 |
Claims  |
|
|
I claim:
1. A method of establishing in real time a connection between a first party
and a second party via at least one telecommunication network, said
parties having previously agreed upon to establish communication
therebetween and, as a result thereof, a first call from said first party
has arrived to a first node of the network and a second call from said
second party has arrived to a second node of the network, said method
comprising the steps of:
selecting any of the switching nodes of said network as a meeting place;
reserving first and second idle interaction numbers in said selected
switching node, said interaction numbers being selected in the number
series of said selected switching node;
creating a first assignment process in said first node;
creating a second assignment process in said second node, said first
assignment process making an outgoing call using the first interaction
number, said second assignment process making an outgoing call using the
second interaction number;
routing said outgoing calls through said network to said selected node; and
interconnecting with each other incoming calls to said selected node that
as destination use said first and second interaction numbers.
2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the selected node is located in a
node selected from the group of nodes comprising:
(a) the access node of said first party in said telecommunication network;
(b) the access node of said second party in said telecommunication network;
and
(c) some other node of said telecommunication network.
3. A method according to claim 2, comprising the step of initiating said
meeting by sending a connection request together with meeting references
to a third party, called the meeting organizer, said meeting references
referring to said meeting, said meeting organizer:
selecting on the basis of predetermined criteria a meeting node common to
the first and second parties;
deciding the connections required to be made to and from the respective
access nodes of said first and said second party respectively and the
connections required to be made to and from said meeting mode to
accomplish a real time connection, by indicating to said assignment
processes which one of these that shall originate connections and
terminate connections, respectively.
4. A method according to claim 3, wherein a first meeting reference is
created by said first assignment process in said first switching node to
which said first party has access and a second meeting reference is
created by said second assignment process in said second switching node to
which said second party has access, said first and second meeting
references referring to the meeting the parties have agreed upon.
5. The method in accordance with claim 3, wherein a meeting point is
located in the access node of the first party, and a node in which a
meeting organizer is located is a part of the connection between the first
and second parties, and wherein the meeting organizer:
reserves a first interaction number in the meeting point and a second
interaction number in its own node,
sends the second interaction number and said command to the access node of
the second party,
terminates a first connection originated from the access node of the second
party,
originates a second connection towards the meeting point, and
internally interconnects the terminated first connection with the
originated second connection.
6. The method according to claim 5, wherein said predetermined criteria
involves the meeting organizer collecting information concerning the
traffic load on nodes in the telecommunication network and in other
telecommunication networks.
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein a new meeting organizer is
chosen to keep the cost of the connection at a minimum.
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein a new meeting organizer is
chosen with the additional condition that the cost of establishing the
connection shall be a minimum cost in the absence of congestion.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein on the basis of the predetermined
criteria, the meeting organizer decides whether or not to transfer a
connection request to another meeting organizer optionally located in
another telecommunication network.
10. The method in accordance with claim 2, wherein the meeting point is
located in the access node of said first party, and the node in which a
meeting organizer is located does not form any part of the connection
between the first and second parties, and wherein the meeting point
reserves an interaction number in the access node of the first party and
associates the interaction number with the connection request of the first
party, the meeting organizer sends the first interaction number to the
access node of the second party, the access node of the second party
originates a connection towards the meeting point using the interaction
number as an address, and the meeting point terminates the connection from
the access node of the second party and interconnects the connection with
the first party.
11. The method in accordance with claim 2, wherein a first meeting point is
located in the access node of the first party, a second meeting point is
located in the access node of the second party, and a node in which a
meeting organizer is located forms a part of the connection between the
first and second parties, and wherein the meeting organizer reserves a
first interaction number in the meeting point and a second interaction
number in the access node of the second party, originates two connections,
a first one towards the first meeting point using the first interaction
number as an address, and a second one towards the second meeting point
using the second interaction number as an address, and interconnects
internally the two originating connections, and the first meeting point
terminates the first connection and internally interconnects the first
connection with the first party, and the second meeting point terminates
the second connection and internally interconnects the second connection
with the second party.
