, etc.) between various Internet service providers (ISPs). A system and method providing communications is described.

B. Description of Known Technique

Providing full or partial telephone (and video) communications over the Internet has been found to be advantageous. A growing number of entities (including large and small companies, non-profit organizations, and national agencies and individuals) have Internet connectivity, many of which are much larger than dial-up connections. broadband connections that provide bandwidth. Wireless Internet connections are becoming increasingly common, thus providing an efficient means of replacing or at least supporting mobile phone communications. Another advantage is, at least nowadays, Internet connections are controlled by freer regulation than telephone communications.

Currently, VOIP and VIP services are provided by a variety of communications and internet-related companies, including traditional phone carriers using both the Regular Legacy Telephone Network (POTS) service and Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Competition for customers among these companies is very strong.

A major obstacle to the spread of VOIP communications is that each user has a telephone line assigned by a telephone company and an Internet connection (a Domain Name or IP address) that is separate and independent from the user's telephone line. s can typically only provide fast Internet communications for their own users. fast Internet communications only between two customers of the same ISP

G023P01-TR can be provided For all other communications, ISPs need to establish both Internet connections and hybrid lines, such as standard phone lines and lines including PSTNs (Public Telephone Networks) and PBXs (Private Group Networks). Such a system is disclosed in US Pat. 6,069,890. This approach appears to be much slower and more expensive than Internet lines alone.

Another approach requires the ISP to sequentially query various intermediate hubs (including routers and gateways) until a node serving for a device associated with the requested telephone number is found. Naturally, this can be a very slow process, depending on the distance between the respective nodes.

Another problem faced by ISPs is that each has its own unique type of equipment and internal protocols, so even if a line is established between two subscribers from different ISPs, communication may not occur due to the incompatibility of systems.

Various plans have been proposed to overcome these problems. Most of these plans include provision of large databases that match phone numbers and IP addresses. 6,674,745; 6,772,210; 6,810,034 and US Applied SN. 2003/00024762003/0095542; and 2004/0081141. Some of the other plans include LNP-Phone Number Conversion, DNS-Domain Name IP address matching, ENUM-Electronic Number Matching, DUNDi-Scattered Universal Number Finding However, the problem with these plans is that in case the data banks contain the entries of all subscribers, the appropriate IP address from a phone number. Most of the time it takes to find my address becomes prohibitive and unacceptable for subscribers who are used to an almost instantaneous response in POTS network systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly, the present invention is a system providing IP communications over the Internet (VOIP, VIP, etc.) involving multiple ISPs, each providing one or more gateways for various devices. These devices may include telephone sets, computers, PDAs and other typical devices used by subscribers to establish audio / video or other communication channels with other subscribers.

G023P01-TR

Preferably, the system includes a central guide. The main function of the central directory is to match a requested phone number with a specific ISP gateway serving the device associated with the requested phone number. The central directory can also be used to store SIP URLs and other data elements that contain information required for communication with ISP gateways.

It is important that each telephone number listed in the central directory is used as a record containing an entry associated with each data number. This data in each entry shows, directly or indirectly, my ISP gateway related to an Internet title such as an IP address or SIP URL. This configuration allows any subscriber to request a connection (VOIP, VIP, etc.) to another subscriber at any ISP. and ensures that it is fulfilled effectively

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Figure 1 shows a VOIP system according to the prior art limited to communications between subscribers of certain ISPs;

Figure 2 shows a prior art VOIP system providing communication between subscribers of different ISPs;

Figure 3 shows a VOIP system created according to the present invention.

Figure 4 shows the database structure used in the system of Figure 1, and

Figure 5 is a flow diagram showing the operation of the system of Figure 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Figure 1 is a somewhat simplified block diagram of a VOIP system according to the prior art that only communicates between subscribers of the same ISP. More specifically, in system 10, two devices 12, 14 are subscribers of one ISP 16 and the other The two devices 22, 24 are subscribers of an ISP 26. Gateways 16A, 16B are controlled by ISP 16 and connect devices (12, 14, respectively) to Internet 50.Similarly, gateways 26A, 26B are controlled by ISP 26 and their devices (22, respectively) 24) Connects to the Internet (50). The two ISPs (16, 26) do not have any knowledge of each other's gateways and do not have any means to fulfill requests for services that are not within their own networks.So, in this configuration, the users of the devices (12, 14) are interconnected with each other or the ISP's ( 16) may request direct VOIP / VIP communications between other subscribers, but cannot request any communication with subscribers (22, 24) of the ISP (26).

