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Claims  |
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We claim:
1. A personal communication internetwork for sending and receiving wireless
and wireline messages, said internetwork comprising
(1) a server, including:
(a) a message transfer agent interfaced with at least one wireline data
network;
(b) a wireless data network protocol handler connected to the message
transfer agent and interfacing with at least one wireless data network;
(c) a mobility controller, including
i. a subscriber profile cache;
ii. a message router responsive to message routing parameters in the
subscriber profile;
iii. an interface connected to exchange message routing parameters between
the subscriber profile and the at least one wireless network;
iv. an interface connected to exchange message routing parameters between
the subscriber profile and a personal communication control point; and
v. an interface with at least one of a telephone network, an alphanumeric
pager network, and a voice peripheral; and
a personal communication control point connected to the server, including:
(a) a first interface connected to exchange message routing parameter
signals with the server;
(b) a second interface connected to exchange generic data message routing
parameter signals with the server;
(c) a subscriber profile connected to receive and maintain message routing
parameters; and
(d) a call processor connected between the subscriber profile and the first
and second interfaces.
2. The personal communication internetwork of claim 1, wherein the
internetworking is built on an Advanced Intelligent Network architecture,
the server is an Intelligent Peripheral, and the control point is a
Service Control Point.
3. The personal communication internetwork of claim 1, further including a
personal digital assistant having a wireless data network interface
connected to exchange message routing parameters and an application
designed to communicate with the interface to receive, update, and
transmit the message routing parameters.
4. The personal communication internetwork of claim 1, wherein the server
further comprises:
a message converter connected to receive from an interface a message in a
first format and output to another interface the message in a second
format.
5. A method for providing personal communication services to a called
subscriber who can receive any of an electronic mail, facsimile, and a
voice mail message under a single address regardless of the format of the
message from a calling subscriber who can send messages in more than one
format and on either a wireless or a wireline network, said method
comprising the steps of:
storing in a service provider database common to a plurality of subscribers
and connected to both the wireless and wireline networks and responsive to
inputs from the subscribers a called subscriber profile for each of said
subscribers, said profile containing message routing commands for each
called subscriber depending on the format of the message;
receiving any of an electronic mail, a facsimile, and a voice mail message
addressed to a particular called subscriber at said particular called
subscriber's single address from a calling subscriber on either of the
wireless and wireline networks;
determining from the stored called subscriber profile the message routing
commands for routing the received message to the particular called
subscriber dependent on the format of the message;
responsive to a message routing command, converting the received message
from the received format to a different format; and
routing the received message in said different format to any of a wireless
or a wireless network according to the message routing commands in the
called subscriber profile.
6. A personal communication internetwork for sending and receiving wireless
and wireline messages between subscribers in different formats, each
subscriber having a single address to which all incoming messages are
addressed regardless of the format of the message, said incoming messages
including at least a plurality of telephone, pager, facsimile, voice mail,
and electronic text communications, said internetwork including:
means connected to receive and transmit messages in more than one format
from a calling party over wireless and wireline communication networks;
means common to the subscribers and connected to said wireless and wireline
networks for storing for each subscriber a profile responsive to inputs
received from each of the subscribers and configured to store routing
commands including communication forwarding options for said each
subscriber depending on the format of the message from the calling party;
and
a communication router connected to receive the received messages from the
wireless and wireline networks and being responsive to the profile in said
storing means for transmitting the received messages over the wireless and
wireline networks according to the stored forwarding options, said
communication router including a media format translation device
configured to translate a received communication into a different
communication medium for transmission.
7. The personal communications internetwork of claim 6 further including a
server connected to said means for storing a profile for each subscriber,
said server including a processor and said processor including an
interface with at least a plurality of said means for storing a profile, a
wireless data network, an alphanumeric paging network, a telephone network
switch, and a text-to-speech voice peripheral.
8. The personal communications internetwork of claim 6 wherein said
communication router further comprises an audio messaging interface
specification analog protocol connected to at least one of a modem, a
private line, and an integrated signaling digital network basic rate
interface.