12. A method according to claim 1, wherein said meeting node is selected by
(a) first selecting a temporary first meeting node from which said first
interaction number is selected, and temporarily parking said first
outgoing call in said first temporary meeting node;
(b) selecting a temporary second meeting node from which said second
interaction number is selected, and temporarily parking said second
outgoing call in said second temporary meeting node;
(c) selecting a third switching node as a common meeting point;
(d) routing said temporarily parked first and second calls to said third
switching node by communicating a new first interaction number selected
from said third switching node to said first assignment process associated
with said first temporarily parked call and by communicating a new second
interaction number, selected from said third switching node to said second
assignment process associated with said second temporarily parked call;
and
(e) interconnecting said first and second calls in said third switching
node.
13. The method in accordance with claim 12, wherein steps (a) and (b) are
repeated for successive new first and second switching nodes, from which
successive new first and second interaction numbers are selected, until
step (c) is performed.
14. A system for establishing in real time a connection between a first
party and a second party via at least one telecommunication network, said
parties having previously agreed upon to establish communication
therebetween and, as a result thereof, a first call from said first party
has arrived to a first node of the network and a second call from said
second party has arrived to a second node of the network, said system
comprising:
means for selecting any of the switching nodes of said network as a meeting
place;
means for reserving first and second idle interaction numbers in said
selected switching node, said interaction numbers being selected in the
number series of said selected switching node;
means for creating a first assignment process in said first node;
means for creating a second assignment process in said second node, said
first assignment process making an outgoing call using the first
interaction number, said second assignment process making an outgoing call
using the second interaction number;
means for routing said outgoing calls through said network to said selected
node; and
means for interconnecting with each other incoming calls to said selected
node that as destination use said first and second interaction numbers. |
|
 |
|
 |
Claims |
|
|
|
Description |
|
|
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a method for establishing a connection
between two parties while using one or more telecommunication networks.
More specifically, although not exclusively, the invention relates to a
method for establishing the aforesaid connection in the form of a meeting
at a meeting point. The meeting point can be placed at any desired node in
the network. The method enables the meeting point to be chosen with
respect to the geographical location of the parties in the network and
with respect to current traffic conditions and in complete disregard of
fixed routing tables.
The present invention is related to the following five Patent Applications,
to which the following description refers:
(1) "A Method of Establishing an Intelligent Network Service", U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 08/018,197;
(2) "A Method of Organizing Communication", U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 08/018,223;
(3) "A Method of Establishing Cooperation with a Functionality", U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 08/018,268;
(4) "A Person Paging Method", U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/018,212;
and
(5) "A Method of Supporting Communication", U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 08/018,213.
These applications describe mechanisms which can be used in the method
according to the present invention.
TECHNICAL BACKGROUND ART
The term communication services is meant to mean conventional telephony
services, telex services, datapack services, datel services, telefax
services, videotext services, ISDN-services, mobile telephony services,
personal paging services, tele-point-services and general communication
between two or more parties. The services recited above are only examples
of the services possible and are not intended to limit the scope of the
invention.
The term telecommunication network is normally meant to mean the telephone
networks, telex networks, circuit connected data networks, picture
information transfer networks, private telecommunication networks, radio
networks, satellite communication networks and general carriers of the
communication services, such as analog transmission, digital transmission,
synchronous, multiplex or asynchronous multiplex transmission, ATM, etc.,
for example. These networks are recited solely by way of example and the
invention is not restricted thereto.
The term functionality is meant to mean the ability to perform an operation
in a telecommunication network. Examples of functionality include
activities and services that can be performed in the telecommunication
network. Examples of functionalities include an enquiry to establish a
connection path or route between two parties, digit analysis, billing or
ticketing. Although not necessary, the functionality may require the
availability of dedicated equipment for carrying out the functionality.
