摘要:
A technique is disclosed that attempts to improve the evaluation of a network path's signal quality, as well as the selection of a network path for transmission purposes, without some of the costs and disadvantages of doing so in the prior art. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment, a node with access to the packet network, such as a VoIP telephone endpoint, evaluates the quality of service that is associated with each of multiple network paths. The evaluation process is iterative, in which the number of candidate paths is successively reduced from one iteration of the technique to the next. The multiple paths that remain as candidates in any given iteration are evaluated concurrently and at an evaluation bit rate that i) is less than the full transmission rate of the real-time traffic (VoIP) packets to be sent and ii) varies as a function of the number of candidate paths remaining under consideration.
摘要:
A method and apparatus are disclosed for redirecting traffic associated with an application so that the traffic advantageously traverses (or “hairpins”) through an application-layer gateway. Because the present invention advantageously redirects traffic without any participation by routers, no changes to or replacement of routers in a network is required. The illustrative embodiment is disclosed in the context of Internet telephony, but is also applicable to other kinds of applications and types of communication (e.g., Internet Protocol Television [IPTV], instant messaging [IM], videoconferencing, etc.)
摘要:
A method that seeks to provide a satisfactory quality of service for a stream of packets through a network. The illustrative embodiment of the present invention seeks to provide a satisfactory quality of service for a stream of packets by periodically or sporadically evaluating one or more alternative paths through the network and by sending the packets through a path with an acceptable quality of service. Normally, neither the source node nor any other node in a packet's path controls its route after it has left the node. In contrast, the illustrative embodiment of the present invention has the capability to affect the packet's path through the network by sending the packet to an intermediate or “ricochet” node in the network, which forwards the packet to the destination node. In effect, the source node can, if it deems appropriate, ricochet the packet off of the intermediate node rather than allowing the packet to take its normal direct path through the network.
摘要:
A method and apparatus are disclosed for estimating the location of a wireless terminal across multiple building floors. The illustrative embodiment determines the floor where the wireless terminal is presently located by using a majority logic-based heuristic. A plurality of signal monitors measure signals from the wireless terminal and provide those signal strength measurements to a location estimation server. Alternatively, the wireless terminal measures signals that are transmitted by a plurality of transmitting signal devices and provides those signal strength measurements to a location estimation server. The location estimation server determines the floor of the wireless terminal in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
摘要:
A method and apparatus are disclosed that enable a data-processing system, such as a server, to determine whether or not to grant a telecommunications terminal one or more privileges, without some of the disadvantages of the prior art. Specifically, in accordance with the illustrative embodiments of the present invention, a call-processing server transmits, to a first terminal, a first signal for verifying a second terminal, such as one that has been designated by a user. The user is then required to transmit a second signal to the call-processing server via the second terminal. The call-processing server then examines the received second signal with respect to the first signal and determines whether or not to grant the second terminal a privilege (e.g., handling calls on behalf of the user, etc.), based on the relationship between the first and second signals.
摘要:
A technique is disclosed for detecting hidden wireless routers that constitute security threats in telecommunications networks that comprise a wireless network portion and a wireline network portion. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the invention, a test station is used in the wireless portion of a network to detect the presence of a hidden wireless router. Furthermore, in some embodiments, a test server is used in the wireline portion of the network in order to detect packets that are illegitimately routed from the wireless portion to the wireline portion of the network through the hidden wireless router.
摘要:
A technique is disclosed for detecting hidden wireless routers that constitute security threats in telecommunications networks that comprise a wireless network portion and a wireline network portion. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the invention, a test station is used in the wireless portion of a network to detect the presence of a hidden wireless router. Furthermore, in some embodiments, a test server is used in the wireline portion of the network in order to detect packets that are illegitimately routed from the wireless portion to the wireline portion of the network through the hidden wireless router.
摘要:
An apparatus and method are disclosed that enable a terminal such as a computer-based softphone to retrieve and handle, transparently for its user, the voicemail that has been left by calling parties who called the user's cell-phone number. Furthermore, the softphone is able to integrate the presentation to its user of the voicemail associated with the cell phone with the voicemail that has been left by calling parties who called the softphone itself. The softphone features both i) a personal area network interface that is used to communicate directly with the cell phone and ii) a local area network interface that is used to retrieve the cell-phone voicemail from a voicemail system. Once the softphone is paired with the cell phone, the softphone is able to retrieve signals directly from the cell phone and, based on those signals, retrieves the voicemail from the cell phone's voicemail system.
摘要:
A system is disclosed that enables the estimation of the location of a wireless terminal in a wireless network. The illustrative embodiment works without requiring modifications to be made to the wireless terminal. Furthermore, the hardware of some embodiments of the present invention can be inexpensively deployed indoors. Some embodiments of the present invention are, therefore, ideally suited for use with legacy indoor systems. The system of the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, in some embodiments, uses an offline process and an online process for location estimation. The described system, however, can be used with other techniques for location estimation.