UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`________________
`
`
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`
`________________
`
`
`
`SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.,
`SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS AMERICA, INC., &
`SAMSUNG TELECOMMUNICATIONS AMERICA, LLC,
`CISCO SYSTEMS, INC., and AVAYA, INC.,
`
`Petitioner,
`
`v.
`
`STRAIGHT PATH IP GROUP, INC.
`Patent Owner
`
`________________
`
`
`
`Case IPR2014-013671
`U.S. Patent No. 6,009,469
`
`________________
`
`
`
`
`
`PATENT OWNER’S SUBMISSION OF ADIITIONAL BRIEFING FROM
`STRAIGHT PATH IP GROUP, INC. V. SIPNET EU S.R.O.,
`No. 15-1212 (FED. CIR.)
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`1 IPR2015-01007 has been joined with this proceeding.
`
`

`
`Case IPR2014-01367
`Patent No. 6,009,469
`
`Pursuant to the Board’s March 27, 2015 Conduct of the Proceeding Order
`
`(the “Order”) in the above captioned case, Patent Owner Straight Path IP Group,
`
`Inc. (“Straight Path”) hereby submits the following briefing and order
`
`(Attachments A – C) filed in Straight Path in Straight Path IP Group, Inc. v. Sipnet
`
`EU S.R.O., No. 15-1212 (Fed. Cir.) (“the appeal”), which was Straight Path’s
`
`appeal of the Final Written Decision in related case, Sipnet EU S.R.O. v. Straight
`
`Path IP Group, Inc., IPR2013-00246:
`
`1. Motion of Appellee Sipnet EU S.R.O. to take judicial notice (September
`
`8, 2015) [Attachment A];
`
`2. Motion of Appellant Straight Path IP Group, Inc. to take judicial notice
`
`(September 8, 2015) [Attachment B]; and
`
`3. Order granting motions to take judicial notice filed by Appellant Straight
`
`Path IP Group, Inc. and Appellee Sipnet EU S.R.O. (November 25, 2015)
`
`[Attachment C].
`
`
`
`2
`
`
`
`

`
`
`Dated: December 17, 2015
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Case IPR2014-01367
`Patent No. 6,009,469
`
`Respectfully submitted,
`
`/William Meunier/
`William A. Meunier (Reg. No. 41,193)
`Michael C. Newman (admitted pro
`hac vice)
`Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky
`and Popeo, P.C.
`One Financial Center
`Boston, MA 02111
`Telephone: (617) 348-1845
`Facsimile: (617) 542-2241
`StraightPathIPRs@mintz.com
`
`3
`
`

`
`Case IPR2014-01367
`Patent No. 6,009,469
`
`CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
`
`
`
`I certify that a copy of Patent Owner’s Submission of Amicus Briefing from
`
`Straight Path IP Group, Inc. v. Sipnet EU S.R.O., No. 15-1212 (Fed. Cir.) is being
`
`served by electronic mail on the following counsel for the Petitioners:
`
`For Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
`
`For Cisco Systems, Inc. and AVAYA Inc.
`
`DLA Piper LLP
`Brian Erickson (Reg. No. 48,895)
`brian.erickson@dlapiper.com
`Jeff Cole (Reg. No. 56,052)
`jeff.cole@dlapiper.com
`Samsung-SP-IPR@dlapiper.com
`
`Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale
`and Dorr LLP
`David L. Cavanaugh (Reg. No. 36,476)
`Jason D. Kipnis (Reg. No. 40,680)
`david.cavanaugh@wilmerhale.com
`Jason.kipnis@wilmerhale.com
`
`For AVAYA Inc.
`
`Fish & Richardson
`Dorothy P. Whelan (Reg. No. 33,814)
`Christopher O. Green (Reg. No. 52,964)
`Whelan@fr.com
`cgreen@fr.com
`
`
`
`
`
`/William Meunier/
`William A. Meunier (Reg. No. 41,193)
`Michael C. Newman (admitted pro hac
`vice)
`Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky
`and Popeo, P.C.
