Patent Application
20100246449
In Internet protocol (IP) conference calling, multiple parties on a call can have one or more additional parties join the call. In order to add additional parties, an existing call session between the current parties is terminated and a new call session is initiated in which the current and additional parties are added. In order to establish the new session, properties of the new session are negotiated for all participants. Some participating session clients can be running different software versions or otherwise operating with different connectivity attributes. These various connectivity attributes are negotiated in order to establish a session that provides optimal support for all parties.
In IP telephony, a new, incoming session replaces an existing session by adding a “replaces” header in the incoming session INVITE, received by all participants. An INVITE with the “replaces” header is called an “INVITE-with-replaces” message and identifies the existing session that is being replaced. The new, incoming session is called the “replacing session” and the existing session is called the “replaced session.”
In establishing a new session, it can take several seconds for the negotiation to be completed and the new session to be established. This is inefficient and can result in awkwardness for the session participants. However, in certain instances, the properties of the new session can be similar to the properties of the old session, particularly if the participants are in the same enterprise and operating the same software versions and other connectivity properties. For example, properties such as the version of interactive connectivity establishment (ICE) or the type of connectivity (relay or direct) used by the participants do not change between the new session and the old established session.
Significant delays can be encountered when negotiating a new session for adding participants to a video teleconference. In escalating to video teleconferencing, particularly in certain proprietary applications, the escalation process is quite involved and includes many steps. As a result, the call setup time can be perceived as too long by the participants, resulting in further awkwardness and inefficiency.
The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some novel embodiments described herein. This summary is not an extensive overview, and it is not intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope thereof. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
To that end, architecture is disclosed for replacing an existing session with a new session by including hints of the attributes used in the existing session to be reused in the new session. By reusing the attributes of a current session to create a new session, the new session does not have to re-establish or re-negotiate these attributes. Reusing the attributes of the current session significantly decreases the amount of time needed to configure a call setup time, decreasing the delay associated with adding new participants, and thereby improving efficiency and user experience.
For example, if participants in a call are using a specific version of ICE or a particular type of connectivity, reusing the associated session attributes from the previous session reduces the time spent negotiating and establishing the new session. The call participants can then add new callers without an awkward delay, thereby improving performance and providing a reassuring perception of system operation to the call participants.
In particular, when a new person joins the conference, a header is sent including an “INVITE-with-replaces” message having information about the session scenario and the attributes that can be reused by the target session. For example, the ICE properties negotiated between a remote party and a specific proprietary phone device can be reused when migrating the call to another system having similar network characteristics.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative of the various ways in which the principles disclosed herein can be practiced and all aspects and equivalents thereof are intended to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Other advantages and novel features will become apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the drawings.
The disclosed architecture provides session management enabling the reusing of session attributes of a current session in creating a new session, for adding new participants to a call session. A telephony component manages IP-based call sessions. The telephony component can be an IP telephone or a personal computing device running an IP telephony application, for example. A header component includes attributes of an existing IP call session with multiple parties. The header component can be sent in an INVITE message when establishing the new IP call session, for example. An attribute selection component selects attributes of the existing IP call session to be reused with the new IP call session with the multiple parties and a different party or parties. A session replacement component replaces the existing IP call session with the new IP call session, including the attributes reused from the previous session.
The header component can employ a grammar that specifies a hint via a comma-separated string. The hint can indicate attributes of the existing IP call session that can be optionally reused in the new IP call session. The system can selectively use the hint in selecting new attributes, or can optionally disregard the hint and create a new session using renegotiated session attributes. The attributes can include ICE (interactive connectivity establishment) properties, or types of connectivity, including relay connectivity or direct connectivity, for example. The session management system can be used for any type of IP call session, but has particular applicability to video teleconferencing sessions, for example, in which renegotiation delays can present a significant delay.
Reference is now made to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding thereof. It may be evident, however, that the novel embodiments can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate a description thereof. The intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the claimed subject matter.
Reusing the hinted attributes 110 can enable rapid replacement of the existing session 104 with the new session 106. However, the system 100 can also determine whether the new attributes 110 provide adequate performance for all session participants upon adding a new session participant. Thus, the system 100 can reuse certain attributes from the existing session 104 but negotiate for additional attributes to establish a desired connection, for adding participants running legacy clients or non-compatible clients, for example. In such instances, the interval for establishing the new session can be reduced since some attributes are being reused. Alternatively, it can be determined that no attributes can be reused, if the new session participant shares no attributes from the existing session 104, for example. In such instances, the system 100 can optionally select to not reuse any of the attributes 110 of the existing session 104 and completely renegotiate the new session 106.
