WO2004028110A1 - Proximity detection for media proxies - Google Patents

Proximity detection for media proxies Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2004028110A1
WO2004028110A1 PCT/IB2003/003962 IB0303962W WO2004028110A1 WO 2004028110 A1 WO2004028110 A1 WO 2004028110A1 IB 0303962 W IB0303962 W IB 0303962W WO 2004028110 A1 WO2004028110 A1 WO 2004028110A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
media
client
proxies
proximity
proxy
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/IB2003/003962
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Sanjoy Sen
Sean March
Cedric Aoun
Original Assignee
Nortel Networks Limited
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Nortel Networks Limited filed Critical Nortel Networks Limited
Priority to EP03797454.0A priority Critical patent/EP1543668B1/en
Priority to AU2003260829A priority patent/AU2003260829A1/en
Publication of WO2004028110A1 publication Critical patent/WO2004028110A1/en

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L45/00—Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks
    • H04L45/22—Alternate routing
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L65/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication
    • H04L65/10—Architectures or entities
    • H04L65/102—Gateways
    • H04L65/1023—Media gateways
    • H04L65/1026—Media gateways at the edge
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L65/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication
    • H04L65/10—Architectures or entities
    • H04L65/102—Gateways
    • H04L65/1023—Media gateways
    • H04L65/103—Media gateways in the network
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L65/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication
    • H04L65/10—Architectures or entities
    • H04L65/102—Gateways
    • H04L65/1033—Signalling gateways
    • H04L65/1036—Signalling gateways at the edge
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L65/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication
    • H04L65/10—Architectures or entities
    • H04L65/102—Gateways
    • H04L65/1033—Signalling gateways
    • H04L65/104—Signalling gateways in the network
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L65/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication
    • H04L65/1066—Session management
    • H04L65/1096—Supplementary features, e.g. call forwarding or call holding
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L65/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication
    • H04L65/1066—Session management
    • H04L65/1101—Session protocols
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L65/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication
    • H04L65/1066—Session management
    • H04L65/1101—Session protocols
    • H04L65/1104—Session initiation protocol [SIP]
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
    • H04L67/50—Network services
    • H04L67/51—Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a technique to determine a best path over which a multimedia communication session may be held.
  • Consumers of telecommunications services are faced with many options when it comes to services.
  • One of the more dynamic fields currently is the provision of multimedia services.
  • a consumer will request multimedia services by accessing an application server.
  • the application server will direct the consumer to one of a plurality of media proxies in a round robin fashion.
  • the media proxy may then set up and tear down the call as is well understood and provide other multimedia related services.
  • the round robin approach suffers from some drawbacks.
  • the round robin approach ignores the loads that are currently being experienced on the media proxies; for instance, there is no provision to evaluate loading on the media proxies before making the assignment. As such, a heavily loaded media proxy may still be assigned to provide services to a consumer just because it is next in the round robin cycle.
  • the round robin approach ignores distances between the media proxy and the consumer.
  • the distance may be a function of communication links, physical distance, and similar physical attributes.
  • the round robin approach assigns a media proxy to a consumer irrespective of whether another media proxy might be closer.
  • a proximity server which in a preferred embodiment is a database server, associated with an application determines a round trip time required for a message to go from the database server to each media proxy and back.
  • the application server may receive a request for multimedia services from a client.
  • the application server returns a list of available media proxies to the client for which the database server has the round trip times.
  • the client then sends out a probe query to each media proxy on the list.
  • the media proxies upon receipt of the probe, send a time-stamped message to the database server.
  • the database server determines which media proxy is closest to the client based on the round trip times and the time required for the media proxy to receive the probe query from the client. After the determination, the application server assigns the client to a media proxy and the media services are provided as requested.
  • Figure 1 illustrates a network according to one embodiment of the present invention
  • Figure 2 illustrates, as a flow chart, the methodology of the present invention.
  • Figure 3 illustrates a call flow diagram associated with the exemplary embodiment of Figure 2.
  • a network 10 may be the public internet (shown), a private intranet, or other network through which various elements may interact, such as through any appropriate packet based protocol.
  • a client 12 may be communicatively coupled to the network 10.
  • the client 12 may be a personal computer, a multimedia enabled phone, or other multimedia enabled customer premises equipment.
  • One or more points of presence (POPs) 14, 16 may be associated with one or more service providers.
  • the POPs 14, 16 may have one or more media proxies (MPs) 18A, 18B, and 18C (hereinafter, generically a media proxy 18) associated therewith, as well as a proximity server 20, which in a preferred embodiment is a database server.
  • MPs media proxies
  • the application server 22 may, in an exemplary embodiment, use Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for communicating.
  • SIP Session Initiation Protocol
  • a SIP endpoint is generally capable of running an application, which is generally referred to as a user agent (UA), and is capable of facilitating media sessions using SIP.
  • User agents register their ability to establish sessions with a SIP proxy (the application server 22 in the present invention) by sending "REGISTER" messages to the SIP proxy.
  • the REGISTER message informs the SIP proxy of one or more SIP universal resource locators (URL) that identify the user agent to the SIP network.
  • the REGISTER message also contains information about how to reach specific user agents over the SIP network by providing the Internet Protocol (IP) address and port that the user agent will use for SIP sessions.
  • IP Internet Protocol
  • a "SUBSCRIBE” message may be used to subscribe to an application or service provided by a SIP endpoint. Further, “NOTIFY” messages may be used to provide information between SIP endpoints in response to various actions or messages, including REGISTER and SUBSCRIBE messages.
  • the user agent initiating the session will send an INVITE message to the SIP proxy and specify the targeted user agent in the "TO:" header of the INVITE message.
  • Identification of the user agent takes the form of a SIP URL.
  • the URL is represented by a number or " ⁇ username>@ ⁇ domain>,” such as "janedoe@nortelnetworks.com.”
  • the user name is unique within the name space of the specified domain.
  • the SIP proxy will forward any received INVITE message directly to the targeted user agent.
  • the targeted user agent will respond with a 200 OK message, and a session between the respective user agents will be established as per the message exchange required in the SIP specification.
  • Media capabilities are passed between the two user agents of the respective endpoints as parameters embedded within the session setup messages, such as the INVITE, 200 OK, and acknowledgement (ACK) messages.
  • the media capabilities are typically described using the Session Description Protocol (SDP).
  • the proximity server 20 has a pre-configured list of media proxies 18, and more specifically, a list of addresses and ports on the media proxies 18 that serve the domains served by the application server 22. Further, at least one port on each media proxy 18 is reserved for running the proximity detection method of the present invention.
  • the client 12, the media proxy 18, the proximity server 20, and the application server 22 all may contain data processing devices, such as a microprocessor. Further, the microprocessor may be controlled by software or hardware that performs the functions of the present invention. The software may be stored on any appropriate computer readable medium such as a hard drive, a disc, or other memory device. Note further that it is possible that the proximity server 20 and the application server 22 be collocated or integrated into a single entity, but such is not required. The proximity server is one possible host for the proximity detection algorithm. The algorithm is independent of any platform. [0020] The methodology of the present invention will now be presented with reference to Figures 2 and 3. Figure 2 is a flowchart of the methodology and Figure 3 shows the call flows.
  • Steps in the flow chart begin with the numeral one, such as block 100, while steps in the call flow begin with the numeral two, such as message 200. While particular protocols and messaging examples are provided, they are intended to be exemplary and assist in comprehension of the steps of the present invention. Other messaging protocols could be used as needed or desired.
  • the proximity server 20 periodically estimates a round trip time (RTT) between the proximity server 20 and each of the media proxies 18 under its jurisdiction (block 100). This RTT estimation may be done using an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) ping as is well understood.
  • ICMP Internet Control Message Protocol
  • a client 12 which may be a SIP client, sends a SIP REGISTER message (200) requesting registration with the application server 22 (block 102) as part of a request for multimedia services.
  • the application server 22 sends the pre- configured list of addresses (including port addresses, if appropriate) to the client 12 for media proxies 18 that are available to serve the domain from which the client's request originates (block 104).
  • This list of media proxies 18 can be sent in the body of the 200 OK response to the REGISTER message (202).
  • the client 12 sends a Simple Traversal of UDP Through Network Address Translators (STUN), ICMP ping, or an application layer probe message (204A, 204B, 204C) to all of the media proxies 18 in the list received from the application server 22 (block 106).
  • This message may include the user identification (USER ID) of the client 12.
  • the probe may be sent out essentially simultaneously.
  • Each media proxy 18 upon receiving the probe message, sends a notification message (206A, 206B, 206C) reporting the probe event to the proximity server 20 (block 108).
  • This notification message may contain the user identification of the client 12 that triggered the event, as well as a timestamp (TIME).
  • the media proxy 18 also sends back an acknowledgement (208A, 208B, 208C) to the client 12 (block 110) probe.
  • the acknowledgement informs the client 12 which media proxies 18 are reachable.
  • the media proxy 18 may include in the notification message (206A, 206B, 206C) a timestamp delta representing the time between the receipt of the client probe and the time of sending the notification message to the proximity server 20.
  • the timestamp delta value has a granularity of milliseconds, although finer gradations could be used.
  • the proximity server 20 notes the time of receipt of the notification messages (block 112).
  • the proximity server 20 uses these values and the round trip time (RTT) previously gathered for each of the media proxies 18 to estimate the relative proximities of the client 12 to each of the media proxies 18 (block 114). While there may be several ways to estimate the proximity, an exemplary method to estimate the proximity is as follows. [0025] RTT_A, RTT_B, and RTT_C are the RTTs for the media proxies 18A, 18B, and 18C, respectively. TA, TB, and TC are the recorded times at the proximity server 20 representing the receipt of the notification messages. The relative proximity values may thus be computed as: i.
  • Prox (A, B) (TA-TB) - (RTT_A - RTT_B) ii.
  • Prox (A,C) (TA-TC) - (RTT_A - RTT_C) iii.
  • Prox (B, C) (TB-TC) - (RTT_B - RTT_C) [0026]
  • the following table may be constructed.
  • the relative proximities cannot be properly determined, and the RTTs of the media proxies 18 may be used to represent client 12 proximity. Using the RTTs is a good approximation so long as the proximity server 20 is located close to the client 12. Note that this proximity detection may, in an exemplary embodiment, only be performed once per registration.
  • the proximity server 20 may then evaluate other factors (block 116), which include such relatively static factors as: 1) the number of hops between the media proxy 18 and the client 12 and 2) media proxy 18 capacity. Additional dynamic parameters may include the number of User Data Protocol (UDP) ports available, the processing power available, the bandwidth available, and statistics relating to jitter, delay, and packet loss at each port. These additional factors may be normalized and weighted as needed or desired to effectuate an appropriate analysis of the suitability of assigning a client 12 to a given media proxy 18.
  • UDP User Data Protocol
  • the proximity server 20 then sends a best fit message (210) to the application server 22 (block 118).
  • the best fit message (210) indicates which media proxy 18 is most appropriate for the client 12 to use and is based on the proximity and the additional factors outlined above.
  • the application server 22 then instructs with message 212 the client 12 to use the selected media proxy 18 (block 120).
  • the proximity server 20 could provide the instruction to the client 12.
  • the processing of the proximity calculations could be performed in the application server 22, although such is not preferred.
  • Appropriate authentication or encryption steps may be taken to prevent duplication of the user identification that may be sent in some of the various messages. Likewise, denial of service attacks may be prevented in standard ways, such as monitoring traffic levels.
  • Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the preferred embodiments of the present invention. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein and the claims that follow.