`One Financial Center
`Boston, MA 02111
`Telephone: (617) 348-1845
`Facsimile: (617) 542-2241
`StraightPathIPRs@mintz.com
`
`
`
`
`
`Dated: December 17, 2015
`
`
`44690012v.1
`
`
`
`4
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`

`
`ATTACHMENT A
`
`ATTACHMENT A
`
`

`
`Case: 15-1212 Document: 51 Page: 1 Filed: 09/08/2015
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`PRASAD IP, PC
`
`221 Main Street, #496
`Los Altos, [State] 94023
`Phone: +1 650-868-6011 / +1 650-918-7647
`E-Mail: sanjay@prasadip.com
`
`
`
`September 5, 2015
`
`Daniel E. O’Toole
`Circuit Executive & Clerk of Court
`United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
`717 Madison Place, N.W.
`Washington, D.C. 20439
`
`
`
`RE: STRAIGHT PATH IP GROUP, INC., Appellant, v. SIPNET EU S.R.O., Appellee
`
`Appeal No. 2015-1212
`
`
`
`Dear Mr. O’Toole:
`
`
`
`I am lead counsel for Appellee Sipnet EU S.R.O. (“Sipnet”) in the above-referenced case,
`for which oral argument is scheduled for September 9, 2015.
`
`On August 11, 2015, the Court granted a motion by Samsung Electronics America Inc, Samsung
`Electronics Co., Ltd. and Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC (“Samsung”) for leave to
`file an amicus curiae brief in this case. Samsung’s amicus curiae brief was filed on August 17,
`2015.
`
`Samsung’s brief cites to three portions of the publicly available file history of the patent at issue
`in this appeal that are not in the Joint Appendix submitted by the parties. Those three portions
`are:
`•
`•
`
`the original claims of U.S. Application No. 08/533,115 (cited at p.9 of the Samsung brief);
`the Amendment dated March 4, 1999 in the prosecution of U.S. Application No.
`08/533,115 (cited at p. 9 of the Samsung brief); and
`the Response to Final Rejection Dated July 12, 2010 in Reexamination No. 90/010,416
`(cited at p. 25 of the Samsung brief).
`
`•
`
`
`
`Samsung in a reply brief dated August 15, 2015 has requested consideration of the above-noted
`materials. However, in an abundance of caution to avoid any question as to the availability of
`such materials to the Court’s consideration of this case, and in the interests of the convenience of
`the Court and the parties, appellee Sipnet requests that the court take judicial notice of the above-
`referenced prosecution history excerpts. The requested judicial notice is proper because the
`content of the file history is obtainable from a verifiable source (USPTO) and, therefore, is not in
`dispute. Thus, the judicial notice may be taken under F.R.E. 201(b)(2).
`
`
`

`
`Case: 15-1212 Document: 51 Page: 2 Filed: 09/08/2015
`
`A copy of the above-noted excerpts is attached herewith.
`
`Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions.
`
`Respectfully submitted,
`
`/s/ Sanjay Prasad
`Sanjay Prasad
`Prasad IP, PC
`Attorney for Sipnet EU S.R.O.
`
`cc:
`
`
`
`Pavel Pogodin
`
`TransPacific Law Group
`530 Lytton Avenue, 2nd Floor
`Palo Alto, California 94301
`Attorney for Sipnet EU S.R.O.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`James M. Wodarski
`William A. Meunier
`Michael T. Renaud
`Nicholas Armington
`Sandra Badin
`Michael C. Newman
`Adam P. Samansky
`Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris
`Glovsky and Popeo P.C.
`1 Financial Center
`Boston, MA 02111
`Attorneys for Appellant
`Straight Path IP Group, Inc.
`
`
`Aaron Fountain
`DLA PIPER LLP (US)
`1000 Louisiana Street, Suite 2800
`Houston, TX 77002-5005
`(713) 425-8400
`
`2
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Mark D. Fowler
`DLA PIPER LLP (US)
`2000 University Avenue
`East Palo Alto, CA 94303
`(650) 833-2000
`
`
`Brian K. Erickson
`DLA PIPER LLP (US)
`401 Congress Avenue, Suite 2500
`Austin, TX 78701
`(512) 457-7000
`Attorneys for Amici Curiae Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Samsung
`Electronics America, Inc. Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC
`
`
`
`
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`Case: 15-1212 Document: 51 Page: 3 Filed: 09/08/2015
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`•
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`A-
`DB· 533115
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`POINT-TO-POINT INTERNET PROTOCOL
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`1. Field of the Invention
`This disclosure relates to network communication
`protocols, and in particular to a point-to-point.protocol
`for use with the Internet.