In one implementation, the header component 108 can be used in an IP telephony system in which hints about session attributes can be reused to improve performance of call setup. The header component 108 can facilitate session replacement via a SIP (session initiation protocol) message. In initiating the new session 106, the header component 108 is employed as a SIP “INVITE-with-replaces” message and includes values that identify attributes that can be reused. The header component 108 can be called “ms-replace-hint,” for example, and has a grammar including comma-separated string values 200 where each token specifies a hint corresponding to one of the attributes 110 of the existing session 104. The header component 108 can include possible values of ICE, in which the established ICE properties can be reused and thus need not be re-established in the new session 106.
By reusing the attributes 110, the new session 104 does not have to reestablish or renegotiate attributes such as ICE version or connectivity type, and thus, greatly decreases call setup time under those circumstances. Further to an aforementioned example, if the ICE version is presented as a string value in the header component 108, this string value enables a recipient of the SIP “INVITE-with-replaces” message to identify the ICE version and connectivity type used in the established session. The recipient of the “INVITE-with-replaces” message can use these attribute values as a hint for establishing the new session 106 and thereby decrease call setup time.
As illustrated in
In the existing and new IP call sessions (608 and 614), a SIP “INVITE-with-replaces” message can be used and includes a hint portion, as described in a previous embodiment hereinabove. The SIP “INVITE-with-replaces” message includes sufficient information about the existing IP call session 608 so that the attributes 606 can be reused by the target in the new IP call session 614. For example, ICE properties that can be negotiated between a remote party and a specific IP phone component can be reused when migrating the call to include a similar application since the entities have similar network characteristics.
Included herein is a set of flow charts representative of exemplary methodologies for performing novel aspects of the disclosed architecture. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the one or more methodologies shown herein, for example, in the form of a flow chart or flow diagram, are shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance therewith, occur in a different order and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that a methodology could alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all acts illustrated in a methodology may be required for a novel implementation.
As used in this application, the terms “component” and “system” are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, a hard disk drive, multiple storage drives (of optical, solid state, and/or magnetic storage medium), an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a server and the server can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread of execution, and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. The word “exemplary” may be used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs.
Referring now to
The computing system 1000 for implementing various aspects includes the computer 1002 having processing unit(s) 1004, a system memory 1006, and a system bus 1008. The processing unit(s) 1004 can be any of various commercially available processors such as single-processor, multi-processor, single-core units and multi-core units. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the novel methods can be practiced with other computer system configurations, including minicomputers, mainframe computers, as well as personal computers (e.g., desktop, laptop, etc.), hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, and the like, each of which can be operatively coupled to one or more associated devices.
The system memory 1006 can include volatile (VOL) memory 1010 (e.g., random access memory (RAM)) and non-volatile memory (NON-VOL) 1012 (e.g., ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, etc.). A basic input/output system (BIOS) can be stored in the non-volatile memory 1012, and includes the basic routines that facilitate the communication of data and signals between components within the computer 1002, such as during startup. The volatile memory 1010 can also include a high-speed RAM such as static RAM for caching data.
The system bus 1008 provides an interface for system components including, but not limited to, the memory subsystem 1006 to the processing unit(s) 1004. The system bus 1008 can be any of several types of bus structure that can further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memory controller), and a peripheral bus (e.g., PCI, PCIe, AGP, LPC, etc.), using any of a variety of commercially available bus architectures.
The computer 1002 further includes storage subsystem(s) 1014 and storage interface(s) 1016 for interfacing the storage subsystem(s) 1014 to the system bus 1008 and other desired computer components. The storage subsystem(s) 1014 can include one or more of a hard disk drive (HDD), a magnetic floppy disk drive (FDD), and/or optical disk storage drive (e.g., a CD-ROM drive DVD drive), for example. The storage interface(s) 1016 can include interface technologies such as EIDE, ATA, SATA, and IEEE 1394, for example.
One or more programs and data can be stored in the memory subsystem 1006, a removable memory subsystem 1018 (e.g., flash drive form factor technology), and/or the storage subsystem(s) 1014 (e.g., optical, magnetic, solid state), including an operating system 1020, one or more application programs 1022, other program modules 1024, and program data 1026.
Generally, programs include routines, methods, data structures, other software components, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. All or portions of the operating system 1020, applications 1022, modules 1024, and/or data 1026 can also be cached in memory such as the volatile memory 1010, for example. It is to be appreciated that the disclosed architecture can be implemented with various commercially available operating systems or combinations of operating systems (e.g., as virtual machines).