Abstract

A method of detecting proximity between a media proxy and a client uses a proximity probe to query a plurality of media proxies, forcing the media proxies to respond to a proximity server. The proximity server uses an algorithm to determine which media proxy is closest to the client based on the responses. In an alternate embodiment, the same sorts of proximity probes may be used to determine if two media endpoints have a direct connection such that they may bypass a media proxy.

Description

PROXIMITY DETECTION FOR MEDIA PROXIES
Field of the Invention
[0001] The present invention relates to a technique to determine a best path over which a multimedia communication session may be held.
I
Background of the Invention
[0002] Consumers of telecommunications services are faced with many options when it comes to services. One of the more dynamic fields currently is the provision of multimedia services. Typically, a consumer will request multimedia services by accessing an application server. The application server will direct the consumer to one of a plurality of media proxies in a round robin fashion. The media proxy may then set up and tear down the call as is well understood and provide other multimedia related services.
[0003] The round robin approach suffers from some drawbacks. First, the round robin approach ignores the loads that are currently being experienced on the media proxies; for instance, there is no provision to evaluate loading on the media proxies before making the assignment. As such, a heavily loaded media proxy may still be assigned to provide services to a consumer just because it is next in the round robin cycle.
[0004] Second, the round robin approach ignores distances between the media proxy and the consumer. The distance may be a function of communication links, physical distance, and similar physical attributes.
Distance introduces delay into the provision of services, which for multimedia applications can be extremely undesirable. The round robin approach assigns a media proxy to a consumer irrespective of whether another media proxy might be closer.
[0005] Thus, there is a need for a better technique to allocate media proxies to incoming requests.
Summary of the Invention
[0006] The present invention addresses the shortcomings of the round robin approach by determining which media proxy is "closest" to the client and assigning that media proxy to the client. Initially, a proximity server, which in a preferred embodiment is a database server, associated with an application determines a round trip time required for a message to go from the database server to each media proxy and back. Subsequently, the application server may receive a request for multimedia services from a client. The application server returns a list of available media proxies to the client for which the database server has the round trip times. The client then sends out a probe query to each media proxy on the list. The media proxies, upon receipt of the probe, send a time-stamped message to the database server. The database server determines which media proxy is closest to the client based on the round trip times and the time required for the media proxy to receive the probe query from the client. After the determination, the application server assigns the client to a media proxy and the media services are provided as requested. [0007] Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the present invention and realize additional aspects thereof after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments in association with the accompanying drawing figures.
Brief Description of the Drawings
[0008] The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.
[0009] Figure 1 illustrates a network according to one embodiment of the present invention;
[0010] Figure 2 illustrates, as a flow chart, the methodology of the present invention; and
[0011] Figure 3 illustrates a call flow diagram associated with the exemplary embodiment of Figure 2.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments [0012] The embodiments set forth below represent the necessary information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention and illustrate the best mode of practicing the invention. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the invention and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure and the accompanying claims. [0013] Before discussing how the present invention works, an explanation of the network environment is presented so as to help understand the context of the present invention. A network 10 may be the public internet (shown), a private intranet, or other network through which various elements may interact, such as through any appropriate packet based protocol. A client 12 may be communicatively coupled to the network 10. The client 12 may be a personal computer, a multimedia enabled phone, or other multimedia enabled customer premises equipment. One or more points of presence (POPs) 14, 16 may be associated with one or more service providers. The POPs 14, 16 may have one or more media proxies (MPs) 18A, 18B, and 18C (hereinafter, generically a media proxy 18) associated therewith, as well as a proximity server 20, which in a preferred embodiment is a database server. In most installations, it is expected that a single application server 22 may control more than one media proxy 18, and further the application server 22 may control media proxies 18 distributed amongst multiple POPs 14, 16. The application server 22 may, in an exemplary embodiment, use Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for communicating.
[0014] For the sake of providing a more complete explanation, a brief digression into the specifics of SIP is herein provided. A SIP endpoint is generally capable of running an application, which is generally referred to as a user agent (UA), and is capable of facilitating media sessions using SIP. User agents register their ability to establish sessions with a SIP proxy (the application server 22 in the present invention) by sending "REGISTER" messages to the SIP proxy. The REGISTER message informs the SIP proxy of one or more SIP universal resource locators (URL) that identify the user agent to the SIP network. The REGISTER message also contains information about how to reach specific user agents over the SIP network by providing the Internet Protocol (IP) address and port that the user agent will use for SIP sessions.
[0015] A "SUBSCRIBE" message may be used to subscribe to an application or service provided by a SIP endpoint. Further, "NOTIFY" messages may be used to provide information between SIP endpoints in response to various actions or messages, including REGISTER and SUBSCRIBE messages.
[0016] When a user agent wants to establish a session with another user agent, the user agent initiating the session will send an INVITE message to the SIP proxy and specify the targeted user agent in the "TO:" header of the INVITE message. Identification of the user agent takes the form of a SIP URL. In its simplest form, the URL is represented by a number or "<username>@<domain>," such as "janedoe@nortelnetworks.com." Generally, the user name is unique within the name space of the specified domain.
[0017] If the targeted user agent has registered with the SIP proxy, the SIP proxy will forward any received INVITE message directly to the targeted user agent. The targeted user agent will respond with a 200 OK message, and a session between the respective user agents will be established as per the message exchange required in the SIP specification. Media capabilities are passed between the two user agents of the respective endpoints as parameters embedded within the session setup messages, such as the INVITE, 200 OK, and acknowledgement (ACK) messages. The media capabilities are typically described using the Session Description Protocol (SDP). Once respective endpoints are in an active session with each other and have determined each other's capabilities, the specified media content may be exchanged during an appropriate media session. [0018] Returning now to the present invention, the proximity server 20 has a pre-configured list of media proxies 18, and more specifically, a list of addresses and ports on the media proxies 18 that serve the domains served by the application server 22. Further, at least one port on each media proxy 18 is reserved for running the proximity detection method of the present invention.
[0019] Note that, in general, the client 12, the media proxy 18, the proximity server 20, and the application server 22 all may contain data processing devices, such as a microprocessor. Further, the microprocessor may be controlled by software or hardware that performs the functions of the present invention. The software may be stored on any appropriate computer readable medium such as a hard drive, a disc, or other memory device. Note further that it is possible that the proximity server 20 and the application server 22 be collocated or integrated into a single entity, but such is not required. The proximity server is one possible host for the proximity detection algorithm. The algorithm is independent of any platform. [0020] The methodology of the present invention will now be presented with reference to Figures 2 and 3. Figure 2 is a flowchart of the methodology and Figure 3 shows the call flows. Steps in the flow chart begin with the numeral one, such as block 100, while steps in the call flow begin with the numeral two, such as message 200. While particular protocols and messaging examples are provided, they are intended to be exemplary and assist in comprehension of the steps of the present invention. Other messaging protocols could be used as needed or desired. [0021] In an exemplary embodiment, the proximity server 20 periodically estimates a round trip time (RTT) between the proximity server 20 and each of the media proxies 18 under its jurisdiction (block 100). This RTT estimation may be done using an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) ping as is well understood. At some time subsequent to the estimation of the RTT, a client 12, which may be a SIP client, sends a SIP REGISTER message (200) requesting registration with the application server 22 (block 102) as part of a request for multimedia services. The application server 22 sends the pre- configured list of addresses (including port addresses, if appropriate) to the client 12 for media proxies 18 that are available to serve the domain from which the client's request originates (block 104). This list of media proxies 18 can be sent in the body of the 200 OK response to the REGISTER message (202).
[0022] The client 12 sends a Simple Traversal of UDP Through Network Address Translators (STUN), ICMP ping, or an application layer probe message (204A, 204B, 204C) to all of the media proxies 18 in the list received from the application server 22 (block 106). This message may include the user identification (USER ID) of the client 12. The probe may be sent out essentially simultaneously.
[0023] Each media proxy 18, upon receiving the probe message, sends a notification message (206A, 206B, 206C) reporting the probe event to the proximity server 20 (block 108). This notification message may contain the user identification of the client 12 that triggered the event, as well as a timestamp (TIME). The media proxy 18 also sends back an acknowledgement (208A, 208B, 208C) to the client 12 (block 110) probe. The acknowledgement informs the client 12 which media proxies 18 are reachable. Optionally, the media proxy 18 may include in the notification message (206A, 206B, 206C) a timestamp delta representing the time between the receipt of the client probe and the time of sending the notification message to the proximity server 20. In an exemplary embodiment, the timestamp delta value has a granularity of milliseconds, although finer gradations could be used.
[0024] The proximity server 20 notes the time of receipt of the notification messages (block 112). The proximity server 20 then uses these values and the round trip time (RTT) previously gathered for each of the media proxies 18 to estimate the relative proximities of the client 12 to each of the media proxies 18 (block 114). While there may be several ways to estimate the proximity, an exemplary method to estimate the proximity is as follows. [0025] RTT_A, RTT_B, and RTT_C are the RTTs for the media proxies 18A, 18B, and 18C, respectively. TA, TB, and TC are the recorded times at the proximity server 20 representing the receipt of the notification messages. The relative proximity values may thus be computed as: i. Prox (A, B) = (TA-TB) - (RTT_A - RTT_B) ii. Prox (A,C) = (TA-TC) - (RTT_A - RTT_C) iii. Prox (B, C) = (TB-TC) - (RTT_B - RTT_C) [0026] Note that if the timestamp deltas are present, they may be subtracted out of the calculation for greater accuracy. For example, if ΔA and ΔB are present, then Prox (A, B) = (TA-TB) - (RTT_A - RTT_B) - (ΔA - ΔB). Following the rule that if Prox (A, B) < 0 (or negative), then media proxy 18A isv relatively closer to the client 12 than media proxy 18B, the following table may be constructed.
Figure imgf000008_0001
Figure imgf000009_0001
[0027] In the event of the two error cases, the relative proximities cannot be properly determined, and the RTTs of the media proxies 18 may be used to represent client 12 proximity. Using the RTTs is a good approximation so long as the proximity server 20 is located close to the client 12. Note that this proximity detection may, in an exemplary embodiment, only be performed once per registration.
[0028] Armed with the relative proximities, the proximity server 20 may then evaluate other factors (block 116), which include such relatively static factors as: 1) the number of hops between the media proxy 18 and the client 12 and 2) media proxy 18 capacity. Additional dynamic parameters may include the number of User Data Protocol (UDP) ports available, the processing power available, the bandwidth available, and statistics relating to jitter, delay, and packet loss at each port. These additional factors may be normalized and weighted as needed or desired to effectuate an appropriate analysis of the suitability of assigning a client 12 to a given media proxy 18. [0029] The proximity server 20 then sends a best fit message (210) to the application server 22 (block 118). The best fit message (210) indicates which media proxy 18 is most appropriate for the client 12 to use and is based on the proximity and the additional factors outlined above. [0030] The application server 22 then instructs with message 212 the client 12 to use the selected media proxy 18 (block 120). Note that the proximity server 20 could provide the instruction to the client 12. Likewise, the processing of the proximity calculations could be performed in the application server 22, although such is not preferred. [0031] Appropriate authentication or encryption steps may be taken to prevent duplication of the user identification that may be sent in some of the various messages. Likewise, denial of service attacks may be prevented in standard ways, such as monitoring traffic levels. [0032] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the preferred embodiments of the present invention. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein and the claims that follow.

