(12) United States Patent
`(10) Patent N0.:
`US 6,430,176 B1
`
`Christie, IV
`(45) Date of Patent:
`Aug. 6, 2002
`
`U5006430176B1
`
`(54) MULTIMEDIA CHANNEL MANAGEMENT
`THROUGH PSTN SIGNALING
`
`(75)
`
`Inventor:
`
`(Sgguel Henry Christie, IV, Cary, NC
`
`(73) Assignee: Nortel Networks Limited, St. Laurent
`(CA)
`
`6,256,389 B1 *
`......... 379/900
`7/2001 Dalrymple et a1.
`
`6,272,127 B1 *
`8/2001 Golden et al.
`......
`370/352
`6,278,704 B1 *
`............ 370/352
`8/2001 Creamer et al.
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`0 841 831 A
`5/1998
`........... H04Q/11/04
`
`WO 98/41032
`WO 98/44703
`
`9/1998
`10/1998
`
`............ H04M/3/22
`
`EP
`
`W0
`W0
`
`(
`
`( * ) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(1)) by 0 days.
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
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`21 A 1. No.2 09 187 975
`g
`p
`)
`pp
`/
`,
`Call Establishment for Multimedia Services on the PSTN.
`.
`1997 IEEE. pp. 407_410.*
`NOV. 6, 1998
`(22) Flledi
`(51)
`Int. C1.7 .......................... H04L 12/50~ H04L 12/52 M Sherif Multimedia Networks and the Public SWitched
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`’
`.
`.
`.
`.
`_
`*
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`.
`379/93.01, 93.09, 93.11, 93.14, 93.15, 202,
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`.
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`Thom, Gary A., H.323. The Multimedia Communications
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`(56)
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`References Cited
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`
`Magazme, Dec. 1996, pp. 52—56.
`*
`.
`.
`cued by exammer
`
`Primary Examiiyer—Hassan KiZOH
`AsszstantExammer—Joe Logsdon
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Withrow & Terranova,
`pLLC
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`.
`.
`A method and apparatus estabhshes through the Pubhc
`switch telephone network, a multimedia communications
`session between first and second telecommunications infra-
`structure. Each infrastructure is located on a separate private
`data network and comprises logic to automatically establish
`an integrated voice and data session initiated by a single
`-
`telephone call from one mfrasmcmre to the Other‘
`
`..
`...... 348/7
`4/1995 Coddington et a1.
`5,410,343 A *
`
`.........
`2/1997 Iwami et a1.
`370/352
`5,604,737 A
`
`......
`5,689,553 A * 11/1997 Ahuja et a1.
`379/202
`5,916,302 A *
`6/1999 Dunn et a1.
`709/204
`................. 370/352
`5,917,817 A *
`6/1999 Dunn et al.
`6,028,917 A *
`2/2000 Creamer et a1.
`....... 379/100.01
`6,046,762 A *
`4/2000 Sonesh et al.
`................ 348/16
`
`.........
`6,125,126 A *
`9/2000 Hallenstal
`370/522
`
`6,128,304 A * 10/2000 Gardell et a1.
`.
`370/401
`................. 370/352
`6,141,341 A * 10/2000 Jones et a1.
`671577950 A * 12/2000 Krishnan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7O9/223
`671617134 A : 12/2000 Wang et al~
`709/220
`
`g’igg’gg 31 * 1%;388(1) 2;“? iwtmim
`372/21?
`,
`,
`iniwa a e a .
`............... 370/356
`6,205,135 B1 *
`3/2001 Chinni et a1.
`........... 370/252
`6,222,826 B1 *
`4/2001 Faynberg et a1.