For instance, if the functionality is to receive tones and to analyze
tones, it is necessary to make a tone receiver accessible. Other examples
of functionalities include voice-controlled speech information, number
translation service, conference calls. Other examples of functionality
include the functionalities described in the aforesaid five Swedish patent
applications, namely communication in the form of a meeting, personal
paging, a method of establishing cooperation with a functionality, meeting
connection establishment and communication via intermediaries. Still
another example of functionality is the ability of being able to choose
from among several alternatives.
The term connection is meant to mean a circuit-coupled connection or a
package-coupled connection. The term to establish a connection is meant to
mean in the circuit coupled case that a circuit-coupled connection is
established between two hardware terminal devices (or equipment) and in
the package coupled case it is meant that a package-coupled connection
creates relationships between logic channels on node-interconnecting
physical links which. The term to originate or to terminate a connection,
is meant to mean in the circuit-coupled case to connect originating or
terminating equipment to a circuit-coupled connection, and in the
package-coupled case to create a session between applications in
originating and terminating nodes respectively.
The term user is meant to mean in the following a human user or a
computer-based application which utilizes communication services. The
application may be achieved with hardware, software and combinations
thereof. The word "part" is synonymous to the term user.
The term terminal is meant to mean equipment which is connected to a
telecommunication network and which makes the telecommunication services
of the network available to a user.
The term port either refers to an access port or to a transit port. An
access port is a location where a dedicated terminal is connected to a
telecommunication network. An access port is associated with a destination
address which goes to an end user. In the case of a standard telephone
network, the access ports are located in a telephone station. In the case
of the ISDN-network and the mobile telephone network, the access ports are
found in a terminal. A transit port is a port in a connection between
nodes. A transit port is not associated with any particular destination
address, and can be used to establish any selected connection with a final
destination. The final destination is given by the destination address. A
transit port can transfer a call to another node or can receive a call
from another node.
The final destination of a call is a terminal which is identified by a
destination identity. The terminal can be present in the same node as a
transit port or in some other node to which the call shall be further
connected.
One fundamental feature of present-day communication services is that when
a party, hereinafter called A, wishes to communicate with another party,
hereinafter called B, A sends a call to B, whereupon a connection is
established between A and B. The call and the establishment of a
connection route is a coupled sequence. By this is meant that the
information which A uses in the call, namely information relating to the
identification of B's access point in the telecommunication network,
causes a connection route, or path, to be established between the parties.
This connection can either be circuit-coupled or, in the case of
non-continuous transmission methods, a so-called virtual connection, e.g.
a package-coupled network, ATM-network (Synchronous transfer mode), etc.
Traditionally, a connection is established by establishing a route from an
origin to a destination. The connection route through the
telecommunication network is controlled by fixed, so-called routing tables
which are drawn up when configuring or reconfiguring the network. The
routing tables may sometimes permit alternative selections, based on local
accessibility information.
The traditional communication network is encumbered with many drawbacks. A
first problem concerns handling of the resources of the communication
network. Firstly, the communication network is, in itself, a resource
which is utilized uneconomically in the traditional method of providing
communication services. For example, when party A calls party B, so as to
establish a connection through the network from A to B, and party B does
not accept the call, the network resources have been used unnecessarily.
The same applies when party B is engaged. The case is dependent on the
predominant use of present-day networks of channel-associated signalling.
This involves establishing a signalling connection, which is then used for
speech purposes. With common channel-signalling, which is used primarily
in the long-distance network, the signal connection is established with
the aid of the data package, or packet, whereas the speech connection, the
expensive part of the communication, is not established until B answers.
Common channel-signalling is scarcely used in local networks. Secondly,
the majority of all established connections do not require party B to act
immediately on the information that A will transfer.
In the aforesaid cases, the network resources are either used unnecessarily
or are utilized in real time, although it would be possible to utilize the
resources at a later time.