Claims

ClaimsWhat is claimed is:
1. A method of determining proximity between a media proxy and a client comprising: receiving a request from a client for a media session; passing a list of media proxies to the client; receiving responses from the media proxies of the list of media proxies; and calculating a proximity between the client and each of the media proxies on the list of media proxies based at least in part on the responses.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising assigning a media proxy to the client based, at least in part, on the calculating.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining a round trip time (RTT) between a proximity server and each of the media proxies on the list of media proxies.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein calculating a proximity comprises calculating a proximity based at least in part on the RTT.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein calculating a proximity comprises calculating a proximity in a proximity server.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein said receiving and passing comprise receiving and passing in an application server.
7. A method of determining proximity between a media proxy and a client comprising: receiving a list of media proxies at the client; generating a ping probe to each of the media proxies on the list of media proxies such that each of the media proxies responds to a proximity server upon receiving the respective ping probe; and receiving an assignment of a media proxy from the list based, at least in part, on the responses the media proxies sent upon receiving the respective ping probes.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein generating a ping probe includes generating a ping probe with a user identification therein.
9. The method of claim 7 further comprising initiating a media session using the media proxy assigned to the client.
10. A method of determining proximity between a media proxy and a client comprising: receiving a ping probe at the media proxy from the client; generating a response at the media proxy to the ping probe directed to a proximity server including a timestamp corresponding to when the ping probe was received; and being assigned to the client.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein generating a response further comprises including a timestamp delta corresponding to time elapsed from receipt of the ping probe and generation of the response at the media proxy.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein including a timestamp delta comprises including a timestamp delta with millisecond granularity.
13. The method of claim 11 wherein receiving a ping probe from the client comprises receiving a ping probe with a user identification of the client.
14. The method of claim 11 further comprising responding to a round trip time inquiry from a proximity server such that the database may determine a round trip time elapsed for messages sent between the proximity server and the media proxy.
15. An apparatus for determining proximity between a media proxy and a client comprising a data processing device adapted to: receive a request from a client for a media session; pass a list of media proxies to the client; receive responses from the media proxies of the list of media proxies; and calculate a proximity between the client and each of the media proxies on the list of media proxies based at least in part on the responses.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein said data processing device is further adapted to assign a media proxy to the client based, at least in part, on the calculating.
17. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein said data processing device is further adapted to determine a round trip time (RTT) between a proximity server and each of the media proxies on the list of media proxies.
18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said data processing device is further adapted to calculate a proximity based, at least in part, on the RTT.
19. A client seeking media services comprising a processor adapted to: receive a list of media proxies at the client; generate a ping probe to each of the media proxies on the list of media proxies such that each of the media proxies responds to a proximity server upon receiving the respective ping probe; and receive an assignment of a media proxy from the list based, at least in part on the responses the media proxies sent upon receiving the respective ping probes.
20. The client of claim 19 wherein said processor adapted to generate a ping probe generates a ping probe with a user identification therein.
21. The client of claim 19 wherein said processor is further adapted to initiate a media session using the media proxy assigned to the client.
22. A media proxy for providing media services to a client, said media proxy comprising a data processing device adapted to: receive a ping probe from the client; generate a response to the ping probe directed to a proximity server including a timestamp corresponding to when the ping probe was received; and be assigned to the client.
23. The media proxy of claim 22 wherein the data processing device is adapted to include a timestamp delta corresponding to time elapsed from receipt of the ping probe and generation of the response at the media proxy.
24. The media proxy of claim 22 wherein the data processing device is adapted to include a timestamp delta with a msec granularity.
25. The media proxy of claim 22 wherein the data processing device is adapted to receive a ping probe with a user identification of the client.
26. The media proxy of claim 22 wherein the data processing device is further adapted to respond to a round trip time inquiry from a proximity server such that the database may determine a round trip time elapsed for messages sent between the proximity server and the media proxy.
27. A computer readable medium comprising software for determining proximity between a media proxy and a client, said software programmed to: receive a request from a client for a media session; pass a list of media proxies to the client; receive responses from the media proxies of the list of media proxies; and calculate a proximity between the client and each of the media proxies on the list of media proxies based at least in part on the responses.
28. A computer readable medium adapted for use at a client and comprising software programmed to: receive a list of media proxies at the client; generate a ping probe to each of the media proxies on the list of media proxies such that each of the media proxies responds to a proximity server upon receiving the respective ping probe; and receive an assignment of a media proxy from the list based, at least in part on the responses the media proxies sent upon receiving the respective ping probes.
29. A computer readable medium adapted for use at a media proxy comprising for providing media services to a client and programmed to: receive a ping probe from the client; generate a response to the ping probe directed to a proximity server including a timestamp corresponding to when the ping probe was received; and be assigned to the client.
PCT/IB2003/003962 2002-09-17 2003-09-16 Proximity detection for media proxies WO2004028110A1 (en)