`2. Description of the Related Art
`The increased popularity of on-line services such
`as AMERICA ONLINE™, COMPUSERVE®, and other services such as
`Internet gateways have spurred applications to provide
`multimedia, including video and voice clips, to online
`users. An example of an online voice clip application is
`VOICE E-MAIL FOR WINCIM and VOICE E-MAIL FOR AMERICA
`ONLINE™, available from Bonzi Software, as described in
`"Simple Utilities Send Voice E-Mail Online", MULTIMEDIA
`WORLD, VOL. 2, NO. 9, August 1995, p. 52. Using such Voice
`E-Mail software, a user may create an audio message to be
`sent to a predetermined E-mail address specified by the
`user.
`
`Internet and
`Generally, devices
`other online services may communicate with each other upon
`establishing respective device addresses. One type of
`device address is the Internet Protocol (IP) address, which
`acts as a pointer to the device associated with the IP
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`•
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`649-2
`address. A typical device may have a Serial Line Internet
`Protocol or Point-to-Point Protocol (SLIP/PPP) account with
`a permanent IP address for receiving e-mail, voicemail, and
`the like over the Internet. E-mail and voicemail is
`generally intended to convey text, audio, etc., with any
`routing information such as an IP address and routing
`headers generally being considered an artifact of the
`communication, or even gibberish to the recipient.
`Devices such as a host computer or server of a
`company may include multiple modems for connection of users
`to the Internet, with a temporary IP address allocated to
`each user. For example, the host computer may have a
`general IP address "XXX.XXX.XXX...X.X.X", and each user may be
`xxx.xxx.xxx. 10
`allocated a successive IP address of Je{X XXX. XXX. lEXX. 16,
`xxx.xxx.xxx. ''
`xxx.xxx.xxx.\'d. A-
`11, XXX, XXX. XXX. XJEX. 1z , etc. Such temporary
`}fXX. lElEJE.
`""'-
`IP addresses may be reassigned or recycled to the users, for
`example, as each user is successively connected to an
`outside party. For example, a host computer of a company
`may support a maximum of 254 IP addresses which are pooled
`and shared between devices connected to the host computer.
`Permanent IP addresses of users and devices
`accessing the Internet readily support point-to-point
`communications of voice and video signals over the Internet.
`For example, realtime video teleconferencing has been
`implemented using dedicated IP addresses and mechanisms
`
`;'\..
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`Case: 15-1212 Document: 51 Page: 5 Filed: 09/08/2015
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`649-2
`known as reflectors. Due to the dynamic nature of temporary
`IP addresses of some devices accessing the Internet, point-
`to-point communications in realtime of voice and video have
`been generally difficult to attain.
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`A point-to-point Internet protocol is disclosed
`which exchanges Internet Protocol (IP) addresses between
`processing units to establish a point-to-point communication
`link between the processing units through the Internet.
`A first point-to-point Internet protocol is
`disclosed which includes the steps of:
`(a) storing in a database a respective IP address
`of a set of processing units that have an on-line status
`with respect to the Internet;
`(b) transmitting a query from a first processing
`unit to a connection server to determine the on-line status
`of a second processing unit; and
`(c) retrieving the IP address of the second unit
`from the database usin9 the connection server, in response
`to the determination of a positive on-line status of the
`second processing unit, for establishing a point-to-point
`communication link between the first and second processing
`units through the Internet.
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`
`A second point-to-point Internet protocol is
`disclosed, which includes the steps of:
`{a) transmitting an E-mail signal, including a
`first IP address, from a first processing unit;
`(b) processing the E-mail signal through the
`Internet to deliver the E-mail signal to a second processing
`unit; and
`
`{c) transmitting a second IP address to the first
`processing unit for establishing a point-to-point
`communication link between the first and second processing
`units through the Internet.