G023P01-TR communication can only be achieved through external PBXs and / or POTS (these are not shown in Figure 1 for clarity). Devices 12, 14 can be desktop PCs, desktop PCs, PDAs, and various other devices that can be configured to provide various types of services, including voice, video, and text communications.

Figure 2 shows an improvement over the system of Figure 1. In this system 10A, gateways 16A, 16B are respectively connected to a data storage system such as a data server 18A, 18B Similarly, gateways 26A, 26B are connected to data servers 28A, 28B. 18A, 18B, 28A, 28B) includes a standard database containing the information required to provide voice communication between ISP 16 and ISP 26. In this system 10A, a subscriber using the device 12 requests voice communication with a user associated with the ISP 26. In response to the request, the IP gateway 16A accesses the information on the server 18A. At the server, each user's phone number is matched with an appropriate URL address and protocol. The server 18A performs a search on all entries until the appropriate phone number is found. The information required for communication with this user is then sent back to the gateway 16A. The gateway 16A then contacts the gateway 26A and creates a voice communication line to be used for voice communication between the devices 12 and 22 using the appropriate protocol From subscribers 22 or 24 of the ISP 26 A similar process is used to call other subscribers, including subscribers 12, 14. The problem with this approach is that the servers (18A, 18B, 28A, 28B) have to search every phone call for each request. Naturally, the system can only work if all subscribers are registered, so their information is recorded on the servers. Potentially, several hundred million subscribers would be able to access the system, taking a long time to access the server and find the correct information.

Figure 3 shows a new system 60 that provides voice communication. In this system, the servers 18A, 18B, 28A, 28B in Figure 2 are replaced by a central guide 20. In the illustrated embodiment, the directory 20 includes the Internet, a private WAN / LAN (Wide Area Network / Local Area Network) or a combination thereof. Alternatively, a guide may be provided for each ISP in a similar manner as shown in Figure 2. This configuration may be less efficient, because it is more difficult to update individual entries for various ISPs.

G023P01-TR

The feed center guide 20 is used to store information in a very specific way. This information enables each ISP to establish fast visual / audio communication with other ISPs or even itself. It is important that ISPs provide this connection without interruption to the users of the devices (12, 14, 22, 24). Likewise, ISPs perform this function independently of the type and structure of the devices (12, 14, 22, 24).

The present invention takes advantage of the advantage that every communication device (ie, terrestrial telephones, cellular phones, fax machines, and computer-related accessories) is associated with or has a unique number. As shown by the table in Figure 4, all telephone numbers in North America are ten digits (including the area code). Therefore, for North America, the database is, at least theoretically, in ascending order.¹⁰ contains address. For other countries, the database is created according to the local phone number structure as described in more detail below.

As shown in Figure 4, in a preferred embodiment, the center guide includes end tables (A, B, C). Table (A) is the main conversion table and contains entries for the North American telephone system. The 10-digit telephone number is used as an identifier for each unique entry or data block in table (A). Traditionally, these entries or blocks of data are specified as records, words, or cells of a table. Preferably this table (A) is organized as RANDOM records / words / cells in a RANDOM ACCESS TABLE (RRAT) stored as a file that is parsed internally with a certain number of bytes called a word, a cell, or a record. Typically each word, register or cell is 4 bytes long. Thanks to this type of table structure, it provides very fast access. More specifically, each entry in the directory is a record, word, or cell with a unique local address used to search and access the relevant entry. In the present invention, this unique local address is the corresponding 10-digit telephone number of the respective link or device as described above. The number can be used in the original order or in another order, for example some of the numbers may be reversed to evenly distribute the entries in the table (i.e. 212-555). -1234 or 4321555212).

In the preferred embodiment, Table (A) consists of a single entry in any token register / word / cell Each ISP is assigned one or more gateway numbers For example, as shown in Table (A), gateway numbers 1001, 2005, May be 3017, etc. In terms of being clear,

G023P01-TR entries are shown vertically adjacent to each other, however, they are not actually contiguous because there are many entries between them.

Table (B) is the ISP gateway conversion table and is used to map each gateway number to the actual IP address or SIP URL of each of the gateways, for example, the ISP gateway number 2005 corresponds to the IP address 102.111.222.121. Since each ISP provides Internet access to a large number of devices (thousands to millions), the number of ISP gateway numbers and therefore the number of entries in Table (B) is much less than the number of entries in Table (A).

In Table (B), a RANDOM ACCESS TABLE (RRAT) is created as RANDOM records / words / cells. The registry numbers in this table identify the ISP gateway number. The data set for each ISP gateway largely contains the gateway's IP address, an alternate gateway IP address, and / or a gateway SIP URL. It may contain additional information such as any additional information required for the gateway.