Priority Applications (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP03797454.0A EP1543668B1 (en) 2002-09-17 2003-09-16 Proximity detection for media proxies
AU2003260829A AU2003260829A1 (en) 2002-09-17 2003-09-16 Proximity detection for media proxies

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US10/245,476 US8392609B2 (en) 2002-09-17 2002-09-17 Proximity detection for media proxies
US10/245,476 2002-09-17

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2004028110A1 true WO2004028110A1 (en) 2004-04-01

Family

ID=31992132

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/IB2003/003962 WO2004028110A1 (en) 2002-09-17 2003-09-16 Proximity detection for media proxies

Country Status (4)

Country Link
US (3) US8392609B2 (en)
EP (1) EP1543668B1 (en)
AU (1) AU2003260829A1 (en)
WO (1) WO2004028110A1 (en)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US9363281B1 (en) 2014-01-24 2016-06-07 Amazon Technologies, Inc. Detecting covert routing

Families Citing this family (26)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7444428B1 (en) * 2002-08-26 2008-10-28 Netapp, Inc. Method and apparatus for estimating relative network proximity in the presence of a network filter
US7461147B1 (en) * 2002-08-26 2008-12-02 Netapp. Inc. Node selection within a network based on policy
US8392609B2 (en) * 2002-09-17 2013-03-05 Apple Inc. Proximity detection for media proxies
US7277915B2 (en) * 2002-11-11 2007-10-02 Openwave Systems Inc. Application-based protocol and proxy selection by a mobile device in a multi-protocol network environment
US7568041B1 (en) * 2003-09-29 2009-07-28 Nortel Networks Limited Methods and apparatus for selecting a media proxy
US20050155036A1 (en) * 2003-12-19 2005-07-14 Nokia Corporation Application server addressing
US7676599B2 (en) * 2004-01-28 2010-03-09 I2 Telecom Ip Holdings, Inc. System and method of binding a client to a server
US7574595B2 (en) * 2004-06-22 2009-08-11 Interdigital Technology Corporation Transparent session initiated protocol
US8024483B1 (en) 2004-10-01 2011-09-20 F5 Networks, Inc. Selective compression for network connections
US7945656B1 (en) * 2004-10-18 2011-05-17 Cisco Technology, Inc. Method for determining round trip times for devices with ICMP echo disable
US7702094B2 (en) * 2004-11-30 2010-04-20 Aspect Software, Inc. Method of storing information within an ACD
US20060265501A1 (en) * 2005-05-20 2006-11-23 Anchorfree Wireless System and method for enabling wireless internet access in public areas
US7873065B1 (en) 2006-02-01 2011-01-18 F5 Networks, Inc. Selectively enabling network packet concatenation based on metrics
US7907599B2 (en) * 2006-04-10 2011-03-15 Network Equipment Technologies, Inc. Determination of SIP transport to reduce call setup delays
CN101005606B (en) * 2006-12-31 2012-07-04 华为技术有限公司 Method and device for reducing medium playing delay
US9083722B2 (en) * 2007-10-05 2015-07-14 Qualcomm Incorporated Session initiation protocol registration with ping
TWI411276B (en) * 2008-09-26 2013-10-01 Qualcomm Inc Session initiation protocol registration with ping
US8879419B2 (en) * 2009-07-28 2014-11-04 Centurylink Intellectual Property Llc System and method for registering an IP telephone
US20140013001A1 (en) * 2012-07-06 2014-01-09 Microsoft Corporation Parallel probing for efficient proxy selection in networked environments
JP5987181B2 (en) * 2013-02-07 2016-09-07 株式会社日立製作所 Distributed processing system and management method of distributed processing system
US10410244B2 (en) 2013-11-13 2019-09-10 Bi Science (2009) Ltd Behavioral content discovery
US10075385B1 (en) 2014-07-16 2018-09-11 Ivanti, Inc. Systems and methods for discovering and downloading configuration files from peer nodes
US9565531B2 (en) 2015-04-13 2017-02-07 Frensee LLC Augmented beacon and geo-fence systems and methods
US10298281B2 (en) 2015-05-07 2019-05-21 Nxp B. V. Establishing communication with wireless devices using orientation data
US10180845B1 (en) * 2015-11-13 2019-01-15 Ivanti, Inc. System and methods for network booting
US11575655B2 (en) * 2020-10-14 2023-02-07 Webshare Software Company Endpoint bypass in a proxy network

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20020038360A1 (en) * 2000-05-31 2002-03-28 Matthew Andrews System and method for locating a closest server in response to a client domain name request
US20020059622A1 (en) * 2000-07-10 2002-05-16 Grove Adam J. Method for network discovery using name servers