Present-day telecommunication services do not enable a party A to call a
party B on a telecommunication network and establish communication with
party B on a telecommunication network which is different to the
first-mentioned network. If the party B has access points in several
different telecommunication networks, it is necessary for the party A to
have knowledge of all these access points in order to be able to utilize
alternative methods of communicating with party B. If party B does not
answer in one telecommunication network, it is necessary for party A to
attempt to reach party B in another communication network. This means that
it is necessary for party A to call on network after network before
finally reaching party B. Furthermore, it is also necessary, of course,
for party A to have in his/her possession a list of party B's access ports
in the different networks at the disposal of party B.
Traditionally, a connection is established between two parties by a party
who wishes to communicate with the other party making a call and giving
the call destination address, whereafter a coupling route to the called
party is established from node to node in a telecommunication network,
until the destination node is reached. The calling party is connected to
the called party at the destination node. In conventional
telecommunication networks, the connection route follows fixed,
predetermined routing tables. These routing tables are very seldom
changed, and then normally only when extending the telecommunication
network. The principle of establishing a connection with the guidance of
routing tables is encumbered with several drawbacks.
A first drawback is evident from the following discussion. Two parties who
wish to communicate with one another are located at widely separated
places in a telecommunication network. When the connection route is
established from the calling party, wherein the connection passes from
node to node inwardly towards the center of the network, there are many
different possibilities of choosing routes to the destination node. The
more connection routes that thereafter pass from the center of the network
out towards the destination node, the fewer the possibilities of choosing
a route to the destination node. Thus, although many routing possibilities
are found in towards the center of the network, the routing possibilities
outwards from the center of the network become fewer and fewer. This is a
drawback in itself. The trunk line on which the discussed connection
arrives at the destination node may be congested or blocked while trunk
lines in this same destination node are idle. Because of the routing
tables, however, these idle trunk lines cannot be placed at the disposal
of telephone calls in the direction from which the user connection route
arrives at the destination node.
Another drawback with establishing the connection from the node of the
called party to the destination node, by switching from node to node
through the network in accordance with fixed routing tables, occurs when a
node has a fault or is congested, so as to necessitate reversing the route
in the network in order to reach a new node and to establish therefrom a
new route which will circumvent the obstacle. The routing tables are
therefore particularly comprehensive and, above all, categoric, i.e.
rigid, and cannot therefore be adapted to current traffic situations.
A large sporting event of a temporary nature is another situation in which
blocks can occur in a node. Under such circumstances, there is a very
great need for communication from the local node that serves the area or
region in which the sporting event takes place. The public, press, radio
and television load both the local telephone station and the mobile radio
base station serving the area or region in which the sporting event takes
place. Blocks occur on the trunk lines to and from the local
station/mobile base station, although it may still be possible to
establish connections with adjacent local nodes from which it should be
possible to establish connections. This is not always possible, however,
because of the fixed routing tables.
The application WO-A1-92/01350 relates to a communication arrangement using
a callback feature. The originator of a call places a first call to an
intermediary, then the originator sends target-identifying information,
for example, the telephone number, including relevant country and/or area
codes, to the intermediary. The originator also identifies himself to the
intermediary. Then the originator hangs up. The intermediary then places a
second call to the target, using the target-identifying information, and a
third call, the call-back, to the originator, using the
originator-identification. When the target answers and the originator
answers the second and third calls are interconnected, thus establishing a
communication path between the originator and the target.
The drawback with this communication arrangement is that the originator has
to use special call routine, differing from the normal call routine, when
he wants to use the communication arrangement. First, he must dial a
predetermined number, the one to the intermediary, then he must give the
target identification, then his own identification, then he must hang up
and wait for the call-back from the intermediary. Also the intermediary
has to follow a strict procedure in order for the communication
arrangement to operate.
This is in contrast to the present invention in accordance with which the
originator dials the telephone number to the target in the usual manner
and the telephone network, not the originator, uses a special
communication arrangement, differing from the known described above, in
order to establish communication between the originator and the target.
