Telephonic communications – With usage measurement – Call charge metering or monitoring
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-28
2002-08-06
Kuntz, Curtis (Department: 2643)
Telephonic communications
With usage measurement
Call charge metering or monitoring
C379S114200, C379S114030
Reexamination Certificate
active
06430275
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates to methods and systems for managing signaling and communication sessions across networks, and particularly relates to a scalable methodology and system for managing telephony over hybrid networks such as combined switched telephone networks and packet switched internetworks, such as the Internet.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Attention recently has been directed to implementing a variety of communication services, including voice telephone service, over the worldwide packet data network now commonly known as the Internet. The Internet had its genesis in U.S. Government programs funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). That research made possible national internetworked data communication systems. This work resulted in the development of network standards as well as a set of conventions, known as protocols, for interconnecting data networks and routing information across the networks. These protocols are commonly referred to as TCP/IP. The TCP/IP protocols were originally developed for use only through ARPANET but have subsequently become widely used in the industry. TCP/IP is flexible and robust. TCP takes care of the integrity, and IP moves the data.
Internet provides two broad types of services: connectionless packet delivery service and reliable stream transport service. The Internet basically comprises several large computer networks joined together over high-speed data links ranging from ISDN to T
1
, T
3
, FDDI, SONET, SMDS, ATM, OT
1
, etc. The most prominent of these national nets are MILNET (Military Network), NSFNET (National Science Foundation NETwork), and CREN (Corporation for Research and Educational Networking). In 1995, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) reported that the Internet linked 59,000 networks, 2.2 million computers and 15 million users in 92 countries. However, since then it is estimated that the number of Internet users continues to double approximately annually.
In simplified fashion the Internet may be viewed as a series of packet data switches or ‘routers’ connected together with computers connected to the routers. The Information Providers (IPs) constitute the end systems which collect and market the information through their own servers. Access providers are companies such as UUNET, PSI, MCI and SPRINT which transport the information. Such companies market the usage of their networks.
FIG. 3
shows a simplified diagram of the Internet and various types of systems which are typically connected. Generally speaking the Internet consists of Autonomous Systems (AS) type packet data networks which may be owned and operated by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as PSI, UUNET, MCI, SPRINT, etc. Three such AS/ISPs appear in
FIG. 3
at
310
,
312
and
314
. The Autonomous Systems (ASs) are linked by Inter-AS Connections
311
,
313
and
315
. Information Providers (IPs)
316
and
318
, such as America Online (AOL) and CompuServe, connect to the Internet via high speed lines
320
and
322
, such as T
1
/T
3
and the like. Information Providers generally do not have their own Internet based Autonomous Systems but have or use Dial-Up Networks such as SprintNet (X.25), DATAPAC and TYMNET.
By way of current illustration, MCI is both an ISP and an IP, SPRINT is an ISP, and the Microsoft Network (MSN) is an IP using UUNET as an ISP. Other information providers, such as universities, are indicated in exemplary fashion at
324
and are connected to the AS/ISPs via the same type connections here illustrated as T
1
lines
326
. Corporate Local Area Networks (LANs), such as those illustrated in
328
and
330
, are connected through routers
332
and
334
and high speed data links such as T
1
lines
336
and
338
. Laptop computers
340
and
342
are representative of computers connected to the Internet via the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and are shown connected to the AS/ISPs via dial up links
344
and
346
.
In the addressing scheme of the Internet, an address comprises four numbers separated by dots. This is called the Internet Protocol address, or IP address. An example of an IP address would be 164.109.211.237. Each machine on the Internet has a unique number assigned to it which constitutes one of these four numbers. In the IP address, the leftmost number has the greatest weight. By analogy this would correspond to the ZIP code in a mailing address. At times the first two numbers constitute this portion of the address indicating a network or a locale. That network is connected to the last router in the transport path. In differentiating between two computers in the same destination network only the last number field changes. In such an example the next number field
211
identifies the destination router.
When a packet bearing a destination address leaves the source router, the router examines the first two numbers in a matrix table to determine how many hops are the minimum to get to the destination. It then sends the packet to the next router as determined from that table, and the procedure is repeated. Each router has a database table that finds the information automatically. This continues until the packet arrives at the destination computer. The separate packets that constitute a message may not travel the same path depending on traffic load. However, they all reach the same destination and are assembled in their original order in a connectionless fashion. This is in contrast to connection oriented routing modes, such as frame relay and ATM or voice.
It would be difficult for most people to remember the four separate numbers (sometimes having ten or more digits) comprising each numeric IP address. In addition numeric IP addresses occasionally change, making it even more of a problem for people to keep track of them. The Domain Name System (DNS) was developed to provide some relief from these problems. In the DNS system words, which are more easily remembered, are used instead of numbers.
An example of a textual Domain Name is Evoit@HUT.MB.COM. Each of the names separated by a dot is called a domain. The significance of each of the domains is the reverse of that of the numeric IP address. In the numeric IP address, the most significant numbers were on the left and the least significant on the right. The textual Domain Name System begins with the least significant on the left and proceeds to the most significant on the right.
The top-level domains, those of the most general significance, are as follows:
1. COM A commercial operation
2. EDU A university, college or other educational institution
3. GOV A government organization
4. MIL A military site
5. ORG Any organization that does not fit into any of the preceding
6. NET A network
There are now two-letter domains, each denoting a different country, which are atop the above original domain names. An address ending in “COM.AU,” for example, would be a commercial operation in Australia. Over a hundred different countries are now connected to the Internet so the list of two-letter country codes is ever increasing. Computers associated with the Internet called domain name servers convert textual domain names into numeric IP addresses.
Recently, one or more companies have developed software for use on personal computers to permit two-way transfer of real-time voice information via an Internet data link between two personal computers. In one of the directions, the sending computer converts voice signals from analog to digital format. The software facilitates data compression down to a rate compatible with modem communication via a POTS telephone line, in some cases as low as 2.4 kbits/s. The software also facilitates encapsulation of the digitized and compressed voice data into the TCP/IP protocol, with appropriate addressing to permit communication via the Internet. At the receiving end, the computer and software reverse the process to recover the analog voice information for presentation to the other party. Such programs permit telephone-like communication between Internet users registered with Internet Phone Servers
Balkovich Edward E.
Gadre Jayant G.
Goodman William D.
Voit Eric A.
White Patrick E.
Barnie Rexford M
Bell Atlantic Services Network, Inc.
Kuntz Curtis
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