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`The features of the disclosed point-to-point
`Internet protocol and system will become more readily
`apparent and may be better understood by referring to the
`following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment
`of the present invention, taken in conjunction with the
`accompanying drawings, where:
`FIG. 1 illustrates, in block diagram format, a
`system for the disclosed point-to-point Internet protocol;
`FIG. 2 illustrates, in block diagram format, the
`system using a secondary point-to-point Internet protocol;
`FIG. 3 illustrates, in block diagram_format, the
`system of FIGS. 1-2 with the point-to-point Internet
`protocol established;
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`FIG. 4 is another block diagram of the system of
`FIGS. 1-2 with audio communications being conducted;
`FIG. 5 illustrates a display screen for a
`processing unit;
`FIG. 6 illustrates another display screen for a
`processing unit;
`FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of the initiation
`of the point-to-point Internet protocols;
`FIG. 8 .illustrates a flowchart of the performance
`of the primary point-to-point Internet protocols; and
`FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of the performance
`of the secondary point-to-point Internet protocol.
`DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
`Referring now in specific detail to the drawings,
`15 with like reference numerals identifying similar or
`identical elements, as shown in FIG. 1, the present
`disclosure describes a point-to-point Internet protocol and
`system 10 for using such a protocol.
`In an exemplary embodiment, the system 10 includes
`a first processing unit 12 for sending at least a voice
`signal from a first user to a second user. The first
`processing unit 12 includes a processor 14, a memory 16, an
`input device 18, and an output device 20. The output device
`20 includes at least one modem capable of, for example, 14.4
`kbaud communications and operatively connected via wired
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`649-2
`and/or wireless communication connections to the Internet.
`One skilled in the art would understand that the input
`device 18 may be implemented at least in part by the modem
`of the output device 20 to allow input signals from the
`communication connections to be received. The second
`processing unit 22 may have a processor, memory, and input
`and output devices, including at least one modem and
`associated communication connections, as described above for
`the first processing unit 12.
`In an exemplary embodiment,
`each of the processing units 12, 22 may be a WEBPHONE™
`unit, available
`i!N'f'ERNEI TELEPfi6NEl eeUi'ltM"Y(!(-t.. capable of:
`operating the
`point-to-point Internet protocol and
`system 10, as described herein.
`The first processing unit 12 and the second
`processing unit 22 are operatively connected to the Internet
`24 by communication devices and
`known in the art.
`The processing units
`interconnected
`through the Internet 24
`a connection server 26, and may
`.A
`also be operatively connected to a mail server 28 associated
`with the Internet 24.
`The connection server 26 includes a processor 30,
`a timer 32 for generating timestamps, and a memory such as a
`database 34 for storing, for example, E-mail and Internet
`Protocol (IP) addresses of logged-in units.
`In an exemplary
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`5 server
`embodiment, the connection server 26 may
`V,W.u I cJl J.
`or a SPARC 20 server, available from SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC., ;(
`having a central processing unit (CPU} as processor 30
`operating an operating system (OS) such as UNIX and
`providing timing operations such as maintaining
`32, a hard drive or fixed drive as well as
`memory (DRAM) for storing the database 34, and a keyboard
`and display and/or other input and output devices (not shown
`in FIG. 1). The database 34 may be an SQL database
`available from ORACLE or INFOMIX.
`In an exemplary embodiment, the mail server 28 may
`be a Post Office Protocol (POP} Version 3 mail server
`including a processor, memory, and
`operating
`in a UNIX environment, or alternatively ..ether- OS, to process
`1
`E-mail capabilities between processing units and devices
`over the Internet 24.
`The first processing unit 12 may operate the
`disclosed point-to-point Internet protocol by a computer
`program described hereinbelow in conjunction with FIG. 6,
`from compiled and/or interpreted
`source code in the C++ programming language and which may be
`downloaded to the first processing unit 12 from an external
`computer. The operating computer program may be· stored in
`the memory 16, which may include about 8 MB RAM and/or a
`hard or fixed drive having about 8 MB. Alternatively, the
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`source code may be implemented in the first processing unit
`12 as firmware, as an erasable read only memory (EPROM),
`etc. It is understood that one skilled in the art would be
`able to use programming languages other than C++ to
`implement the disclosed point-to-point Internet protocol and
`system 10.