In accordance with a fifth embodiment of the invention according to the
aforesaid WO-A1-92/01350; the first call is parked at a first intermediate
after the originator has supplied the target-identifying information. This
information is communicated to a second intermediate, situated close to
the target. The second intermediator places a second call to the target
and a third call, the call-back, to the first intermediator holding the
parked first call. When the second call is answered by the target the
second and third calls are interconnected and simultaneously the third
call is interconnected with the first parked call.
In accordance with this fifth embodiment, the originator does not need to
hang up awaiting the connection with the originator. However, the
originator has to follow a very specific procedure, different from that
used when making a call in the normal manner, which is awkward.
The manner in which the third call is interconnected with the parked first
call is not disclosed by the patent specification and poses a technical
problem in that the first intermediate cannot differ between an incoming
call from the target and an incoming call from anyone else dialling the
originator's telephone number.
The main purpose of the communication arrangement in accordance with the
application WO-A1-92/01350 is to reduce the costs of a call. If it is
cheaper to make a call from e.g. U.S.A. to France than to make the same
call from France to U.S.A. then the intermediate is located in the U.S.A.
and is used by French originators. If the situation is reversed, i.e., it
may for example be cheaper to call from France to the U.S.A. during
nighttime in the France, then an intermediate is located in France and is
used by U.S. originators. In order to benefit from this known
communication arrangement the parties themselves must keep track of the
taxes used by the French, and U.S. telephone network operators. In other
words an originator must not only use a different communication procedure
but must also know if a French or a U.S. intermediate should be called.
The situation gets more and more complex as the number of states gets
larger.
In accordance with applicant's invention, the network and not the
individual keeps track of the taxes and instructs either the originator to
make a call to the target or the target to make a call to the originator
or instructs both parties to make a call to a common telephone number
belonging to a telephone station somewhere between the originator and the
target. The network makes its decisions not only with regard to the lowest
call cost but also with regard to using the available network resources in
the most efficient way. All decisions are taken on a dynamic basis,
meaning that the procedure to follow for a specific call may vary
depending on traffic intensity, taxes, trunks that are available
etcetera., at the time the call is to be setup between the originator and
the target. The communication arrangement according the application to
WO-A1-92/01350 uses the originators telephone number as originator-ID and
the target's telephone number as target-ID. The two ID:s are used only for
the purpose of placing a call. In accordance with applicant's invention
special numbers, called IA-numbers, connected to a telephone station are
used for several purposes amongst them for placing a call between two
parties, for selecting the route of a call as taught by the present
invention, for supporting communication between a master and foreign users
via an intermediator as taught by our co-pending U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 08/018,215, for implementing various services such as
800-services as described in our co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 08/018,197.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
One object of the present invention is to provide a communication method
which will enable two parties who wish to communicate with each other to
be mutually connected in a common meeting point.
The advantage with this method is that the number of routing possibilities
available to each of the parties concerned is greater than when the one
party is routed and connected to the other. Because the number of routing
possibilities is greater, the chances of the parties being connected to
one another are also greater.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a communication
method which will enable both parties to call a node, referred to as the
meeting node, which, in principle, may be found anywhere in the network.
The choice of connection route is therewith independent of fixed routing
tables. The criteria governing the selection of this meeting node may, for
instance, be minimum costs without meeting a block or congestion, the
geographical location of the parties in the network, or the traffic load
on the network at the time when the meeting shall take place.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a simplified
communication method which will enable one or the other party, or both of
said parties, to move while the connection is established.
A further object of the invention is to provide a communication method
which will enable a meeting point in which the parties are mutually
connected to move, wherein the parties are able to establish new
connections with the new meeting point.
A further object of the invention is to provide a communication method
which will enable the meeting point to behave as a first connection
receiver to the one party and as a second connection receiver to the
second party, in accordance with the teachings of our aforesaid patent
application having Applicant's reference LM 5518, and to enable the
meeting point to mutually couple the outgoing connections from the parties
concerned to the incoming connections to the meeting point.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a communication method of
the aforesaid kind which can be applied recursively, so that a meeting
node that has been chosen as a meeting point can, in turn, chose a new
meeting node as a new meeting point, which, in turn, can chose a new node
as another new meeting point, and so on, in which the parties are finally
connected to each other.