9. A method for personal communications comprising the steps of:
storing a subscriber profile containing message routing commands for a
subscriber:
receiving any of an electronic mail, a facsimile, and a voice mail message
addressed to the subscriber from either of a wireless and a wireline
network;
consulting the subscriber file for instructions for routing the received
message; and
routing the received message to any of a wireless or wireline network
according to the instructions in the subscriber profile; and wherein said
step of receiving a voice mail message addressed to the subscriber further
includes the steps of:
receiving from an originating voice mail system an incoming voice mail
message call at a network, said voice mail message call including
identification information;
extracting the identification information from the message to determine the
origin of the voice mail message;
consulting a profile contained in the network to determine routing
instructions, said routing instructions including one of:
(i) routing the incoming call to a preselected telephone number; and
(ii) sending a notification to the subscriber of the incoming call via a
medium other than a telephone call;
routing the received voice mail message according to the routing
instructions in the profile;
said step of consulting further comprising determining if the
identification of the originator indicates that the originator is also the
subscriber;
if the originator is the subscriber, said step of routing further comprises
the steps of:
(i) not forwarding the voice mail message; and
(ii) extracting header information from the identification information and
transmitting a notification to the subscriber containing the header
information; and
if the originator is not the subscriber, said step of routing further
comprises the steps of:
(i) if the message exceeds predetermined length, rejecting the message; and
(ii) if the message is less than or equal to the predetermined length,
accepting and routing the message.
10. The method of claim 9 further comprising before the step of routing,
the step of translating the voice mail message from analog format into a
digital format.
11. The method of claim 9 further comprising before the step of routing,
the step of translating the voice mail message from a digital format into
an analog format. |
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Claims |
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Description |
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to an internetwork for personal
communications and, more particularly, to a network which allows a mobile
communications subscriber to remotely control personal communications
delivery options.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The use of messaging as a means of day-to-day communications continues to
grow and evolve, particularly in a business context. Messaging includes
electronic mail (e-mail), facsimile transmissions (fax), paging, voice
mail, and telephone communications. The introduction of the cellular phone
and other wireless communications facilitated the advent of the "mobile
office". The mobile office allows an employee, for example, to work away
from the office on a portable computer and be in constant touch with the
office via a cellular phone.
The messaging options described above are available to businesses of all
sizes, as well as individual users, from a variety of service providers.
Many offices have some or all of the messaging options described above.
The office may have certain messaging equipment (referred to as "consumer
premises equipment" or "CPE") connected to one or more wireline networks.
That is, the office may have telephones, fax servers, and voice mail
systems connected to phone lines, and computers having modems for e-mail
connected to packet networks which are connected via phone lines. The
mobile employee may have certain wireless messaging equipment, such as a
pager, a cellular telephone, or a personal digital assistant ("PDA"),
which is typically a notebook computer connected to a wireless
communication network.
One important goal of personal communication services is to allow users to
communicate from anywhere to anywhere at any time. Such personal
communication services generally involve multiple service providers
including local and long distance telephone companies and cellular
telephone companies. An example of a personal communication service is as
follows:
A personal communication service provider (e.g., a cellular telephone
company) enables traveling users to rent a wireless portable phone from a
rental phone company (e.g., from an airline or car rental company). Using
the rental phone, the user is provided with basic mobile phone service
from the personal communication service provider. In addition, the user
would like the following features:
1) The user wants calls directed to his/her office or home to be
automatically forwarded to the rental portable phone, without informing
anyone that he/she is traveling.
2) To avoid unimportant incoming calls (and corresponding incoming call
charges), the user would like to restrict the number of people who can
call the rented portable phone.
3) It is important to the user that the rental phone features be activated
instantly, so that calls can be made immediately upon the user's arrival
at the visiting location.
This kind of personal communication service involves a plurality of service
providers. These providers are (a) the local telephone company at the home
location, (b) a long distance telephone company, (c) the local telephone
company at the visiting location, and (d) the personal communication
service provider (i.e., the cellular telephone company) at the visiting
location. All of these are referred to herein as "service providers".
To enable this kind of personal communication service, involving multiple
service providers, interoperability problems among the different service
providers must be resolved. The interoperability problems can be divided
into two categories: (a) location tracking and (b) service management.