The aforementioned application programs 1022, program modules 1024, and program data 1026 can include the computer-implemented session management system 100, the session replacement component 102, the existing session 104, the new session 106, the header component 108, and the attributes 110 of
The aforementioned application programs 1022, program modules 1024, and program data 1026 can further include the interactive connectivity establishment properties 500, the types of connectivity 502, the relay connectivity 504, the direct connectivity 506, and the other attributes 508 of
The storage subsystem(s) 1014 and memory subsystems (1006 and 1018) serve as computer readable media for volatile and non-volatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executable instructions, and so forth. Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by the computer 1002 and includes volatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media. For the computer 1002, the media accommodate the storage of data in any suitable digital format. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of computer readable media can be employed such as zip drives, magnetic tape, flash memory cards, cartridges, and the like, for storing computer executable instructions for performing the novel methods of the disclosed architecture.
A user can interact with the computer 1002, programs, and data using external user input devices 1028 such as a keyboard and a mouse. Other external user input devices 1028 can include a microphone, an IR (infrared) remote control, a joystick, a game pad, camera recognition systems, a stylus pen, touch screen, gesture systems (e.g., eye movement, head movement, etc.), and/or the like. The user can interact with the computer 1002, programs, and data using onboard user input devices 1030 such a touchpad, microphone, keyboard, etc., where the computer 1002 is a portable computer, for example. These and other input devices are connected to the processing unit(s) 1004 through input/output (I/O) device interface(s) 1032 via the system bus 1008, but can be connected by other interfaces such as a parallel port, IEEE 1394 serial port, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, etc. The I/O device interface(s) 1032 also facilitate the use of output peripherals 1034 such as printers, audio devices, camera devices, and so on, such as a sound card and/or onboard audio processing capability.
One or more graphics interface(s) 1036 (also commonly referred to as a graphics processing unit (GPU)) provide graphics and video signals between the computer 1002 and external display(s) 1038 (e.g., LCD, plasma) and/or onboard displays 1040 (e.g., for portable computer). The graphics interface(s) 1036 can also be manufactured as part of the computer system board.
The computer 1002 can operate in a networked environment (e.g., IP) using logical connections via a wired/wireless communications subsystem 1042 to one or more networks and/or other computers. The other computers can include workstations, servers, routers, personal computers, microprocessor-based entertainment appliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typically include many or all of the elements described relative to the computer 1002. The logical connections can include wired/wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), hotspot, and so on. LAN and WAN networking environments are commonplace in offices and companies and facilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all of which may connect to a global communications network such as the Internet.
When used in a networking environment the computer 1002 connects to the network via a wired/wireless communication subsystem 1042 (e.g., a network interface adapter, onboard transceiver subsystem, etc.) to communicate with wired/wireless networks, wired/wireless printers, wired/wireless input devices 1044, and so on. The computer 1002 can include a modem or has other means for establishing communications over the network. In a networked environment, programs and data relative to the computer 1002 can be stored in the remote memory/storage device, as is associated with a distributed system. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers can be used.
The computer 1002 is operable to communicate with wired/wireless devices or entities using the radio technologies such as the IEEE 802.xx family of standards, such as wireless devices operatively disposed in wireless communication (e.g., IEEE 802.11 over-the-air modulation techniques) with, for example, a printer, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), communications satellite, any piece of equipment or location associated with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk, news stand, restroom), and telephone. This includes at least Wi-Fi (or Wireless Fidelity) for hotspots, WiMax, and Bluetooth™ wireless technologies. Thus, the communications can be a predefined structure as with a conventional network or simply an ad hoc communication between at least two devices. Wi-Fi networks use radio technologies called IEEE 802.11x (a, b, g, etc.) to provide secure, reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can be used to connect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wire networks (which use IEEE 802.3-related media and functions).
The illustrated aspects can also be practiced in distributed computing environments where certain tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules can be located in local and/or remote storage and/or memory system.
Referring now to
The environment 1100 also includes one or more server(s) 1104. The server(s) 1104 can also be hardware and/or software (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). The servers 1104 can house threads to perform transformations by employing the architecture, for example. One possible communication between a client 1102 and a server 1104 can be in the form of a data packet adapted to be transmitted between two or more computer processes. The data packet may include a cookie and/or associated contextual information, for example. The environment 1100 includes a communication framework 1106 (e.g., a global communication network such as the Internet) that can be employed to facilitate communications between the client(s) 1102 and the server(s) 1104.
Communications can be facilitated via a wire (including optical fiber) and/or wireless technology. The client(s) 1102 are operatively connected to one or more client data store(s) 1108 that can be employed to store information local to the client(s) 1102 (e.g., cookie(s) and/or associated contextual information). Similarly, the server(s) 1104 are operatively connected to one or more server data store(s) 1110 that can be employed to store information local to the servers 1104.
What has been described above includes examples of the disclosed architecture. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components and/or methodologies, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations are possible. Accordingly, the novel architecture is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.
