Abstract:
A peering authority or settlement clearinghouse (Fig. 2A, 300) can be used to control access, collect session accounting information and provide financial settlement of interconnect or session fees among anonymous Internet Protocol (IP) peers (120, 230) or networks. The addition of peering policy criteria, such as price and quality of service, to peer to peer route discovery mechanisms enable a trusted intermediary, such as the settlement clearinghouse (300), to authorize acceptable interconnection or peeing sessions between anonymous IP peers (120, 230). Any financial settlement transactions which result from the peering sessions may be subsequently executed by the settlement clearinghouse (300).
Abstract:
A clearinghouse server for routing multi-media communications, including telephony calls, between a source device and a destination device via a distributed computer network, such as the global Internet. The clearinghouse server can authorize the completion of a communication from a source device to a destination device and collect usage-related information for the completed communication. In response to an authorization request issued by an enrolled source device, the clearinghouse server can identify one or more available destination devices available to accept a communication from an authorized source device. The clearinghouse server can provide a list of the identified destination devices, typically organized in a rank order, by sending an authorization response to the source device. In turn, the source device can use this list to select a destination device and contact that selected device via the computer network to complete the communication.
Abstract:
The present invention describes how a trusted network routing authority, such as a VoIP inter-exchange carrier or clearinghouse can provide routing and secure access control across multiple network domains with a single routing and admission request. This technology can improve network efficiency and quality of service when an Internet Protocol (IP) communication transaction, such as a Voice over IP (VoIP), must be routed across multiple devices or administrative domains. This technology defines the technique of performing multiple route look-ups at the source of the call path to determine all possible routes across intermediate domains to the final destination. The VoIP inter-exchange carrier or clearinghouse then provides routing and access permission tokens for the entire call path to the call source.