The features characteristic of the present invention are set forth in the
following claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which
FIG. 1 is a general view illustrating the mutual coaction of a network and
nodes when practicing the inventive communication method;
FIG. 2 is a flow sheet illustrating the method according to FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 illustrates a method in which the meeting point is placed on a
connection between two nodes;
FIG. 4 illustrates a method in which the meeting point is placed on a
connection between several nodes;
FIG. 5 illustrates a method in which the meeting point is placed on an end
node;
FIG. 6A-6C illustrate a method in which one party may be mobile while still
retaining its meeting access point in a node and how a meeting can be
moved and the connection between the parties reestablished;
FIG. 7 is a block schematic illustrating the use of a number of
gate-way-units between two different telecommunication networks;
FIG. 8 is a block schematic which illustrates another embodiment of the
inventive communication method;
FIG. 9 is a block schematic which illustrates a third embodiment of the
inventive communication method; and
FIG. 10 illustrates a method in which the meeting point is placed in
another node between two nodes.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE
FIG. 1 illustrates a first party A who wishes to communicate with a second
party B. The party A is found in a node X and the party B is found in a
node Y. Because the parties A and B can be found in one and the same node,
the node X may be the node Y. The reference MA identifies a functionality,
hereinafter referred to as the meeting organizer or arranger, located in a
node of a schematically illustrated telecommunication network T. Although
not necessary, the nodes X and Y may be separate from the network T. Each
of the nodes X, Y and MA include a respective switch, symbolized by the
mutually crossing lines.
The invention assumes that the following processes (1)-(4) have taken place
before reaching the stage illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 3:
(1) The parties A and B have signalled over a signaling network (not shown
in FIG. 1) and have agreed that they both wish to establish a connection
with each other and that this connection has resulted in a meeting request
or order of the kind described in copending U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 08/018,223.
(2) Party A has called party B while giving B's destination address. Node X
has received the call and has initiated an assignment process in node X in
response to the call. An assignment process is begun each time a call
arrives at node X, the purpose of this assignment process being to
establish a connection with the called party. The assignment process
creates a connection establishing individual, also referred to below as a
connection establishing instance, which is specific to the individual
call. Expressed more simply, it can be said that the individual assignment
process is given an individual name, an individual reference, which is
used when other assignment processes in other nodes wish to refer to this
individual connection establishing individual. Thus, in this particular
case, the assignment process has created a connection establishing
individual which has a name or a reference hereinafter called PA
(assignment process concerning party A). In addition to referring to the
connection establishing individual, the reference PA also refers to the
node concerned.
(3) As a result of the signalling process, party B has also made a call and
has arrived at his node Y, wherewith an assignment process similar to the
afore-described has created a further connection establishing individual,
hereinafter referred to as PB (assignment process concerning party B).
(4) Party A and party B shall establish the connection in the form of a
meeting and still another assignment process has been signalled via a
signalling network (not shown) to a node called a meeting arranger or
organizer MA, which organizes a meeting. The meeting organizer is
described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/018,223. More
specifically, the meeting shall take place between party A and party B.
The assignment process PA handles the connection with A in the node X and
the assignment process PB handles the connection with B in the node Y. The
references PA and PB have been signalled to the meeting organizer MA.
According to a first embodiment of the invention, there is now established
a connection between A and B in the following manner: ((5)-(8), this
description being made generally and without reference to any Figure).