`6,240,449 B1 *
`5/2001 Nadeau ...................... 709/223
`40 Claims, 12 Drawing Sheets
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`Petitioner Apple Inc. - Exhibit 1078, p. 1
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`Petitioner Apple Inc. - Exhibit 1078, p. 1
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`

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`Petitioner Apple Inc. - Exhibit 1078, p. 4
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`US. Patent
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`Petitioner Apple Inc. - Exhibit 1078, p. 6
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`US. Patent
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`US. Patent
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`US. Patent
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`US. Patent
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`US. Patent
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`Aug. 6, 2002
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`US 6,430,176 B1
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`Petitioner Apple Inc. - Exhibit 1078, p. 12
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`US. Patent
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`Aug. 6, 2002
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`Sheet 12 0f 12
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`US 6,430,176 B1
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`Petitioner Apple Inc. - Exhibit 1078, p. 13
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`US 6,430,176 B1
`
`1
`MULTIMEDIA CHANNEL MANAGEMENT
`THROUGH PSTN SIGNALING
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`1. Field of the Invention
`
`The present invention is related to the field of telecom-
`munications infrastructures that use Public Switched Tele-
`
`phone Network (PSTN) call management and a public data
`network to establish simultaneous voice and data
`
`(multimedia) communications between such telecommuni-
`cations infrastructures. In particular, this invention relates to
`a way by which a telecommunications infrastructure uses a
`single telephone directory number to call another telecom-
`munications infrastructure located on a different communi-
`cation network to establish multimedia communications
`therebetween.
`
`2. Description of the Problem Solved
`Traditional telephone systems use an analog telephone to
`transmit voice over telephone lines. If a telephone user has
`only one telephone line, the user cannot perform two tele-
`communications tasks simultaneously. Typically, if a user
`wishes to initiate a voice communication and a data
`
`connection, the user must use separate PSTN telephone lines
`for each. This means that a user must pay additional monthly
`charges for the extra line. In view of the wide commercial
`and private use of the Internet, it is desirable to merge voice
`and data into an integrated communications session, i.e.,
`where two users communicate via voice and data over one
`
`line. There are data communications systems that include
`voice capability, for example, where the voice communica-
`tions path is sent to a user through the user’s personal
`computer.
`Such a system, however, makes use of some type of
`voice-data conversion, such as voice-over-Internet-protocol,
`resulting in lower quality voice communications than is
`typical of the PSTN. Additionally, most multimedia tele-
`communications systems do not permit close integration of
`desktop applications such as office suites, presentation
`software, word processing software and the like. One excep-
`tion is Microsoft Net meeting JM software, which integrates
`voice and data telecommunications. However, because of
`the voice-data conversion, the quality of the voice commu-
`nications is poor.
`Computer software products, such as marketed by the
`assignee of the present application under the mark Voice
`ButtonTM, allow a PSTN call to be initiated from a computer
`user interface, however, the call is not closely integrated
`with any sort of data communications system and does not
`allow application sharing. Additionally, such a call cannot be
`initiated from within desktop computer application suites. A
`description of a way a phone call can be initiated from a
`computer desktop can be found in US. Pat. No. 6,337,858
`and is assigned to the same assignee as this application and
`is herein incorporated by reference.
`A typical telephone call is initiated manually by voice
`contact and the data communication takes place via H.323 or
`a T120 compliant data agent such as a TCP/IP network, e. g.,
`the Internet. Thus, using known technology, to establish a
`multimedia telecommunications session, a calling user must
`know the telephone number and the computer address, IP
`address or Domain Name System (DNS) name of the called
`user. The calling user must also initiate the telephone call
`and data connection separately. However, it is now possible
`to establish a voice connection initiated over the PSTN and
`a data connection via a TCP/IP network between telecom-
`munications infrastructures located within a single “private
`
`2
`
`communication” (a network having private address spaces
`and restricted interconnectivity) such as a corporate intranet
`as described in US. Pat. No. 6,256,389 (Collaboration
`System), which is assigned to the same assignee as this
`application and is incorporated herein by reference. A “tele-
`communications infrastructure” is defined for the purposes
`of this disclosure as a user’s telephone and computer typi-
`cally sitting on the user’s “computer desktop.” A telecom-
`munications infrastructure can also include a private branch
`exchange (PBX), computer telephony integration (CTI)
`server, as well as other communications devices and systems
`known in the art.
`
`As described in the Collaboration System application, a
`user of a telecommunications infrastructure need only ini-
`tiate one call to establish a PSTN voice and an associated
`data connection with another telecommunications infra-
`
`structure. However, the Collaboration System requires that
`the calling user have local access to the IP address of the
`called user’s computer. The Collaboration System can estab-
`lish only a multimedia communication between two “tele-
`communications infrastructures” located within the same
`
`private network, such as a corporate intranet, and cannot
`establish such a multimedia communication initiated by a
`single telephone call through the PSTN between two sepa-
`rate private networks.
`One known telecommunications technology that can
`transmit both voice and data communications in digital form
`is the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN). For
`ISDN to be applied between two systems, both must comply
`with the standard H.320, a well known telecommunications
`platform standard of the International Telecommunications
`Union (ITU), which defines the interoperability between
`video and voice for video conferencing over
`ISDN.