Family Cites Families (253)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4932050A (en) * 1989-06-30 1990-06-05 At&T Bell Laboratories Proximity detection for telecommunications features
JPH03270453A (en) * 1990-03-20 1991-12-02 Fujitsu Ltd Automatic follow-up telephony device
US5243645A (en) * 1990-11-01 1993-09-07 At&T Bell Laboratories Automatic system for forwarding of calls
US5185782A (en) * 1991-02-08 1993-02-09 A&T Bell Laboratories ACD arrangement for automatically returning a call at a time specified by the original caller
US5315636A (en) * 1991-06-28 1994-05-24 Network Access Corporation Personal telecommunications system
US6038443A (en) * 1992-01-29 2000-03-14 Luneau; David J. Calling party announcement apparatus
WO1993018505A1 (en) * 1992-03-02 1993-09-16 The Walt Disney Company Voice transformation system
US5353335A (en) * 1992-08-03 1994-10-04 At&T Bell Laboratories Multilingual prepaid telephone system
EP0586906B1 (en) * 1992-09-09 2000-02-16 Hitachi, Ltd. Mobile communications equipment
US5860064A (en) * 1993-05-13 1999-01-12 Apple Computer, Inc. Method and apparatus for automatic generation of vocal emotion in a synthetic text-to-speech system
CA2129942C (en) * 1993-09-30 1998-08-25 Steven Todd Kaish Telecommunication network with integrated network-wide automatic call distribution
CA2108225C (en) * 1993-10-12 1997-07-22 Rolf G. Meier Charger/detector for cordless telephones
DE69427525T2 (en) 1993-10-15 2002-04-18 At & T Corp TRAINING METHOD FOR A TTS SYSTEM, RESULTING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR OPERATING THE DEVICE
US5555376A (en) * 1993-12-03 1996-09-10 Xerox Corporation Method for granting a user request having locational and contextual attributes consistent with user policies for devices having locational attributes consistent with the user request
US5812865A (en) * 1993-12-03 1998-09-22 Xerox Corporation Specifying and establishing communication data paths between particular media devices in multiple media device computing systems based on context of a user or users
US5347306A (en) * 1993-12-17 1994-09-13 Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc. Animated electronic meeting place
US5541981A (en) * 1993-12-21 1996-07-30 Microlog Corporation Automated announcement system
US6185619B1 (en) * 1996-12-09 2001-02-06 Genuity Inc. Method and apparatus for balancing the process load on network servers according to network and serve based policies
TW271525B (en) * 1994-05-23 1996-03-01 Ericsson Telefon Ab L M
US5666400A (en) * 1994-07-07 1997-09-09 Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. Intelligent recognition
US5533100A (en) * 1994-07-29 1996-07-02 At&T Corp. Communications system call complete arrangement
US5742905A (en) * 1994-09-19 1998-04-21 Bell Communications Research, Inc. Personal communications internetworking
US5652789A (en) * 1994-09-30 1997-07-29 Wildfire Communications, Inc. Network based knowledgeable assistant
US6215858B1 (en) 1994-12-05 2001-04-10 Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. Analog terminal internet access
US5825864A (en) * 1994-12-08 1998-10-20 Scientific And Commercial Systems Corporation Personal automatic registration system with call forwarding
US5550907A (en) * 1994-12-23 1996-08-27 Lucent Technologies Inc. Personal communication using intelligent terminals
US5812972A (en) * 1994-12-30 1998-09-22 Lucent Technologies Inc. Adaptive decision directed speech recognition bias equalization method and apparatus
SE512065C2 (en) * 1995-02-16 2000-01-24 Europolitan Ab Method and apparatus for determining a mobile station in a cellular mobile telephone system
JPH08256216A (en) * 1995-03-16 1996-10-01 Fujitsu Ltd Incoming call transfer system and electronic mail transfer system
US5815554A (en) * 1995-05-24 1998-09-29 Burgess; Ken L. Method and system for indicating operator availability
US6420549B1 (en) 1995-06-06 2002-07-16 Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Oligonucleotide analogs having modified dimers
US5818836A (en) * 1995-08-09 1998-10-06 Duval; Stephen C. Method and apparatus for anonymous voice communication using an online data service
PT956552E (en) * 1995-12-04 2002-10-31 Jared C Bernstein METHOD AND DEVICE FOR COMBINED INFORMATION OF VOICE SIGNS FOR INTERACTION ADAPTABLE TO EDUCATION AND EVALUATION
US5880731A (en) * 1995-12-14 1999-03-09 Microsoft Corporation Use of avatars with automatic gesturing and bounded interaction in on-line chat session
US5960173A (en) * 1995-12-22 1999-09-28 Sun Microsystems, Inc. System and method enabling awareness of others working on similar tasks in a computer work environment
JP3651508B2 (en) * 1996-01-31 2005-05-25 ソニー株式会社 Information processing apparatus and information processing method
US5749073A (en) * 1996-03-15 1998-05-05 Interval Research Corporation System for automatically morphing audio information
US5884262A (en) * 1996-03-28 1999-03-16 Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. Computer network audio access and conversion system
US5771280A (en) * 1996-05-07 1998-06-23 Mci Communication Corporation Method of and apparatus for providing arbitrarily defined hierarchy maps depicting relative geographical information
AU725370C (en) 1996-06-18 2003-01-02 Cranberry Properties, Llc Integrated voice, facsimile and electronic mail messaging system
JPH1065822A (en) * 1996-08-23 1998-03-06 Kokusai Denshin Denwa Co Ltd <Kdd> Service user automatic discrimination device
IL119364A (en) 1996-10-06 2000-11-21 Icq Inc Communications system
US6243398B1 (en) 1996-10-21 2001-06-05 Vocaltec Communications Ltd. System and method for personal multimedia communication over a packet switched network
US5930702A (en) * 1996-10-22 1999-07-27 At&T Corp. Personal mobility communication system
US6031904A (en) * 1996-10-23 2000-02-29 Nortel Networks Corporation Service order mechanism for telephone subscriber
US5884029A (en) * 1996-11-14 1999-03-16 International Business Machines Corporation User interaction with intelligent virtual objects, avatars, which interact with other avatars controlled by different users
US5875427A (en) * 1996-12-04 1999-02-23 Justsystem Corp. Voice-generating/document making apparatus voice-generating/document making method and computer-readable medium for storing therein a program having a computer execute voice-generating/document making sequence
US6282511B1 (en) 1996-12-04 2001-08-28 At&T Voiced interface with hyperlinked information
AU5232298A (en) 1996-12-13 1998-07-03 British Telecommunications Public Limited Company Communications system
US5911129A (en) * 1996-12-13 1999-06-08 Intel Corporation Audio font used for capture and rendering
US5933805A (en) * 1996-12-13 1999-08-03 Intel Corporation Retaining prosody during speech analysis for later playback
US5812126A (en) * 1996-12-31 1998-09-22 Intel Corporation Method and apparatus for masquerading online
US5901359A (en) * 1997-01-03 1999-05-04 U S West, Inc. System and method for a wireline-wireless network interface
US5864848A (en) * 1997-01-31 1999-01-26 Microsoft Corporation Goal-driven information interpretation and extraction system
US5964833A (en) * 1997-02-07 1999-10-12 Datalink Systems Corp. Pager enhanced keyboard and system
US6185292B1 (en) 1997-02-10 2001-02-06 Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. Skill-based real-time call routing in telephony systems
US5890115A (en) * 1997-03-07 1999-03-30 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Speech synthesizer utilizing wavetable synthesis
US6260148B1 (en) 1997-04-04 2001-07-10 Microsoft Corporation Methods and systems for message forwarding and property notifications using electronic subscriptions
US6295348B1 (en) 1997-04-04 2001-09-25 Nortel Networks Limited Method of arbitrating type II/type III CPE's during SCWID
JP3237566B2 (en) 1997-04-11 2001-12-10 日本電気株式会社 Call method, voice transmitting device and voice receiving device
US6078886A (en) 1997-04-14 2000-06-20 At&T Corporation System and method for providing remote automatic speech recognition services via a packet network
US6144644A (en) * 1997-05-21 2000-11-07 Telcordia Technologies, Inc. System and method for implementing call waiting functions over a network
US6125176A (en) * 1997-06-17 2000-09-26 At&T Corporation Method and system for routing calls based on conditions of electronic devices
JP3740281B2 (en) 1997-06-30 2006-02-01 キヤノン株式会社 COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, COMMUNICATION CONTROL DEVICE, ITS CONTROL METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM
US6058415A (en) * 1997-07-24 2000-05-02 Intervoice Limited Partnership System and method for integration of communication systems with computer-based information systems
IL121501A (en) 1997-08-08 2003-04-10 Icq Inc Telephone-status notification system
US6317486B1 (en) 1997-09-02 2001-11-13 Jack Hollins Natural language colloquy system simulating known personality activated by telephone card
CA2304302A1 (en) 1997-10-01 1999-04-08 British Telecommunications Public Limited Company Resource management system
US7088802B2 (en) 1997-11-03 2006-08-08 Light Elliott D Method and apparatus for obtaining telephone status over a network
US8464359B2 (en) 1997-11-03 2013-06-11 Intellectual Ventures Fund 30, Llc System and method for obtaining a status of an authorization device over a network
US6175616B1 (en) 1997-11-03 2001-01-16 Elliott Light Method and apparatus for obtaining telephone status over a network
US6483900B1 (en) 1997-11-03 2002-11-19 Elliott D. Light Method and apparatus for obtaining telephone status over a network
US6141356A (en) * 1997-11-10 2000-10-31 Ameritech Corporation System and method for distributing voice and data information over wireless and wireline networks
US6185565B1 (en) 1997-12-18 2001-02-06 Nortel Networks Corporation System and method for communication session disposition responsive to events in a telecommunications network and the internet
US6512930B2 (en) 1997-12-30 2003-01-28 Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) On-line notification in a mobile communications system
US6366651B1 (en) 1998-01-21 2002-04-02 Avaya Technology Corp. Communication device having capability to convert between voice and text message
US6148328A (en) * 1998-01-29 2000-11-14 International Business Machines Corp. Method and system for signaling presence of users in a networked environment
US6535492B2 (en) 1999-12-01 2003-03-18 Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. Method and apparatus for assigning agent-led chat sessions hosted by a communication center to available agents based on message load and agent skill-set
US6067357A (en) * 1998-03-04 2000-05-23 Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories Inc. Telephony call-center scripting by Petri Net principles and techniques
US6104913A (en) * 1998-03-11 2000-08-15 Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. Personal area network for personal telephone services
US6484196B1 (en) 1998-03-20 2002-11-19 Advanced Web Solutions Internet messaging system and method for use in computer networks
US6260070B1 (en) * 1998-06-30 2001-07-10 Dhaval N. Shah System and method for determining a preferred mirrored service in a network by evaluating a border gateway protocol
US6446121B1 (en) * 1998-05-26 2002-09-03 Cisco Technology, Inc. System and method for measuring round trip times in a network using a TCP packet
US6418198B2 (en) 1998-05-27 2002-07-09 3Com Corporation Apparatus and method for verification of the presence of a remote user