The interoperability problem for location tracking has been addressed by
adopting signaling protocols used by the mobile phone industry. Location
tracking functions are implemented using two location registers. One of
the registers, maintained by the local telephone company of the user's
home location, is called the Home Location Register (HLR). The other
register, maintained by the local telephone company of the visiting
location, is called the Visiting Location Register (VLR). The HLR stores
customer profile data and the location of the VLR of the user. The
customer profile data contains important information such as the user's
name, address, preferred long distance carrier, service features (e.g.,
call forwarding and call restriction), billing, and other administrative
related information. When the user travels to a new visiting location, a
new VLR is created in the new location. A part of the profile data stored
in the HLR is transmitted and loaded into the VLR such that the service
provider at the visiting location can implement service features for the
visiting user. When the user travels to a new visiting location the
location of the VLR stored in the HLR is changed to the new VLR location,
and the VLR in the previously visited location is deleted. The process of
creating a new VLR, loading profile data to the VLR, and updating the
visiting location of a user in the HLR is called "automatic roamer
registration".
The interoperability problem for service management is much more complex
than that for location tracking. Service management refers to a collection
of functions required to enable a personal communication service user to
subscribe to, modify, and activate service features anywhere and at any
time. Examples of service management functions include phone number
administration, customer profile data management, service activation, and
security administration. The phone number administration function is
important for maintaining the uniqueness of phone numbers. The customer
profile data management function provides customer profile databases and
user interfaces for creating, modifying, or transferring such databases.
The service activation function extracts part of the data specifying
service features from the profile data and loads this data into physical
communication systems that process calls. The service activation function
also controls the activation and deactivation of the service features. The
security administration function prevents or detects unauthorized uses of
services and service management functions.
Service management functions of this type are needed to provide personal
communication services involving multiple service providers. Such service
management functions generally require interactions between application
software and various databases owned and operated by the different service
providers. Consider an application which enables a nomadic user to
subscribe to a personal communication service from any service provider at
any location. An example of such a service is call forwarding to a
temporarily rented portable phone. The application may, for example, need
to perform the following database access operations at databases
maintained by various different service providers:
check credit databases owned by credit card companies or phone companies to
determine whether the user is able to pay for the service;
check the customer profile database in the user's HLR to determine whether
the user is currently located in a place other than the visiting location
currently stored in the HLR;
check the credit and network databases of long distance phone companies
specified by the user to determine whether the user can use a particular
long distance carrier in the visiting location;
load profile data into the VLR at the visiting location and update the HLR
with the location of the VLR if necessary; and
load the profile data to the call processing systems and activate the
service.
The user may need to send or receive messages from any or all of the
messaging options described above at a visiting location. That is, the
user may want to receive or receive notification of e-mail, faxes, phone
calls, or voice mail at a visiting location or to send e-mail or faxes
from a wireless terminal. The need to integrate these various types of
messaging options and to interconnect the many service providers has,
until now, been largely unaddressed.
It is also desirable for the mobile employee to be able to limit the
messages sent to the wireless messaging equipment, so that only urgent
messages are received when away from the office and unwanted in-coming
calls are avoided. The mobile employee may also wish to route certain
incoming wireless messages and phone calls to other destinations, such as
an office fax machine or a colleague's telephone.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mobile
service subscriber the ability to control and integrate a plurality of
messaging options.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a mobile service
subscriber with the ability to remotely control the addressability,
routing, accessibility, and delivery of messaging options.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an
internetwork which interconnects messaging services with both wireless and
wireline networks.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a subscriber
with real-time control of voice calls while using a wireless data terminal
or PDA.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a control over the
messages routed to wireless messaging options.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These objects are obtained by a personal communications internetwork
providing a network subscriber with the ability to remotely control the
receipt and delivery of wireless and wireline voice and text messages. The
network operates as an interface between various wireless and wireline
networks, and also performs media translation, where necessary. The
subscriber's message receipt and delivery options are maintained in a
database which the subscriber may access by wireless or wireline
communications to update the options programmed in the database. The
subscriber may be provided with CallCommand service which provides
real-time control of voice calls while using a wireless data terminal or
PDA.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other objects and features of the invention will become apparent
from the following drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1-3 are overviews of the PCI networks;
FIG. 4 is an overview of one node of the PCI network according to the
present invention;
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary PCI server according to the
present invention;
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a PCI database
according to the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the logical connections between the PCI server
and PCI database according to the present invention;
FIGS. 8-11 illustrate exemplary message flows between a server and a
database according to the present invention;
FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a personal digital assistant according to the
present invention;
FIGS. 13-20 illustrate exemplary message flows between a PDA and PCI
server;
FIG. 21 is a block diagram of a text messaging portion of a PCI network;
FIG. 22 is a block diagram of a voice messaging portion of a PCI network;
FIG. 23 is a block diagram of a facsimile messaging portion of a PCI
network;
FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary CallCommand service network;
FIGS. 25-27 illustrate exemplary message flows in the PCI network; and
FIGS. 28-45 illustrate exemplary screens displayed to a PCI subscriber
using a wireless PDA.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
For clarity of presentation, the detailed description is set out in the
following subsections:
I. PCI Overview
The overall network is illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 The network is an interface
between a plurality of wireless and wireline networks, providing a
subscriber with a variety of wireless and wireline message and voice
delivery and receipt options.