`However, the ISDN is not widely employed, requires special
`terminals, and is expensive. The present invention recog-
`nizes that it would be highly desirable for customers located
`on different private networks, which have not paid the high
`service charges to access ISDN, to be able to use the PSTN
`to inexpensively establish an integrated voice and data
`(multimedia) communications session therebetween.
`Thus, what is needed is a way to automatically establish
`an integrated data and high-quality PSTN voice communi-
`cation session between a traditional analog telephony loop
`telecommunications infrastructure of one private network
`and another telecommunications infrastructure located on
`
`another private network.
`Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide an
`apparatus and method that allows a customer without ISDN
`capability to establish an integrated data and high-quality
`PSTN voice communication between it and another tele-
`
`communications infrastructure existing on a separate private
`network.
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`Another object of the present invention is to eliminate the
`need to use an ISDN to establish an integrated high quality
`voice and data communication session.
`
`60
`
`It is a further object of the present invention to provide an
`apparatus comprising telecommunications infrastructures
`existing on separate communication networks (hereinafter
`referred to as “private networks”), including computer soft-
`ware of the invention residing therein to utilize standard ITU
`protocols to automatically and simultaneously establish a
`voice connection over the PSTN and a data connection via
`
`a public data network and a method for establishing such
`voice and data connections.
`
`65
`
`It is a further object of the present invention to provide an
`apparatus comprising telecommunications infrastructures
`
`Petitioner Apple Inc. - Exhibit 1078, p. 14
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`Petitioner Apple Inc. - Exhibit 1078, p. 14
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`

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`US 6,430,176 B1
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`3
`existing on separate private networks to automatically trans-
`fer over the PSTN the respective computer addresses of each
`telecommunications infrastructure computer to the other
`utilizing standard ITU protocols, and a method for transfer-
`ring such computer addresses over the PSTN.
`It is also an object of the invention to provide a method
`and apparatus whereby a user of a first telecommunications
`infrastructure can establish a multimedia connection with a
`
`second telecommunications infrastructure located on a sepa-
`rate private communications network, without the first tele-
`communications infrastructure knowing or having local
`access to the computer address of the second telecommuni-
`cations infrastructure computer.
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention enhances overall human telecom-
`munications by providing voice with data and application
`sharing communication between non-ISDN customers
`located on different private networks, such as corporate
`intranets.
`
`With the present invention, a customer or user, with no
`knowledge or local access to the called user’s computer
`address, need only initiate one telephone call to establish a
`PSTN voice session originating through the PSTN, and an
`associated data session established over a public data net-
`work connection. According to the present
`invention, a
`calling user makes a standard telephone call (using a single
`directory number) to a called user located on a separate
`private network. If both parties happen to have H.323 or
`T.120 capability and the software of the invention, then they
`will be offered the multi-media session. The environment
`
`that the present invention typically operates in is a network
`which includes telecommunications infrastructures con-
`
`nected to a PSTN, and a public data network which has a
`service provider point of presence for providing the public
`data network connection to each infrastructure. Each tele-
`
`35
`
`communications infrastructure may have a computer tele-
`phony server and in such event, each server would be
`connected to the PSTN and the public data network.
`The present invention may be implemented using a PBX,
`which is a telecommunications switch at a user’s premises
`that handles call management. A PBX is typically used by
`larger organizations. The invention operates to allow a user
`of a first infrastructure (referred to hereinafter as Userl) to
`set up a multimedia connection with a user of a second
`infrastructure (referred to hereinafter as User2) located in a
`separate private network by making a telephone call to
`User2 through the PSTN. According to the present
`invention, upon User1 making a telephone call to User2, and
`establishing a traditional voice session between traditional
`telephony loops, an end-serving switch (PBX or central
`office) will signal through the PSTN to User2 located on a
`private network the address of Userl’s computer via an
`initial message (INM) signal.
`In response thereto, end-
`serving switch associated with User2 will insert User2’s
`computer address in an address completed message (ACM)
`or answer message (ANM) and transfer the ACM or ANM
`end-serving switch of User1. Userl initiates connect mes-
`sages to Userl’s computer, whereupon data and voice con-
`nections between the two separate private networks are
`established. In other words, when Userl uses a telecommu-
`nications infrastructure of the present invention to make a
`telephone call to User2, the apparatus and method of the
`present invention serve to automatically and simultaneously
`establish both a voice and data connection therebetween.