`The processor 14 receives input commands and data
`from a first user associated with the first processing unit
`12 through the input device 18, which may be an input port
`connected by a wired, optical, or a wireless connection for
`electromagnetic transmissions, or alternatively may be
`tra_nsferable storage media, such as floppy disks, magnetic
`tapes, compact disks, or other storage media including the
`input data from the first user.
`The input device 18 may include a user interface
`(not shown) having, for example, at least one button
`actuated by the user to input commands to select from a
`plurality of operating modes to operate the first processing
`unit 12.
`In alternative embodiments, the input device 18
`20 may include a keyboard, a mouse, a touch screen, and/or a
`data reading device such as a disk drive for receiving the
`input data from input data files stored in storage media
`such as a floppy disk or, for example, an 8 mm storage tape.
`The input device 18 may alternatively include connections to
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`Case: 15-1212 Document: 51 Page: 11 Filed: 09/08/2015
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`649-2
`other computer systems to receive the input commands and
`data therefrom.
`The first processing unit 12 may include a visual
`interface as the output device 20 for use in conjunction
`with the input device 18 and embodied as one of the screens
`illustrated by the examples shown in FIGS.
`discussed
`A.
`below. It is also understood that alternative input devices
`may be used in conjunction with alternative output devices
`to receive commands and data from the user, such as
`keyboards, mouse devices, and graphical user interfaces
`(GUI) such
`3.1 available from MICROSOFT™
`Corporation executed by the processor 14 using, for example,
`"\
`DOS 5.0. One skilled in the art would understand that other
`operating systems and GUis, such as
`?nd OS/2 WARP,
`available from IBM CORPORATION, may be used. Other
`A
`alternative input devices may include microphones and/or
`telephone handsets for receiving audio voice data and
`commands, with the first processing unit 12 including speech
`or voice recognition devices, dual tone multi-frequency
`(DTMF) based devices, andfor software known in the art to
`accept voice data and commands and to operate the first
`processing unit 12.
`In addition, either of the first processing unit
`12 and the second processing unit 22 may be implemented in a
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`personal digital assistant (PDA) providing modem and E-mail
`capabilities and Internet access, with the PDA providing the
`input/output screens for mouse interaction or for
`touchscreen activation as shown, for example, in FIGS. 4-5,
`as a combination of the input device 18 and output device
`20.
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`For clarity of explanation, the illustrative
`embodiment'of the disclosed point-to-point Internet protocol
`and system 10 is presented as having individual functional
`blocks, which may include functional blocks labelled as
`"processor" and "processing unit". The functions
`represented by these blocks may be provided through the use
`of either shared or dedicated hardware, including, but not
`limited to, hardware capable of executing software. For
`_example, the functions of each of the processors and
`processing units presented herein may be provided by a
`shared processor or by a plurality of individual processors.
`Moreover, the use of the functional blocks with accompanying
`labels herein is not to be construed to refer exclusively to
`hardware capable of executing software.
`Illustrative
`embodiments may include digital signal processor (DSP)
`hardware, such as the AT&T DSP16 or DSP32C, read-only memory
`(ROM) for storing software performing the operations
`discussed below, and random access memory (RAM) for storing
`DSP results. Very large scale integration (VLSI) hardware
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`649-2
`embodiments, as well as custom VLSI circuitry in combination
`with a general purpose DSP circuit, may also ·be provided.
`Any and all of these embodiments may be deemed to fall
`within the meaning of the labels for the functional blocks
`as used herein.
`The processing units 12, 22 are capable of placing
`calls and connecting to other processing units connected to
`the Internet 24, for example, via dialup SLIP/PPP lines.
`In
`an exemplary embodiment, each processing unit assigns an
`unsigned,long session number, for example,
`bit long
`sequence in a *.ini file for each call. Each call may be
`assigned a successive session number in sequence, which may
`be used by the respective processing unit to associate the
`call with one of the SLIP/PPP lines, to associate a
`<ConnectOK> response signal with a <ConnectRequest> signal,
`and to allow for multiplexing and demultiplexing of inbound
`and outbound conversations on conference lines.