II. The PCI Server
The PCI Server is illustrated in FIG. 5. The PCI server is a peripheral
which performs messaging and call redirection functions and interfaces
with the PCI database to update the subscriber profile.
III. The PCI Database
The PCI Database is illustrated in FIG. 6. The PCI database maintains the
subscriber profile, controls CallCommand functions, and handles DTMF-based
subscriber profile updates.
IV. The Server/Database Interface
The Server/Database interface is illustrated in FIGS. 7-11. The PCI
server/PCI database interface provides for the transfer of information
regarding the subscriber profile and the CallCommand services.
V. The PDA/PCI Interface
The PDA/PCI interface is illustrated in FIGS. 12-20. The PDA/PCI interface
provides for the transfer of information between a remote wireless
subscriber and the PCI.
VI. Services
A. E-Mail Messaging
E-Mail messaging in the PCI is illustrated in FIG. 21. The PCI network
provides the subscriber with a variety of e-mail delivery, receipt, and
notification options, including screening and selective destination
delivery of incoming e-mail.
B. Voice Messaging
Voice messaging in the PCI is illustrated in FIG. 22. The PCI provides the
subscriber with a variety of voice mail delivery, receipt, and
notification options, including screening and selective destination
delivery of incoming voice mail.
C. Facsimile Messaging
Facsimile messaging in the PCI is illustrated in FIG. 23. The PCI provides
the subscriber with a variety of facsimile delivery, receipt, and
notification options, including screening and selective destination
delivery of incoming faxes.
D. CallCommand
The CallCommand service is illustrated in FIG. 24. CallCommand service
provides real-time control of voice calls while using a wireless data
terminal or PDA.
VII. Message Flows
Certain message flows for wireless messaging in the PCI are illustrated in
FIGS. 25-27. The three message flows illustrated are sending a message
from one subscriber to another, receiving a message regardless of whether
the subscriber is using a wireless or wireline terminal, and sending a
message to a non-subscriber.
VIII. The PDA Application
The application residing in the PDA is described in FIGS. 28-45, which
illustrate exemplary screens displayed to a PCI subscriber using a
wireless PDA.
IX. Billing
Billing procedures for a PCI network use is briefly described.
X. Conclusion
A glossary of acronyms used in this specification is attached as Appendix
A.
I. PCI Overview
FIG. 1 is a simplified overview of a personal communications
internetworking ("PCI") according to the present invention. A consumer, an
office for example, has various messaging equipment, such as a voice mail
system 20, an e-mail terminal 22, fax machines 24, and telephones 26.
These are all connected to wireline networks 29. For example, the fax 24,
phone 26, and voicemail system 20 may be connected to a Public Switched
Telephone Network (PSTN), part of which belongs to a particular local
phone service company, and part of which belongs to a particular long
distance service provider. The e-mail terminal 22 may be connected to a
data packet network, such as Internet, whose packets are carried over
phone lines.
A mobile communications subscriber (for example an employee who works at
the office described above and travels frequently) has various portable
messaging equipment, such as a PDA 30, a cellular phone 32, and a pager
34. These are connected to wireless networks 39. These wireless messaging
options may be provided by different service providers. That is, the
cellular phone may be connected to a wireless network of a cellular phone
service provider, the pager may be connected to a different wireless
network maintained by a pager service provider, and the PDA may be
connected to a third wireless communications network maintained by yet
another service provider.
A Personal Communications Internetworking network ("PCI") 40 according to
the present invention is connected between the wireless 39 and wireline
networks 29. The PCI 40 permits the mobile communications subscriber to
send and receive messages between disparate networks and messaging systems
and a variety of service providers. The mobile communications subscriber
can receive e-mail, fax, pages, and voice messages under a single phone
number while using either a wireless or wireline network. The subscriber
may also select the media format and serving network used to receive
messages. The subscriber may also select cross-media notification of
incoming messages, (i.e., the subscriber may receive notification from a
pager message that a voice mail message was received).