Table (C) is a part of a larger database for holding additional information about phone numbers (i.e. device type-Wireless, VOIP phone, VIP device, PDA, Computer, etc .; language, protocol, device properties, etc.) is an optional table. Table (C) may contain several columns for different parameters.

Although an important function of the system described herein is to provide voice communication, it can also be used to exchange other types of signals, including text (AIM messages and the like), audio and video cubes, and the like. Also, if the devices are equipped with video cameras, then the parties can also make video conference calls. In addition, the same system can also be used for conference-type communications where several different parties are on the same line and can talk to each other.

Naturally, the data set may contain various other information.

The operation of the system 60 is described below in connection with the flowchart in Figure 5 and the tables in Figure 4. Voice communication over the Internet as described above

Each device that can provide the G023P01-TR channel is represented by a unique telephone number. For example , device 12 may be represented by telephone number 212-999-8000. Internet connection for device 12 is provided by ISP 16A. This ISP is represented in central directory 20 as ISP 2005 (naturally, ISP gateway tokens). arbitrary and 2005 is used here as an example only).

Figure 4 shows other addresses in the central directory with the corresponding ISP symbol For example, ISP (16B) serves for address and telephone number 213-342-7623, ISP (18A) serves for 317-733-4567, ISP for 657-232-4329 (18B) serves and so on. Each ISP provides Internet service to various number of devices. In the given example, device 24 may be assigned a telephone number of 657-232-4329, and thus ISP 18B may be represented by 3017.

At step 100 (Figure 5), a user activates the device 12 and requests a voice connection with another device, for example 24, dialing the assigned telephone number 657-232-4329. In step 102, the ISP (16A) ) receives the audio channel request from the device (12). At step 104, the ISP 16A sends a request for the requested device 24 to the central directory 20.

In step 106, the directory 20 receives the request and uses the telephone number of the device 24 as an address in the database shown in Table (A) in Figure 4. ISP gateway number for ISP (18B) is 5056.

In step 107, if there is no corresponding gateway number in Table (A) for the registration of the queried phone number, the directory sends a message to the requesting ISP to proceed over the PSTN and the query ends.

Otherwise, the central guide looks for my ISP address for ISP gateway 5056 in Table (B). At step 108, the directory (20) sends my ISP gateway address back. Optionally, the central directory (20) also looks at Table (B). It also sends any additional information such as the alternate gateway IP address.

In step 110, the ISP 16A creates a suitable link processor using the information received from the central guide 20 (Link processor to route calls between ISPs).

G023P01-TR is an identifier used. It may include the calling phone number and my IP address etc.) The ISP 16A then sends a message to the ISP 18B including the link handler and requests a voice channel with the device 24.

At step 112, the ISP 18B sends a response to the ISP 16A confirming that it is servicing the device 24. The ISP 18B sends a response to the ISP 16A whether the device 24 is currently online and a They can also send other information, including a status report on their suitability for the interview.

In step 114, the ISP 16A and / or ISP 18B also determine what protocol the ISP 18B and device 24 are using and whether protocol conversion is required (if this information is not already sent). can be obtained from other sources

If protocol conversion is required, the required transformation parameters are obtained in Step 116. These parameters are used by the ISP (16A) and / or (18B) to generate signals between two devices compatible with the respective protocols.

In step 118, the requested audio channel is set up and the two devices can begin exchanging audio signals, preferably in bidirectional mode. The devices 16, 24, as appropriate, may include video signals, multi-channel audio signals, etc., in addition to audio signals. Other information may be posted, including

In one embodiment of the invention, as mentioned above, Tables (A, B and C) are all stored in the central directory. In another embodiment of the invention, Tables (A, B and C) are stored in each of the separate ISPs (16A, 16B, etc.).

In Figure 4, Table (B) is used to store additional information associated with various ISPs, while Table (C) is used for storing additional information associated with various individual devices. In an alternative embodiment, Table (B) is not used, and in Table (A) each telephone number directly indicates an Internet address (an IP, SIP, or other similar address) of the corresponding ISP gateway or subscriber.

G023P01-TR

In the embodiments described heretofore, the central directory is used to provide the addresses of ISPs in North America. The invention can be extended to any other country. provides an address for the country's directory service; in this case 5, or as an alternative, Directory (30) sends the address to the UK main international gateway.

Various modifications may be made to the present invention without departing from the scope defined in the appended claims.