Reverse billing of internet telephone calls

Details Reverse billing of internet telephone calls Reverse billing of internet telephone calls

1999-03-18

2003-10-21

Cangialosi, Salvatore (Department: 2664)

Multiplex communications

Pathfinding or routing

Combined circuit switching and packet switching

C370S401000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06636504

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates to Internet telephony, and more specifically relates to billing of Internet telephone calls to the called party (i.e., reverse billing).
ACRONYMS
The written description uses a large number of acronyms to refer to various services and system components. Although known, use of several of these acronyms is not strictly standardized in the art. For purposes of this discussion, acronyms therefore will be defined as follows:
Advanced-Intelligent Network (AIN)
Common Channel Signaling (CCS)
Domain Name Server (DNS)
Dual Tone Multifrequency (DTMF)
Integrated Service Control Point (ISCP)
Internet Protocol (IP)
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
Local Access and Transport Area (LATA)
Local Area Network (LAN)
Local Exchange Carrier (LEC)
Memory Administration Recent Change System (MARCH)
Mobile Switching Center (MSC)
Multiline Hunt Group (MLHG)
Multi-Services Application Platform (MSAP)
Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO)
Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU)
Operations Support System (OSS)
Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS)
Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
Routing Control Record (RCR)
Routing Table Protocol (RTP)
Service Control Point (SCP)
Service Switching Point (SSP)
Signaling Transfer Point (STP)
Station Message Detail Recording (SMDR)
Telephone Company (TELCO)
Transaction Capabilities Applications Protocol (TCAP)
Transport Control Protocol (TCP)
Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
Universal Call Distributor (UCD)
User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Computer telephony has emerged from the realization that traditional telephone services can be enhanced with the assistance of computer processing. The requisite computing power can be found in today's personal computers, which are geometrically increasing in speed and capacity. This realization provides for a more cost effective and feature rich telephony scheme.
Attention recently has been directed to implementing a variety of computer telephony applications 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). ARPA's research spawned a national internetworked data communication system, stemming in part from its ARPA network (ARPANet). Further, this work resulted in the development of networking 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 protocol suite was originally developed for use over ARPANET to facilitate communication primarily among academia and the various government research facilities, but have subsequently become widely accepted and deployed by the pub at large. The Internet provides two broad types of services: connectionless packet delivery service and reliable stream transport service.
The Internet basically comprises several large national computer networks joined together over high- speed data links ranging from ISDN Primary Rate Interface (PRI) to T3, OC-3 (optical carrier), OC-12, 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). The growth of such networks continue to increase, along with the number of peripheral networks. 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 processors or “routers” connected together with computers linked to the routers.
The infrastructure of the Internet is sustained by Internet service providers (ISPs) and the information (or content) providers (IPs). These two types of providers coexist to support the vast knowledge base that makes the Internet an invaluable tool for information exchange. The information providers (e.g., America-Online, CompuServe, Prodigy, etc.) constitute the end systems that collect and market information through their own network of computers that is attached to a node on the Internet. ISPs are companies such as UUNET, PSI, MCI and SPRINT which market the usage of their networks to transport the information.
A simplified diagram of the Internet and various types of systems typically connected thereto, is shown in FIG.
9
. Generally speaking the Internet consists of autonomous systems of packet data networks which may be owned and operated by the ISPs. An autonomous system is a grouping of networks and gateways that are controlled by a single administrative authority. Three such ISPs (or autonomous systems) appear in
FIG. 9
at
1310
,
1312
and
1314
. These autonomous systems are linked by high-speed connections
1311
,
1313
and
1315
.
While the physical structure of the Internet plays an instrumental role in the vitality of the Internet, the information housed within the interconnected computing systems have an even more significant role. The responsibility for supplying and maintaining the information lies in part with the Information Providers. IPs
1316
and
1318
connect to the Internet via high speed lines
1320
and
1322
, such as T1, T3, OC-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 information provider. SPRINT is an ISP; and the Microsoft Network (MSN) is an information provider using UUNET as an ISP. Other information providers, such as universities and governmental entities, are indicated in exemplary fashion at
1324
and are connected to the ISPs via the same type connections here illustrated as T1 lines
1326
. Local Area Networks (LANs), such as those illustrated in
1328
and
1330
, are connected through routers
1332
and
1334
and high speed data links such as T1 lines
1336
and
1338
. Laptop computers
1340
and
1342
are representative of computers connected to the Internet via the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and are shown connected to the ISPs via dial-up links
1344
and
1346
.
To manage the complex internetworked computing systems within the Internet, each device (whether internetworking equipment or computers) must be represented by a unique address. In the addressing scheme of the Internet, an address comprises four octets. This is called the Internet Protocol (IP) address. An example of an IP address would be 164.109.211.237. To make the IP addresses more manageable and understandable by humans, a network of domain name servers (not shown) exist to translate an IP address into a textual Domain Name (e.g., bellatlantic.com) to facilitate easy of use.
When a packet bearing a destination address leaves the source router, according to one routing protocol the router determines the minimum number of hops (i.e., links) to the destination. The database is populated by the router sending and receiving information from neighboring routers. The router then sends the packet to an adjacent router as determined from its routing table, and the procedure is repeated until the packet arrives at the destination computer. The separate packets that constitute a message may not travel the same path because of the datagram delivery mechanism of the IP protocol. However, they all reach the same destination and are assembled in their original order in a connectionless fashion (by the TCP protocol). This is in contrast to connection oriented routing modes, such as frame relay and ATM or voice. These connection oriented services can accommodate IP traffic. Given the ubiquity of the Internet, a number of communication services have emerged that traditionally

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