(5) When the meeting organizer MA receives the connection order or request,
the meeting organizer begins an assignment process whose purpose is (a) to
allot to the node X and the node Y a respective interaction reference both
of which address a common node, (b) to command node X to call the
interaction reference X allotted thereto and to command node Y to call the
interaction reference allotted thereto, and (c) to couple together the
parties connections in the common node, subsequent to each of said parties
having established a respective connection with said common node. The
meeting organizer may select the common node on the basis of different
criteria described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/018,223. Each
assignment process commenced in MA creates a unique meeting individual
which is given a name or a reference that points to the individual meeting
to which the meeting request or order refers. For the sake of simplicity,
the reference to the meeting request or order concerning A and B is
abbreviated to MI (meeting individual). This reference could equally as
well be MIAB (meeting individual concerning the meeting between the
mutually coacting assignment processes PA and PB, which correspond to the
meeting between A and B).
(6) When the meeting organizer has created the meeting individual MI and
has chosen the common node, called the meeting node, in which the parties
shall be mutually connected, the assignment process in the meeting
organizer signals the meeting node, over a signal network (not shown), to
reserve two interaction references for the meeting concerned. Interaction
references are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/018,268.
Expressed more simply, an interaction reference can be said to be a
reference which addresses a specified node, for instance in the network T
or in some other telecommunication network, informing the node that the
parties wish to communicate with one another in the last-mentioned
network. The assignment process in the meeting organizer MA requests the
meeting node to signal the reserved interaction references back to the
meeting organizer MA, so that the meeting organizer is able to signal one
interaction reference to node X and the other interaction reference to
node Y.
(7) The assignment process in node X then calls the meeting node and uses
the first interaction reference as the destination address, and connects
internally party A with the connection to the meeting node established
from the node X. The assignment process in node Y calls the meeting node
and uses the second interaction reference as the destination address, and
connects internally party B in node Y with the connection in the meeting
node established from the node Y.
(8) An assignment process is started in the meeting node upon receipt of
the request for a reserved interaction reference. When the connections
arrive at the meeting node, these connections referring respectively to
the first and the second interaction references, the assignment process
mutually couples the latter connections in the meeting node, thereby
connecting the parties A and B so that they can converse with one another.
The aforedescribed first embodiment of the process of establishing a
meeting connection will now be described in detail. The process is
described initially with reference to FIG. 1 which illustrates a
particular case, namely the case when the common node, the meeting node,
is placed in the meeting organizer and not in any other node in the
network T.
The assignment process in the meeting organizer creates MI and relates MI
to PA and PB. The meeting organizer then reserves two interaction
references IA(MX and IA(MY), which are chosen from the reference series of
MA and which are so configured that remaining nodes in the network T will
"believe" that the references shall be routed to the node MA of the
meeting organizer. The reference IA(MX) shall be interpreted as meaning
that the interaction reference relates to a meeting individual generated
by an assignment process that cooperates with an assignment process in
node X, whereas the reference IA(MY) shall be interpreted as meaning that
the interaction reference relates to a meeting individual generated by an
assignment process which cooperates with an assignment process in node Y.
The assignment process in the meeting organizer then signals IA(MX) to the
node X over a signalling network, as illustrated schematically by the
broken arrow 2. Upon receipt of IA(MX), the assignment process PA makes a
call using IA(MX) as the destination address, therewith establishing a
connection from X to MA, as illustrated schematically by the full arrow 3.
The assignment process in the meeting organizer signals IA(MY) to the node
Y over a signalling network shown schematically by the broken arrow 4.
Subsequent to receipt of IA(MY), the assignment process makes a call using
IA(MY) as the destination address, thereby establishing a connection from
Y to MA, as shown schematically by the full arrow 5.
The assignment process MI in the meeting organizer MA monitors the activity
on the incoming ports of the meeting organizer and discovers an incoming
call which refers to IA(MX). The assignment process in the meeting
organizer then initiates a reference analysis. The result of this analysis
shows that the incoming call refers to IA(MX) which, in turn, is related
to a meeting individual which, in turn, has a relationship with IA(MY).
The meeting organizer now awaits an incoming call which refers to IA(MY)
and when this call arrives, the assignment process in the meeting
organizer couples the connection from A to the connection from B and the
parties A and B are now mutually | | |