`For callee (or called) processing units with fixed
`IP addresses, the caller (or calling} processing unit may
`open a "socket", i.e. a file handle or address indicating
`where data is to be sent, and transmit a <Call> command to
`establish communication with the callee utilizing, for
`example, datagram services such as Internet Standard network
`layering as well as transport layering, which may include a
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`Transport Control Protocol (TCP) or a User Datagram Protocol
`(UDP) on top of the IP. Typically, a processing unit having
`a-fixed IP address may maintain at least one open socket and
`a called processing unit waits for a <Call> command to
`assign the open socket to the incoming signal.
`If all lines
`are in use, the callee processing unit sends a BUSY signal
`or message to the caller processing unit.
`As shown in FIG. 1, the disclosed point-to-point
`Internet protocol and system 10 operate when a callee
`processing unit does not have a fixed or predetermined IP
`address.
`In the exemplary embodiment and without loss of
`generality, the first processing unit 12 is the caller
`processing unit and the second processing unit 22 is the
`called processing unit.
`When either of processing units 12, 22 logs on to
`the Internet via a dial-up connection, the respective unit
`is provided a
`allocated IP address by
`A
`
`•
`Upon the first user initiating the point-to-point
`Internet protocol when the first user is logged on to the
`Internet 24, the first processing unit 12 automatically
`transmits its associated E-mail address and its dynamically
`allocated IP address to the connection server 26. The
`connection server 26 then stores these addresses in the
`database 34 and timestamps the stored addresses using timer
`
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`32. The first user operating the first processing unit 12
`is thus established in the database 34 as an active on-line
`party available for communication using the disclosed point-
`to-point Internet protocol. Similarly, a second user
`operating the second processing unit
`conp ction
`(j._
`the Internet 24 through
`·, is
`. .,
`.1\
`processed by the connection server 26 to be established in
`the database 34 as an active on-line party.
`The connection server 26 may use the timestamps to
`update the status of each processing unit; for example,
`after 2 hours, so that the on-line status information stored
`in the database 34 is relatively current. Other
`predetermined time periods, such as a default value of 24
`hours, may be configured by a systems operator.
`The first user with the first processing unit 12
`initiates a call using, for example, a Send command and/or a
`command to speeddial an N™ stored number, which may be
`labelled [SNDJ and [SPD][NJ, respectively, by the input
`device 18 and/or the output device 20, such as shown in
`FIGS. 5-6.
`In response to either the Send or speeddial
`commands, the first processing unit 12 retrieves from memory
`16 a stored E-mail address of the callee corresponding to
`the N™ stored number. Alternatively, the first user may
`directly enter the E-mail address of the callee.
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`The first processing unit 12 then sends a query,
`including the E-mail address of the callee, to the
`connection server 26. The connection server 26 then
`searches the database 34 to determine whether the callee is
`logged-in by finding any stored information corresponding to
`the callee's E-mail address indicating that the callee is
`active and on-line.
`If the callee is active and on-line,
`the connection server 26 then performs the primary point-to-
`point Internet protocol; i.e. the IP address of the callee
`is retrieved from the database 34 and sent to the first
`processing unit 12. The first processing unit 12 may then
`directly establish the point-to-point Internet
`communications with the callee using the IP address of the
`callee.
`
`If the callee is not on-line when the connection
`server 26 determines the callee's status, the connection
`server 26 sends an OFF-LINE signal or message to the first
`processing unit 12. The first processing unit 12 may also
`display a message such as "Called Party Off-Line" to the
`first user.
`When a user logs off or goes off-line from the
`Internet 24, the connection server 26 updates the status of
`the user in the database 34; for example, by removing the
`user's information, or by flagging the user as being off-
`line. The connection server 26 may be instructed to update
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`the user's information in the database 34 by an off-line
`message, such as a data packet, sent automatically from the
`processing unit of the user prior to being disconnected from
`the connection server 26. Accordingly, an off-line user is
`effectively disabled from making andjor receiving point-to-
`point Internet communications.
`As shown in FIGS. 2-4, the disclosed secondary
`point-to-point Internet protocol may be used as an
`alternative to the primary point-to-point Internet protocol
`described above, for example, if the connection server 26 is
`non-responsive, inoperative, andjor unable to perform the
`primary point-to-point Internet protocol, as a non-
`responsive condition. Alternatively, the disclosed
`secondary point-to-point Internet protocol may be used
`independent of the primary point-to-point Internet protocol.