`
`The software, which implements many aspects of the
`present invention, can be stored on a medium. The medium
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`can be magnetic such as in the form of a diskette, tape or
`fixed disk, or optical such as a CD-ROM. Alternatively, the
`software can be supplied via the Internet or some type of
`private data network.
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the general telecommunica-
`tions network environment of the present invention.
`FIG. 2 is a diagram of a telecommunications network
`environment in accordance with a first embodiment of the
`
`present invention.
`FIG. 3 is a call flow diagram of the first embodiment,
`showing how the multimedia voice and data sessions are
`made through a PSTN.
`FIG. 4 is a diagram of a telecommunications network
`environment in accordance with a second embodiment of the
`invention.
`
`FIG. 5 is a call flow diagram of the second embodiment,
`showing how the multimedia voice and data sessions are
`made through a PSTN via a private branch exchange.
`FIGS. 6A—6E are a functional flow diagram used to
`illustrate the computer software operations for implement-
`ing the second embodiment of the invention as shown in
`FIG. 4.
`
`FIG. 7 is a diagram of a telecommunications network
`environment in accordance with a third embodiment of the
`invention.
`
`FIG. 8 is a call flow diagram of a third embodiment of the
`invention.
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`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT
`INVENTION
`
`Throughout the following discussion, I refer to the calling
`user as “Userl” and the called user as “User2.” When I refer
`
`to a computer, I am referring to a computer, which can sit on
`a desktop such as a personal computer. Although, such a
`system can sit on a desktop, it can also be a mobile or laptop
`computer, and such terminology is not meant to limit the
`operating environment of the invention.
`When I refer to a computer desktop, I am referring to the
`“desktop” interface of a graphical user interface based
`operating system. When I refer to a H.323 terminal device,
`I am referring to a computer or a special purpose device such
`as an IP telephone that has the capability to establish a
`telephone call. When I refer to a data agent I am referring to
`a computer or H.323 terminal device. When I refer to a
`computer address, I am referring to an IP address, a DNS
`name, T.120 address, H.323 connect parameters, H.245 fast
`connect parameters, H.225 connect parameters, HTML web
`browser address or any other commonly known data address
`or connect parameters. In the preferred embodiment, the
`International Telecommunication Union (ITU) H.323 plat-
`form and its related series of specifications such as H.225,
`H.245 and T.120 are used. The H.323 platform and related
`series of specifications are well known in the art. More
`information about the H.323 platform may be found in the
`publications entitled “ITU-T Recommendation H.323
`(November, 1996)”, “ITU-T Recommendation H.245
`(March 1996)”, and “ITU-T Recommendation H.225
`(November 1996).” All of these publications are incorpo-
`rated herein by reference.
`FIG. 1 illustrates the general network environment of the
`apparatus and method of the present invention. The network
`includes two telecommunications infrastructures 12 and 13
`
`Petitioner Apple Inc. - Exhibit 1078, p. 15
`
`Petitioner Apple Inc. - Exhibit 1078, p. 15
`
`

`

`US 6,430,176 B1
`
`5
`that interconnect to a PSTN 14 and a public data network 15.
`The public data network 15 and PSTN 14 interconnect
`telecommunications infrastructures 12 and 13 and provide
`telecommunications infrastructures 12 and 13 a communi-
`cations connection. A single telephone call initiated by one
`of the telecommunications infrastructures 12 or 13 to the
`other establishes integrated high quality voice and data
`communication sessions as described in more detail below.
`
`FIG. 2 shows a diagram of a telecommunications network
`configured according to the first embodiment of the inven-
`tion.
`In reference to Userl,
`telephone 20 is interfaced
`directly to central office (CO) 24 via a wire connection.
`Computer 30 is interfaced to the public data network 36
`through an Ethernet connection between computer 30 and
`corporate Intranet 38. Telephone 20 and computer 30 are
`assumed to be on Userl’s desk and to be Userl’s “telecom-
`munications infrastructure.” Userl telephone voice commu-
`nication control is handled using computer telephony inte-
`gration (CTI) via CTI server 42. CTI server 42 is connected
`to CO 24 and LAN 38. Internet service provider (ISP) 46 is
`connected to public data network 36 and LAN 38. Illustra-
`tive according to the first embodiment of the invention, the
`public data network 36 is the Internet.