US6173250B1 (en) 1998-06-03 2001-01-09 At&T Corporation Apparatus and method for speech-text-transmit communication over data networks
US6324265B1 (en) 1998-06-22 2001-11-27 Nortel Networks Limited Originator disposition options for communications session termination
US6735701B1 (en) 1998-06-25 2004-05-11 Macarthur Investments, Llc Network policy management and effectiveness system
US6389114B1 (en) 1998-08-06 2002-05-14 At&T Corp. Method and apparatus for relaying communication
US6330322B1 (en) 1998-09-14 2001-12-11 At&T Corp Method and apparatus for updating revertive telephone numbers
US6253230B1 (en) * 1998-09-22 2001-06-26 International Business Machines Corporation Distributed scalable device for selecting a server from a server cluster and a switched path to the selected server
US6314094B1 (en) 1998-10-29 2001-11-06 Central Coast Patent Agency Inc Mobile wireless internet portable radio
US6446076B1 (en) 1998-11-12 2002-09-03 Accenture Llp. Voice interactive web-based agent system responsive to a user location for prioritizing and formatting information
US6385461B1 (en) 1998-11-16 2002-05-07 Ericsson Inc. User group indication and status change in radiocommunications systems
US6134314A (en) * 1998-12-11 2000-10-17 Qwest Communications International Inc. Method and system for dynamically redirecting wireline call delivery
US6377944B1 (en) 1998-12-11 2002-04-23 Avaya Technology Corp. Web response unit including computer network based communication
US6665395B1 (en) 1998-12-11 2003-12-16 Avaya Technology Corp. Automatic call distribution system using computer network-based communication
JP3685938B2 (en) * 1998-12-18 2005-08-24 富士通株式会社 Communication support method and communication support system
US6463471B1 (en) 1998-12-28 2002-10-08 Intel Corporation Method and system for validating and distributing network presence information for peers of interest
US6233465B1 (en) 1998-12-31 2001-05-15 Qwest Communications International Inc. Method and system for central office access to multiple access controllers for wireless extension
US6760775B1 (en) * 1999-03-05 2004-07-06 At&T Corp. System, method and apparatus for network service load and reliability management
US6711137B1 (en) * 1999-03-12 2004-03-23 International Business Machines Corporation System and method for analyzing and tuning a communications network
US6223165B1 (en) 1999-03-22 2001-04-24 Keen.Com, Incorporated Method and apparatus to connect consumer to expert
US6430289B1 (en) 1999-04-13 2002-08-06 Microsoft Corporation System and method for computerized status monitor and use in a telephone network
US6560648B1 (en) * 1999-04-19 2003-05-06 International Business Machines Corporation Method and apparatus for network latency performance measurement
US6564261B1 (en) 1999-05-10 2003-05-13 Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) Distributed system to intelligently establish sessions between anonymous users over various networks
US6633636B1 (en) 1999-05-28 2003-10-14 Sprint Spectrum L.P. Integrated wireless and private branch exchange communication network
US6445912B1 (en) 1999-06-23 2002-09-03 At&T Wireless Services, Inc. System and method for checking service availability
US6356937B1 (en) 1999-07-06 2002-03-12 David Montville Interoperable full-featured web-based and client-side e-mail system
US6618710B1 (en) * 1999-07-07 2003-09-09 International Business Machines Corporation Apparatus and method for intelligent routing of electronic messages to pagers and computers
US6301609B1 (en) * 1999-07-07 2001-10-09 Lucent Technologies Inc. Assignable associate priorities for user-definable instant messaging buddy groups
US6640241B1 (en) * 1999-07-19 2003-10-28 Groove Networks, Inc. Method and apparatus for activity-based collaboration by a computer system equipped with a communications manager
US6549937B1 (en) 1999-07-21 2003-04-15 Microsoft Corporation System and method for multi-protocol communication in a computer network
US6519639B1 (en) * 1999-07-21 2003-02-11 Microsoft Corporation System and method for activity monitoring and reporting in a computer network
KR20010021111A (en) 1999-07-23 2001-03-15 스테븐 디.피터스 Messaging and status indication for wireless communication devices
US6430604B1 (en) 1999-08-03 2002-08-06 International Business Machines Corporation Technique for enabling messaging systems to use alternative message delivery mechanisms
US6546096B1 (en) 1999-08-25 2003-04-08 Siemens Information And Communication Networks, Inc. Proximity detector for initiating automatic callback
US6810411B1 (en) * 1999-09-13 2004-10-26 Intel Corporation Method and system for selecting a host in a communications network
US6434599B1 (en) 1999-09-30 2002-08-13 Xoucin, Inc. Method and apparatus for on-line chatting
CA2288573A1 (en) 1999-11-08 2001-05-08 John C. Myers Telephone based access to instant messaging
US20020065894A1 (en) 1999-12-03 2002-05-30 Dalal Siddhartha R. Local presence state and user-controlled presence and message forwarding in unified instant messaging
US20010039585A1 (en) * 1999-12-06 2001-11-08 Leonard Primak System and method for directing a client to a content source
US6807423B1 (en) 1999-12-14 2004-10-19 Nortel Networks Limited Communication and presence spanning multiple access networks
US6449365B1 (en) 1999-12-16 2002-09-10 Worldcom, Inc. Method and apparatus providing notification of network conditions
US6678719B1 (en) * 1999-12-20 2004-01-13 Mediaone Group, Inc. Virtual workplace intercommunication tool
US20020035605A1 (en) * 2000-01-26 2002-03-21 Mcdowell Mark Use of presence and location information concerning wireless subscribers for instant messaging and mobile commerce
US6697840B1 (en) 2000-02-29 2004-02-24 Lucent Technologies Inc. Presence awareness in collaborative systems
US6507643B1 (en) 2000-03-16 2003-01-14 Breveon Incorporated Speech recognition system and method for converting voice mail messages to electronic mail messages
US7162539B2 (en) * 2000-03-16 2007-01-09 Adara Networks, Inc. System and method for discovering information objects and information object repositories in computer networks
US6430395B2 (en) 2000-04-07 2002-08-06 Commil Ltd. Wireless private branch exchange (WPBX) and communicating between mobile units and base stations
EP1148688A1 (en) 2000-04-20 2001-10-24 Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ) Proxy apparatus and method
US6728754B1 (en) 2000-05-09 2004-04-27 Sbc Properties, Lp Method, system, and article for telephone notification of an online status of a user
US7218921B2 (en) 2000-05-12 2007-05-15 Chikka Pte Ltd Method and system for inviting and creating accounts for prospective users of an instant messaging system
GB2365671A (en) 2000-05-17 2002-02-20 Ibm Teleconferencing system and method
ATE350857T1 (en) 2000-05-17 2007-01-15 Ibm SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING THE STAY OR AVAILABILITY OF A TELEPHONE USER AND PUBLISHING THE TELEPHONE NUMBER ON THE INTERNET
JP2001333455A (en) 2000-05-23 2001-11-30 Aisin Aw Co Ltd Mobile body advertisement information distribution method, mobile body advertisement information distribution system, mobile body advertisement information registration system, mobile body advertisement information charging system, mobile communication device and recording medium
US6799209B1 (en) 2000-05-25 2004-09-28 Citrix Systems, Inc. Activity monitor and resource manager in a network environment
US6453294B1 (en) 2000-05-31 2002-09-17 International Business Machines Corporation Dynamic destination-determined multimedia avatars for interactive on-line communications
US6542748B2 (en) 2000-06-10 2003-04-01 Telcontar Method and system for automatically initiating a telecommunications connection based on distance
US20040122810A1 (en) 2000-06-22 2004-06-24 Yaron Mayer System and method for searching, finding and contacting dates on the Internet in instant messaging networks and/or in other methods that enable immediate finding and creating immediate contact
CA2419428A1 (en) 2000-06-22 2001-12-27 Yaron Mayer System and method for searching, finding and contacting dates on the internet in instant messaging networks
US6463142B1 (en) 2000-06-27 2002-10-08 Motorola, Inc. Messaging system with automatic proxy service
US6424935B1 (en) 2000-07-31 2002-07-23 Micron Technology, Inc. Two-way speech recognition and dialect system
US6647269B2 (en) 2000-08-07 2003-11-11 Telcontar Method and system for analyzing advertisements delivered to a mobile unit
US7500243B2 (en) * 2000-08-17 2009-03-03 Sun Microsystems, Inc. Load balancing method and system using multiple load balancing servers
US20020025819A1 (en) 2000-08-24 2002-02-28 Zoran Cetusic Wireless communication techniques
US6920498B1 (en) * 2000-08-31 2005-07-19 Cisco Technology, Inc. Phased learning approach to determining closest content serving sites
US6714519B2 (en) 2000-11-03 2004-03-30 Vocaltec Communications Limited Communications availability
US6822945B2 (en) 2000-11-08 2004-11-23 Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. Method and apparatus for anticipating and planning communication-center resources based on evaluation of events waiting in a communication center master queue
US7299259B2 (en) 2000-11-08 2007-11-20 Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. Method and apparatus for intelligent routing of instant messaging presence protocol (IMPP) events among a group of customer service representatives
US7870196B2 (en) 2000-11-08 2011-01-11 Nokia Corporation System and methods for using an application layer control protocol transporting spatial location information pertaining to devices connected to wired and wireless internet protocol networks
US20020055967A1 (en) 2000-11-08 2002-05-09 Coussement Stefaan Valere Albert System for reporting client status information to communications-center agents
US7136631B1 (en) 2000-11-09 2006-11-14 Nortel Networks Limited Apparatus and method to provide one-click logon service for wireless devices
US6741853B1 (en) 2000-11-09 2004-05-25 Nortel Networks Limited Device aware internet portal
US7242421B2 (en) 2000-11-10 2007-07-10 Perceptive Network Technologies, Inc. Methods of establishing a communications link using perceptual sensing of a user's presence
US7103651B2 (en) * 2000-11-30 2006-09-05 Nortel Networks Limited Method and apparatus for discovering client proximity network sites
US6618704B2 (en) 2000-12-01 2003-09-09 Ibm Corporation System and method of teleconferencing with the deaf or hearing-impaired
US7139816B2 (en) * 2000-12-18 2006-11-21 International Business Machines Corporation Method, apparatus, and program for server based network computer load balancing across multiple boot servers
US7957514B2 (en) 2000-12-18 2011-06-07 Paltalk Holdings, Inc. System, method and computer program product for conveying presence information via voice mail
US7039027B2 (en) 2000-12-28 2006-05-02 Symbol Technologies, Inc. Automatic and seamless vertical roaming between wireless local area network (WLAN) and wireless wide area network (WWAN) while maintaining an active voice or streaming data connection: systems, methods and program products
WO2002054743A2 (en) 2000-12-29 2002-07-11 Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation Web based messaging system with personalized caller specific messages
US8019335B2 (en) 2001-01-29 2011-09-13 Nokia Corporation Identifying neighboring cells in telecommunication network
US7299007B2 (en) 2001-02-01 2007-11-20 Ack Venture Holdings, Llc Mobile computing and communication