The subscriber selects the wireline or wireless network and media format to
be used for delivering messages or notification of message receipt. The
PCI 40 will perform a media conversion to allow, for instance, an e-mail
message to be delivered to a fax server. The PCI 40 may also include
accessibility controls which allow the user to screen messages by selected
criteria such as media type (e.g., e-mail, fax, etc.), message length
(e.g., voice mail messages less than three minutes), or sender (e.g., only
messages from the office and a certain client are to be forwarded).
For example, the subscriber may have notification of a voice mail or fax
message receipt directed to a wireless PDA in the form of e-mail messages.
If the subscriber's wireless PDA is not turned on or otherwise not
operating, the notification may be routed to an alternate wireless or
wireline network. Notification to the subscriber that a voice mail message
was received may be, for example, rerouted to the subscriber's pager, and
notification that a fax has been received may be rerouted to the wireline
e-mail.
FIG. 2 is a simplified version of the interconnections between various
messaging systems and a PCI. As shown in FIG. 2, a subscriber provides the
network with message routing and delivery instructions. These instructions
are received by a PCI database 44 and stored in a "subscriber profile" for
that subscriber. This database controls the delivery of outgoing messages
and the routing of incoming messages and message notification. (In FIG. 2,
wireline communications are indicated with solid line connections and
wireless communications are indicated with dashed line connections. The
instructions to the PCI are shown with a solid line, but as will be
explained in greater detail below, the instructions may be sent either by
a wireline or wireless network.)
The PCI database 44 supports access to information authenticating the
subscriber's identity and validating the types of services subscribed to,
the subscriber's message delivery (incoming messages) options and
origination (outgoing messages) options and voice (telephone call and
voice mail) options. For origination, the subscriber may select message
distribution lists with specific media delivery options. The database 44
also supports access to the portions of the subscriber profile that the
subscriber may control.
The subscriber may use a personal telephone number to register at alternate
wireline and wireless terminals while maintaining use of the message
screening and delivery options selected and stored in a subscriber's
profile. This is called "personal mobility". Information about the
location of a wireless or wireline network location to which the
subscriber's terminal is connected automatically registers and deregisters
a subscriber's terminal. This is called "terminal mobility."
FIG. 3 shows the PCI 40. The CPE (voice mail 20, e-mail 22, fax 24, and
phone 26) are connected to wireline networks 29. The mobile subscriber
equipment (PDA 30, cellular phone 32, and pager 34) are connected to
wireless networks 39. Both the wireline and wireless networks 29, 39 are
connected to a PCI 40 at a service provider. The networks 29, 39 are
connected to a local exchange carrier (LEC) 42 for the personal
communications internetworking.
A PCI database 44 is a physical communication system which provides call
processing functions for a collection of central office switches. The PCI
database 44 includes the mobile subscriber's profile, including message
sending, message receiving, and service control options. The PCI database
44 may be a service control point or a network adjunct. The PCI database
may be connected via a service management system (SMS) interface to a
service integrator 46. The service integrator 46 allows the service
provider to update subscriber data and create and modify subscriber
profiles.
The PCI database 44 preferably stores and updates the subscriber profiles.
The profiles contain service related information for mapping services to
subscribers (e.g., screening, routing, terminal selection by subscriber
selected parameters, custom calling features, and the like); subscriber
authentication data (e.g., password and user I.D.); user status
(registered or not registered); generic service profile for non-call
associated service, such as subscriber address or social security number;
specific profile for a non-call service (based on subscriber selected
parameters); wireless data providers identification (e.g., what cellular
phone provider is used); and specific profile for call associated services
(e.g., call forwarding), based on user selected parameters.
FIG. 4 is a more detailed depiction of the one node 43 of the PCI. The PCI
has a plurality of nodes and is preferably built on the Advanced
Intelligent Network (AIN) architecture. Other network architectures may be
used, but for illustrative purposes, the description is directed to an
AIN-based network.
A PCI server 48 is a peripheral which performs messaging and call
redirection functions and interfaces with the PCI database 44 to update
the subscriber profile. The PCI server may be an | | |