`Still referring to FIG. 2, User2 employs an H.323 terminal
`device 32 connected to CO 26 and public data network 36
`via corporate Intranet 40. Voice-over-internet-protocol
`(VOIP) Gateway 44 is connected to CO 26 and LAN 40 via
`frame relay, over T1, T3 or Ethernet, etc. ISP 48 is connected
`to LAN 40 and to public data network 36. CO 24 and 26 are
`connected through the PSTN via trunks 50.
`In summary,
`Gateway 44 transfers User2 voice data.
`VOIP Gateway 44 operates, in part, to launch voice calls
`over the Internet, initiating a Plain Old Telephone Services
`(POTS) call
`through the PSTN using dialed dual
`tone
`multi-frequency (DTMF), or utilizing the primary rate inter-
`face (PRI) trunk technology, all being well known in the art.
`The servers may be “stand-alone” servers, telephony appli-
`cation programming interface (TAPI) enabled phone devices
`which support similar requests and notifications, or a PSTN
`switch with built-in server capability.
`FIG. 3 illustrates the sequence of messages sent between
`User1 and User2, based on the first embodiment, during the
`establishment of the multimedia communication sessions.
`
`User1 notifies CO 24 that User1 wishes to make a telephone
`call to User2. This typically is done simply by Userl picking
`up the receiver end of telephone 20 and dialing the telephone
`number of User2’s H.323 terminal device 32, which auto-
`matically sends an off-hook message and DTMF digits 100
`to CO 24. Upon receiving off-hook message 100, CO 24
`immediately notifies CTI server 42 by transmitting a
`“server-notify” message (SNM) 102 to CTI server 42 that
`User1 is placing a telephone call to User2 H.323 terminal
`device 32. Through the use of the software of the present
`invention, CTI server 42 obtains from a lightweight direc-
`tory access protocol (LDAP) directory lookup (not shown)
`the address of Userl computer 30. LDAP is a standard used
`in the Internet for directory queries. These directories can be
`public or private. It is also appreciated that the software can
`be developed to locate computer 30 address by other means
`commonly known in the art. Computer address message
`(CAM) 104, which contains computer 30 address, is sent to
`CO 24. CAM 104, DTMF digits, and other information as
`known in the art are inserted by CTI server 42 into T1 server
`messages by standard CTI protocols. For example,
`this
`could be accomplished by using Meridian Link CTI proto-
`cols.
`
`Referring still to FIG. 3, to convey the CAM 104 and
`DTMF digits across
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`PSTN 14 trunks (not shown) to CO 26, in a preferred
`embodiment, CO 24 packs the information it received from
`User1 off-hook message 100, including Userl’s computer
`address into an ISDN user part (ISUP). CO 24 will transmit
`to CO26 an initial message (INM) 106 containing the
`pertinent
`information of off-hook message 100, such as
`DTMF digits along with the address of computer 30.
`An ISUP protocol is part of the Signaling System Number
`Seven (SS7) specification, which is commonly known in the
`art, and is a collection of switching protocols that allow call
`control signaling to work across different switches across the
`PSTN. The SS7 controls the bearer connections.
`ISUP
`
`protocol specifies the INM, ACM, and ANM messages that
`are sent back and forth between central offices to control
`
`PSTN 14 trunks (not shown). With ISUP protocol, the INM
`is usually referred to as an intial address message or IAM.
`Signaling information for a D channel is received from
`SS7 messages. When the signaling information reaches the
`end-user’s central office, the SS7 releases the relevant infor-
`mation into the D channel messages, which are then sent to
`the terminal equipment. Still referring to FIG. 3, after the
`signal information contained in INM 106 arrives at CO 26,
`the relevant information of Used is transferred from the
`
`INM 106 to setup message 108a. Setup message 108a is sent
`to User2’s Gateway 44, which in turn transmits a setup
`message 108b to H.323 terminal device 32. Setup messages
`108a and 108b are also collectively referred to herein as set
`up message 108. However,
`in contrast
`to conventional
`practice, User1 ’s computer address corresponding to an
`address location on a private network distinct from the
`network of User2 is transmitted with the setup message 108
`from CO 26 to Gateway 44 and then to H.323 terminal
`device. At
`this point, User2’s telecommunications infra-
`structure has obtained Userl’s computer address over the
`PSTN 14 via by Userl initiating a single telephone call to
`User2.