US20020116461A1 (en) 2001-02-05 2002-08-22 Athanassios Diacakis Presence and availability management system
US7299257B2 (en) 2001-02-06 2007-11-20 Lucent Technologies Inc. Apparatus and method for use in collaboration services
US7107312B2 (en) 2001-02-06 2006-09-12 Lucent Technologies Inc. Apparatus and method for use in a data/conference call system for automatically collecting participant information and providing all participants with that information for use in collaboration services
US20020147777A1 (en) 2001-02-06 2002-10-10 Hackbarth Randy L. Apparatus and method for use in portal service for a team utilizing collaboration services
US6546087B2 (en) 2001-02-16 2003-04-08 Siemens Information & Communication Networks, Inc. Method and system for enabling queue camp-on for skills-based routing
WO2002071242A1 (en) * 2001-03-01 2002-09-12 Akamai Technologies, Inc. Optimal route selection in a content delivery network
US20030018704A1 (en) 2001-03-08 2003-01-23 Vasilis Polychronidis Network presence and location agent
US20030023623A1 (en) 2001-03-14 2003-01-30 Horvitz Eric J. Schema-based service for identity-based access to presence data
US20020133597A1 (en) * 2001-03-14 2002-09-19 Nikhil Jhingan Global storage system
EP1370962B1 (en) * 2001-03-14 2016-05-04 Nokia Technologies Oy Separation of instant messaging user and client identities
US20020131395A1 (en) 2001-03-19 2002-09-19 Chenghui Wang Session initiation protocol (SIP) user agent in a serving GPRS support node (SGSN)
US20020147814A1 (en) 2001-04-05 2002-10-10 Gur Kimchi Multimedia devices over IP
US6617969B2 (en) * 2001-04-19 2003-09-09 Vigilance, Inc. Event notification system
US7124173B2 (en) * 2001-04-30 2006-10-17 Moriarty Kathleen M Method and apparatus for intercepting performance metric packets for improved security and intrusion detection
US8315651B2 (en) 2001-05-03 2012-11-20 Kyocera Corporation Instant messaging to a mobile device
US7356137B1 (en) 2001-05-07 2008-04-08 At&T Mobility Ii Llc Method and system for signaling presence of users in a multi-networked environment
MXPA03010213A (en) 2001-05-11 2004-03-10 Nokia Corp Mobile instant messaging and presence service.
US20030028621A1 (en) 2001-05-23 2003-02-06 Evolving Systems, Incorporated Presence, location and availability communication system and method
US6785380B2 (en) 2001-06-01 2004-08-31 Avaya Technology Corp. Network-centric self-administered call center with intelligent mobile agent terminals
US7369535B2 (en) * 2001-06-11 2008-05-06 Level 3 Communications, Llc Voice over Internet Protocol real time protocol routing
US6842515B2 (en) 2001-06-12 2005-01-11 Rockwell Electronic Commerce Technologies, Llc Multi-site responsibility-based routing
US8180921B2 (en) * 2001-06-19 2012-05-15 Intel Corporation Method and apparatus for load balancing
US7050414B2 (en) 2001-06-22 2006-05-23 Lucent Technologies Inc. Method and apparatus for setting up a call over a packet-based transport network
US7343399B2 (en) * 2001-06-25 2008-03-11 Nortel Networks Limited Apparatus and method for managing internet resource requests
AU2002345899A1 (en) 2001-06-26 2003-03-03 Versada Networks, Inc. Transcoding sms-based streamed messages to sip-based ip signals in wireless and wireline networks
AU2002315458A1 (en) 2001-06-26 2003-03-03 Versada Networks, Inc. Detecting and transporting dynamic presence information over a wireless and wireline communications network
US7493369B2 (en) 2001-06-28 2009-02-17 Microsoft Corporation Composable presence and availability services
US20030004762A1 (en) 2001-06-29 2003-01-02 International Business Machines Corporation Apparatus and method for augmenting a reservation system to provide user defined customized service
US7269162B1 (en) 2001-07-20 2007-09-11 Cisco Technology, Inc. Integration of presence services with a network enabled telephony device
US20030023681A1 (en) 2001-07-26 2003-01-30 International Business Machines Corporation Sharing messaging device information among network users
GB0119819D0 (en) 2001-08-14 2001-10-10 Ericsson Telefon Ab L M Communication networks
US20030035529A1 (en) 2001-08-14 2003-02-20 Charles Baker Presence detection by screen saver method and apparatus
US20030041101A1 (en) 2001-08-24 2003-02-27 Hansche Brian A. Presence watcher proxy
US20030048195A1 (en) 2001-08-31 2003-03-13 Dirk Trossen Apparatus and method to sense and subscribe to presence information
US6938213B2 (en) 2001-09-20 2005-08-30 International Business Machines Corporation Tracking user availability for participation in messaging sessions
US7062533B2 (en) 2001-09-20 2006-06-13 International Business Machines Corporation Specifying monitored user participation in messaging sessions
US7765484B2 (en) 2001-09-28 2010-07-27 Aol Inc. Passive personalization of lists
US20030078979A1 (en) * 2001-10-22 2003-04-24 Motorola, Inc. Method and apparatus for controlling an intelligent device through an instant messaging protocol over a communication network
JP3880371B2 (en) * 2001-10-31 2007-02-14 富士通株式会社 Information distribution method and apparatus
US6738461B2 (en) 2001-11-01 2004-05-18 Callwave, Inc. Methods and apparatus for returning a call over a telephony system
JP2003169137A (en) 2001-12-03 2003-06-13 Ntt Docomo Inc Communications system, communication method, service control station and communication control station
US20030105820A1 (en) 2001-12-03 2003-06-05 Jeffrey Haims Method and apparatus for facilitating online communication
US6985961B1 (en) 2001-12-04 2006-01-10 Nortel Networks Limited System for routing incoming message to various devices based on media capabilities and type of media session
US7310532B2 (en) 2001-12-05 2007-12-18 Intel Corporation Method of automatically updating presence information
US7299286B2 (en) 2001-12-27 2007-11-20 Nortel Networks Limited Personal user agent
US20030135624A1 (en) 2001-12-27 2003-07-17 Mckinnon Steve J. Dynamic presence management
US7149521B2 (en) 2002-01-02 2006-12-12 Winphoria Networks, Inc. Method, system and apparatus for providing mobility management of a mobile station in WLAN and WWAN environments
GB0200745D0 (en) 2002-01-14 2002-02-27 Mitel Knowledge Corp Tuple space operations for fine grained system control
US7159026B2 (en) * 2002-01-31 2007-01-02 Telcordia Technologies, Inc. Service performance correlation and analysis
CA2472953A1 (en) 2002-02-14 2003-08-21 Andrew Charles Zmolek Presence tracking and name space interconnection techniques
US7206388B2 (en) 2002-03-18 2007-04-17 Openwave Systems Inc. System and method for providing voice-activated presence information
US6658095B1 (en) 2002-03-19 2003-12-02 Nortel Networks Limited Customized presence information delivery
US20040203746A1 (en) * 2002-03-28 2004-10-14 Knauerhase Robert C. Location-specific collaboration for mobile devices
AU2003222159A1 (en) 2002-04-02 2003-10-20 Worldcom, Inc. Messaging response system
US7035923B1 (en) 2002-04-10 2006-04-25 Nortel Networks Limited Presence information specifying communication preferences
US7016978B2 (en) 2002-04-29 2006-03-21 Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation Instant messaging architecture and system for interoperability and presence management
US7076043B2 (en) 2002-05-01 2006-07-11 Sun Microsystems, Inc. System and method of using presence information to delay dialing phone calls initiated by a caller to a callee
US20030225848A1 (en) * 2002-05-31 2003-12-04 Brian Heikes Remote instant messaging personalization items
US20030217142A1 (en) 2002-05-15 2003-11-20 Microsoft Corporation Method and system for supporting the communication of presence information regarding one or more telephony devices
US7552204B2 (en) 2002-05-15 2009-06-23 Microsoft Corporation Method and system for supporting the communication of presence information among computing devices of a network
US7640300B2 (en) 2002-06-10 2009-12-29 Microsoft Corporation Presence and notification system for maintaining and communicating information
US7461378B2 (en) 2002-06-11 2008-12-02 Siemens Communications, Inc. Methods and apparatus for processing an instant message
FI114773B (en) 2002-06-20 2004-12-15 Nokia Corp A method and apparatus for transmitting activity-based presence information
US7245711B2 (en) 2002-06-24 2007-07-17 Avaya Technology Corp. Virtual interaction queuing using internet protocols
US7203294B2 (en) 2002-08-06 2007-04-10 At&T Corp. System and method for dynamically routing communications
GB0218711D0 (en) 2002-08-12 2002-09-18 Mitel Knowledge Corp System and method for facilitating communication using presence and communication services
US8392609B2 (en) * 2002-09-17 2013-03-05 Apple Inc. Proximity detection for media proxies
US20040059781A1 (en) 2002-09-19 2004-03-25 Nortel Networks Limited Dynamic presence indicators
US7020480B2 (en) 2002-09-19 2006-03-28 Research In Motion Limited Apparatus and method of wireless instant messaging
US7734697B2 (en) * 2002-09-26 2010-06-08 Siemens Communications, Inc. System and method for presence enabled electronic mail folders
US7826868B2 (en) 2002-10-10 2010-11-02 Robbins Barry R Extension of a local area phone system to a wide area network
US20040122901A1 (en) 2002-12-20 2004-06-24 Nortel Networks Limited Providing computer presence information to an integrated presence system
US7257218B2 (en) 2002-12-30 2007-08-14 Nortel Networks Limited Presence enabled queue management
DE602004026131D1 (en) 2003-01-22 2010-05-06 Nec Corp attendance system
US7260841B2 (en) * 2003-02-27 2007-08-21 Nortel Networks Limited System and method for maintaining access to content in an encrypted network environment
US20040203927A1 (en) 2003-04-10 2004-10-14 Kraft Clifford H. Cellular telephone location service
US7471946B2 (en) 2003-06-27 2008-12-30 At&T Delaware Intellectual Property, Inc. Methods of providing messages using location criteria and related systems
EP1695589A4 (en) 2003-11-20 2007-04-18 Research In Motion Ltd Seamless call switching in a dual mode environment
US20060003766A1 (en) 2004-06-30 2006-01-05 Sriram Parameswar Providing temporal information for roaming mobiles
US8279759B1 (en) * 2005-03-07 2012-10-02 Verizon Services Corp. Protocol inter-worked ping mechanism
US7945678B1 (en) * 2005-08-05 2011-05-17 F5 Networks, Inc. Link load balancer that controls a path for a client to connect to a resource
US20070061282A1 (en) * 2005-09-14 2007-03-15 Nec Laboratories America, Inc. Data network information distribution
US20070088839A1 (en) 2005-10-19 2007-04-19 Nortel Networks Limited Local time related presence automation and session control
US8166197B2 (en) * 2005-10-25 2012-04-24 Oracle International Corporation Multipath routing process
ITTO20060149A1 (en) * 2006-03-01 2007-09-02 Cisco Tech Inc TECHNIQUE FOR THE OPTIMIZED FLOW OF DATA FLOWS ON AN IP DORSAL IN A COMPUTER NETWORK.
US8180875B1 (en) * 2008-01-28 2012-05-15 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Navy Ping-based communication system (PICS)
US7957302B2 (en) * 2008-12-12 2011-06-07 At&T Intellectual Property I, Lp Identifying analog access line impairments using digital measurements
US20100217975A1 (en) * 2009-02-25 2010-08-26 Garret Grajek Method and system for secure online transactions with message-level validation
US20110035497A1 (en) * 2009-08-05 2011-02-10 Dynamic Network Services, Inc. System and method for providing global server load balancing
US8864587B2 (en) * 2012-10-03 2014-10-21 Sony Corporation User device position indication for security and distributed race challenges
CN103795632B (en) * 2012-10-31 2017-02-22 华为技术有限公司 Data message transmission method, related equipment and system