`In the disclosed secondary point-to-point Internet protocol,
`the first processing unit 12 sends a <ConnectRequest>
`message via E-mail over the Internet 24 to the mail server
`28. The E-mail including the <ConnectRequest> message may
`have, for example, the subject
`(*wp#XXXXXXXX#nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn#emailAddr]
`where nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn is the current (i.e. temporary or
`permanent) IP address of the first user, and XXXXXXXX is a
`session number, which may be unique and associated with the
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`request of the first user to initiate point-to-point
`communication with the second user.
`As described above, the first processing unit 12
`may send the <ConnectRequest> message in response to an
`unsuccessful attempt to perform the primary point-to-point
`Internet protocol. Alternatively, the first.processing unit
`12 may send the <ConnectRequest> message in response to the
`first user initiating a SEND command or the like.
`After the <ConnectRequest> message via E-mail is
`sent, the first processing unit 12 opens a socket and waits
`to detect a response from the second processing unit 22. A
`timeout timer, such as timer 32, may be set by the first
`processing unit 12, in a manner known in the art, to wait
`for a predetermined duration to receive a <ConnectOK>
`signal. The processor 14 of the first processing unit 12
`may cause the output device 20 to output a Ring signal to
`the user, such as an audible ringing sound, about every 3
`seconds. For example, the processor 14 may output a *.wav
`file, which may be labelled RING.WAV, which is processed by
`the output device 20 to output an audible ringing sound.
`The mail server 28 then polls the second
`processing unit 22, for example, every 3-5 seconds, to
`deliver the E-mail. Generally, the second processing unit
`22 checks the incoming lines., for example, at regular
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`intervals to wait for and to detect incoming E-mail from the
`mail server 28 through the Internet 24.
`Typically, for sending E-mail to users having
`associated processing units operatively connected to a host
`computer or server operating an Internet gateway, E-Mail for
`a specific user may be sent over the Internet 24 and
`directed to the permanent IP address or the SLIP/PPP account
`designation of the host computer, which then assigns a
`temporary IP address to the processing unit of the specified
`user for properly routing the E-mail. The E-mail signal may
`include a name or other designation such as a username which
`identifies the specific user regardless of the processing
`unit assigned to the user; that is, the host computer may
`track and store the specific device where a specific user is
`assigned or logged on, independent of the IP address system,
`and so the host computer may switch the E-mail signal to the
`device of the specific user. At that time, a temporary IP
`address may be generated or assigned to the specific user
`and device.
`Upon detecting and/or receiving the incoming E-
`mail signal from the first processing unit 12, the second
`processing unit 22 may assign or may be assigned a temporary
`IP address. Therefore, the delivery of the E-mail through
`the Internet 24 provides the second processing unit 22 with
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`a session number as well as IP addresses of both the first
`processing unit 12 and the second processing unit 22.
`Point-to-point communication may then be
`established by the processing units 12, 22. For example,
`the second processing unit 22 may process the E-mail signal
`to extract the <ConnectRequest> message, including the IP
`address of the first processing unit 12 and the session
`number. The second processing unit 22 may then open a
`socket and generate a <ConnectOK> response signal, which
`includes the temporary IP address of the second processing
`unit 22 as well as the session number.
`The second processing unit 22 sends the
`<ConnectOK> signal directly over the Internet 24 to the IP
`address of the first processing unit 12 without processing
`by the mail server 28, and a timeout timer of the second
`processing unit 22 may be set to wait and detect a <Call>
`signal expected
`the first processing unit 12.
`Realtime point-to-point communication of audio
`signals over the- Internet 24, as well as video and
`voicemail, may thus be established and supported without
`requiring permanent IP addresses to be assigned to either of
`the users or processing units 12, 22. For the duration of
`the realtime
`link, the relative permanence of
`the current IP addresses of the processing units 12, 22 is
`sufficient, whether the current IP addresses were permanent
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`(i.e. predetermined or preassigned) or temporary (i.e.
`assigned upon initiation of the point-to-point
`communication).
`In the exemplary