1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for providing a SIP subscriber with to access films, faxes, images and conferences using a media server.
2. Description of the Related Art
The advent of new telecommunication standards, such as Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP), and Open Settlement Protocol (OSP), have allowed the possibility of new services above and beyond voice, such as access to media. In a conventional system, media connections are established and service is provided using a proxy server function known as a “Media Server”, which allows subscribers to access conferences, faxes and movies from a SIP-based telephone or soft phone. However, Media Servers have limited resources, which limits the number of connections that can be handled by any one Media Server. A need arises for a system that provides more connections and greater expandability than conventional systems.
A method and system for SIP access to media and conferences using a media server provides multiple connections to a resource while at the same time releasing the connection from a server, such as a Media Sever, therefore minimizing resources required on this server and providing an increased number of connections. The functionality may be implemented as a subset or feature of a proxy server, or the functionality may be implemented as a self-contained package.
For example, a method for providing media services may comprise receiving a request for media services from an initiating client device at a Media Server, determining, at the Media Server, a type of media resource needed to service the request and selecting a Resource Server based on the determined type of media resource, and establishing, by the Media Server, a media service connection between at least the initiating client device and the selected Resource Server to provide the requested media service, wherein the established media service connection does not include the Media Server. The type of the requested media service may comprise at least one of an audio service, a video service, an audio/video service, an image service, a fax service, and a conference service. The selected Resource Server may comprise at least one of an audio server, a video server, an audio/video server, an image server, a fax server, and a conference server. The Media Server may be implemented as a subset or feature of a proxy server, or the Media Server is implemented as a self-contained package.
As another example, a method for providing conference services may comprise accepting connection, at a Media Server, from a calling client device, establishing, at the Media Server, an inbound leg of a media stream with the calling client device, connecting, from the Media Server, to at least one called client device, establishing, at the Media Server, an outbound leg of the media stream with the at least one called client device, determining, at the Media Server, that at least one called client device has accepted connection to the media stream, completing, at the Media Server, a connection between the calling client device and the at least one called client device, the connection including the inbound leg of the media stream and the outbound leg of the media stream, and waiting, at the Media Server, a predetermined amount of time, then releasing the media stream by establishing a media stream between the calling client device and the at least one called client device that does not include the Media Server. The Media Server may be implemented as a subset or feature of a proxy server, or the Media Server is implemented as a self-contained package. Before establishing the inbound leg of a media stream, the Media Server may authenticate the calling client device.
The details of the present invention, both as to its structure and operation, can best be understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers and designations refer to like elements.
A method and system for SIP access to media and conferences using a media server provides multiple connections to a resource while at the same time releasing the connection from a server, such as a Media Sever, therefore minimizing resources required on this server and providing an increased number of connections.
As an example, such features may be provided in a network system 100 such as that shown in
An exemplary flow diagram of a process 200 of media connection of two or more client devices is shown in
It is to be noted that all media streams contemplated by the present invention may be unidirectional or bidirectional. References to “inbound” or “outbound” legs do not indicate directionality of the media stream, but merely refer to the direction in which requests for connection flow, relative to a Media Server.
An exemplary flow diagram of a process 400 of media connection of a variety of types of media streams, using a number of different types of Resource Servers, is shown in
Resource Servers 106 may provide any type of media resource, such as audio, video, images, faxes, conferences, etc. A Resource Server providing a particular type of media resource may be termed based on the type of resource being provided. For example, a Resource Server may provide conference services, either audio only or audio/video. As additional examples, a Resource Server may provide image or video services, and/or fax transmission/reception services.
An exemplary flow diagram of a process 600 of conference connection of two or more client devices is shown in
It is to be noted that the RTP stream may be communicated using any known technique. An example of such a technique is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0077245.
An exemplary block diagram of a computer system 700, such as a Media Server or a Resource Server, is shown in
Input/output circuitry 704 provides the capability to input data to, or output data from, database/system 700. For example, input/output circuitry may include input devices, such as keyboards, mice, touchpads, trackballs, scanners, etc., output devices, such as video adapters, monitors, printers, etc., and input/output devices, such as, modems, etc. Network adapter 706 interfaces device 700 with network 710. Network 710 includes any communications network that is now in service or which may be developed in the future. Such a network may include one or more public or private communications networks, such as the Internet, wired or wireless telephone networks, wired or wireless data networks, local area networks, etc.
Memory 708 stores program instructions that are executed by, and data that are used and processed by, CPU 702 to perform the functions of system 700. Memory 708 may include electronic memory devices, such as random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, etc., and electro-mechanical memory, such as magnetic disk drives, tape drives, optical disk drives, etc., which may use an integrated drive electronics (IDE) interface, or a variation or enhancement thereof, such as enhanced IDE (EIDE) or ultra direct memory access (UDMA), or a small computer system interface (SCSI) based interface, or a variation or enhancement thereof, such as fast-SCSI, wide-SCSI, fast and wide-SCSI, etc, or a fiber channel-arbitrated loop (FC-AL) interface, or Serial AT Attachment (SATA), or a variation or enhancement thereof.
The contents of memory 708 varies depending upon the function that system 700 is programmed to perform. For example, where system 700 is a Media Server, memory 708 includes Media Server routines 712, such as SIP routines, media stream connection routines, etc. As another example, where system 700 is a Resource Server, memory 708 includes Resource Server routines 718, which may include one or more of Conference Server routines 720, Audio/Video Server routines 722, Image Server routines 724, and/or FAX Server Routines 726. These are merely examples of routines that may be included in a Resource Server, the actual routines included depend upon the functionality to be implemented in the Resource Server. Operating system 728 provides overall system functionality.
As shown in
It is important to note that while the present invention has been described in the context of a fully functioning data processing system, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the processes of the present invention are capable of being distributed in the form of a computer readable medium of instructions and a variety of forms and that the present invention applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing media actually used to carry out the distribution. Examples of computer readable storage media include, floppy disks, hard disk drives, CD-ROMs, DVDROMs, RAM, flash memory, etc.
Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been described, it will be understood by those of skill in the art that there are other embodiments that are equivalent to the described embodiments. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited by the specific illustrated embodiments, but only by the scope of the appended claims.
This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 61/154,492, filed Feb. 23, 2009, the contents of which are incorporated herein in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61154492 | Feb 2009 | US |