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20020038360A1 (en) * 2000-05-31 2002-03-28 Matthew Andrews System and method for locating a closest server in response to a client domain name request
US20020059622A1 (en) * 2000-07-10 2002-05-16 Grove Adam J. Method for network discovery using name servers

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US9363281B1 (en) 2014-01-24 2016-06-07 Amazon Technologies, Inc. Detecting covert routing
US9491188B1 (en) 2014-01-24 2016-11-08 Amazon Technologies, Inc. Latency-based detection of covert routing
US10129281B2 (en) 2014-01-24 2018-11-13 Amazon Technologies, Inc. Latency-based detection of covert routing
US10574682B2 (en) 2014-01-24 2020-02-25 Amazon Technologies, Inc. Latency-based detection of covert routing

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU2003260829A1 (en) 2004-04-08
US9043491B2 (en) 2015-05-26
EP1543668B1 (en) 2013-07-31
US8694676B2 (en) 2014-04-08
US20130145042A1 (en) 2013-06-06
US20040054805A1 (en) 2004-03-18
US8392609B2 (en) 2013-03-05
EP1543668A1 (en) 2005-06-22
US20140156868A1 (en) 2014-06-05

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US9043491B2 (en) Proximity detection for media proxies
US10097645B2 (en) Method and apparatus of performing peer-to-peer communication establishment and connection change-over
JP4304593B2 (en) Information processing system, information processing apparatus and method, and program
US20080080532A1 (en) Methods and apparatus for managing internet communications using a dynamic STUN infrastructure configuration
US8510376B2 (en) Processing requests transmitted using a first communication directed to an application that uses a second communication protocol
US9769291B2 (en) Methods, systems, and computer readable media for facilitating the resolving of endpoint hostnames in test environments with firewalls, network address translators (NATs), or clouds
US20040081159A1 (en) Method and apparatus for multi-media communication over multiple networks
US20070071002A1 (en) Method and apparatus for verifying encryption of sip signalling
JP2010051009A (en) METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING SESSION QoS
EP1723533A1 (en) System and method for peer-to-peer connection of clients behind symmetric firewalls
EP2018756A2 (en) Address translation in a communication system
US20150030016A1 (en) Media sessions
US8082580B1 (en) Session layer pinhole management within a network security device
US11716222B2 (en) Communications bridge
US20060230155A1 (en) System and method for peer-to-peer communications with soft hand over for internet enabled devices
US20020196923A1 (en) System and method of call processing
EP2786551B1 (en) Discovering data network infrastructure services
EP3560168B1 (en) Classifying and routing control messages for a communications infrastructure
EP1950925A1 (en) Method for provisioning a web service session, related client device and IMS gateway
US8615003B1 (en) Method and apparatus for handling network element timeouts in a packet-switched communication network
CN110933051A (en) Intercommunication method between SIP signaling services
Ashtarifar et al. A Link Layer Solution to Location Identification of Emergency VoIP Callers
Ashtarifar A link layer solution to location identification of VoIP callers
US20060133292A1 (en) System and method for measuring performance of internet phone protocol
GB2442314A (en) Method and system for managing internet communication using a NAT

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
AK Designated states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): AE AG AL AM AT AU AZ BA BB BG BR BY BZ CA CH CN CO CR CU CZ DE DK DM DZ EC EE EG ES FI GB GD GE GH GM HR HU ID IL IN IS JP KE KG KP KR KZ LC LK LR LS LT LU LV MA MD MG MK MN MW MX MZ NI NO NZ OM PG PH PL PT RO RU SC SD SE SG SK SL SY TJ TM TN TR TT TZ UA UG UZ VC VN YU ZA ZM ZW

AL Designated countries for regional patents

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): GH GM KE LS MW MZ SD SL SZ TZ UG ZM ZW AM AZ BY KG KZ MD RU TJ TM AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IT LU MC NL PT RO SE SI SK TR BF BJ CF CG CI CM GA GN GQ GW ML MR NE SN TD TG

121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application
WWE Wipo information: entry into national phase

Ref document number: 2003797454

Country of ref document: EP

WWP Wipo information: published in national office

Ref document number: 2003797454

Country of ref document: EP

NENP Non-entry into the national phase

Ref country code: JP

WWW Wipo information: withdrawn in national office

Country of ref document: JP