`
`In response to receiving setup message 108b, User2
`H.323 terminal device 32 alerts User2 to the incoming call
`by ringing, flashing a light, or by some other method known
`in the art but not illustrated.
`
`Still referring to FIG. 3, H.323 terminal device 32 sends
`first alerting messages 116a and 116b to User2 CO 26,
`through Gateway 44. First alerting messages 116a and 116b
`are also collectively referred to herein as first alerting
`message 116. At CO 26, the relevant information contained
`in alerting message 116 is inserted into another ISUP mes-
`sage called the address complete message (ACM) 122 which
`is transmitted across PSTN 14 (not shown) to CO 24. CO 24
`then transmits a second alerting message 124 to CTI server
`42. CTI server 42 transmits a ring back message 125 to
`User1 telephone 20. Userl may have selected a service that
`provides Userl with a ringing sound to alert User1 that
`User2 H.323 terminal device 32 is ringing. Moreover, Userl
`computer 30 may visually display information to Userl to
`indicate that the data media connection is proceeding.
`Once User2 accepts Userl’s telephone call via H.323
`terminal device 32, first connect messages 128a and 128b
`are sent to CO 26 via Gateway 44. First connect messages
`128a and 128b are also collectively referred to herein as first
`connect message 128. CO 26 removes the relevant infor-
`mation from connect message 128 and inserts the informa-
`tion in an answer message (ANM) 130. Before ANM 130 is
`sent across the PSTN (not shown) to CO 24, H.323 terminal
`device 32 or Gateway 44, inserts the computer address of
`H.323 terminal device 32 of User2 into connect message
`128. CO 26 then packs the IP address of H.323 terminal
`
`Petitioner Apple Inc. - Exhibit 1078, p. 16
`
`Petitioner Apple Inc. - Exhibit 1078, p. 16
`
`

`

`US 6,430,176 B1
`
`7
`device 32 and relevant information into ANM 130 which is
`
`then transmitted across the PSTN 14 (not shown) to CO 24.
`It is also possible for CO 26 to hold the IP address of H.323
`terminal device 32 locally for packing into ANM 130.
`Once CO 24 receives ANM 130, it transfers the informa-
`tion contained in ANM 130 to second connect messages
`132a and 132b to CTI server 42 and computer 30, respec-
`tively. Second connect messages 132a and 132b are also
`collectively referred to herein as second connect message
`132. The CTI connect message 132 includes User2’s com-
`puter address. At this point the telecommunications infra-
`structures of each private network are able to setup the data
`transmission therebetween. Thus, a high quality PSTN voice
`session 133 and a data session 134 between Used and User2
`telecommunications infrastructures are established, even
`without the telecommunications infrastructures employing
`ISDN technology.
`FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the invention
`
`operating within different telecommunications infrastructure
`configurations as well as with different end serving switch
`technology. According to the second embodiment, User1
`telephone 70 is interfaced to a private branch exchange
`(PBX) 78, rather than directly to CO 80 as is illustrated in
`the first embodiment (FIG. 2). Computer 72 is interfaced to
`the public data network 88 through an Ethernet connection
`between computer 72 and private Intranet 90. User 1’s
`telephone voice communication control is handled using
`CTI server 74. CTI server 74 is connected to PBX 78 and
`
`private Intranet 90. Telephone 70, computer 72, PBX 78,
`CTI server 74, and private Intranet 90 may be considered as
`being User1 ’s telecommunications infrastructure 93. PBX
`78 could be a Meridian manufactured by Nortel, using
`Meridian Link CTI protocols to link with CTI server 74. It
`is appreciated that telecommunications infrastructures may
`also be configured such that telephone 70 and CTI server 74
`are directly connected to CO 80. It is further appreciated that
`if CO 80 is a DMS, the invention could use Compucal CTI
`protocol to form the communication link between CO 80
`and CTI server 74. In the event that the invention is deployed
`using the techniques of the advanced intelligent network
`(AIN), the server is a service control point (SCP) and the
`protocol is TCAP over ISUP.
`Still referring to FIG. 4, User2’s telecommunications
`infrastructure 92 includes H.323 terminal device 84, which
`is connected to private Intranet 86. Private Intranet 86 is also
`connected to CO 82 and public data network 88. Computer
`72 and H.323 terminal dev