Extension of a local area phone system to a wide area network
View Patent ↗A soft switch providing wireless PBX voice services to a local area network (WLAN) is used to extend PBX functionality to the cellular domain. A dual mode remote unit is capable of receiving signals both in the cellular system as well as the WLAN. The cellular system is comprised of a data-bearing path and a voice-bearing path. When the dual mode remote unit is within the WLAN, it communicates both voice over IP (VoIP) signaling as well as session initiation protocol (SIP) control signaling over the WLAN. When the remote unit is outside the WLAN, it communicates voice signaling over the voice-bearing path of the cellular network using a standard cellular voice channel. In parallel, it uses the data-bearing path of the cellular network to transmit SIP control signaling.
1. A telephone switch, comprising;
means for receiving a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) invite message over a data-bearing path of a cellular network, wherein said SIP invite message specifies a called party and a caller party;
means for establishing a first call leg between the telephone switch and the called party based on the received SIP invite message;
means for receiving a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) call initiation from said caller party over a voice-bearing path of said cellular network to establish a second call leg between telephone switch and the caller party, wherein the PSTN call initiation is directed to a surrogate called party that is different than the called party; and
means for coupling the first call leg to the second call leg to establish a voice call between the called party and the caller party.
2. The telephone switch of claim 1 , further comprising;
means for acting upon a second SIP message to control said voice call; and
wherein the means for receiving the SIP invite message are further configured to receive the second SIP message over the data bearing path of the cellular network from the caller party.
3. The telephone switch of claim 2 , wherein the means configured for receiving the second SIP message are configured for receiving a second SIP message that specifies an attended transfer.
4. The telephone switch of claim 2 , wherein the means configured for receiving the second SIP message are configured for receiving a second SIP message that specifies a transfer to voice mail.
5. The telephone switch of claim 2 , wherein the means configured for receiving the second SIP message are configured for receiving a second SIP message that specifies establishment of a conference call.
6. The telephone switch of claim 1 , wherein the means for receiving the PSTN call initiation are further configured to receive a PSTN call initiation that specifies a PBX telephone number associated with the caller party.
7. A method, comprising;
receiving, by a soft switch, an SIP invite message transmitted over a data-bearing path of a cellular network by a calling party, said SIP invite message specifying a called party and the calling party;
establishing, by the soft switch, a call connection between the soft switch and the called party;
receiving, by the soft switch, a PSTN call initiation from the calling party over a voice-bearing path of the cellular network, the PSTN call initiation specifying a surrogate called party that is different than the called party;
establishing, by the soft switch, a call connection between the soft switch and the calling party; and
coupling the call connection between the soft switch and the calling party with the call connection between the soft switch and the called party to establish a voice call between the called party and the calling party.
8. The method of claim 7 ,
wherein said receiving the PSTN call initiation comprises receiving a PSTN call initiation specifying a PBX telephone number associated with the calling party.
9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising;
receiving, by the soft switch, a second SIP message over the data-bearing path of the cellular network from the calling party; and
controlling, by the soft switch, the voice call based at least in part on the second SIP message.
10. The method of claim 9 ,
wherein said receiving the second SIP message comprises receiving a second SIP message that specifies an attended transfer.
11. The method of claim 9 ,
wherein said receiving the second SIP message comprises receiving a second SIP message that specifies a transfer to voice mail.
12. The method of claim 9 ,
wherein said receiving the second SIP message comprises receiving a second SIP message that specifies establishment of a conference call.
13. An article of manufacture including a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a operations comprising:
receiving an SIP invite message transmitted over a data-bearing path of a cellular network by a calling party, wherein the SIP invite message includes an identifier associated with a called party and the caller party;
establishing a first call leg between computing device and the called party based on the received SIP invite message;
receiving a PSTN call initiation from the caller party over a voice-bearing path of said cellular network to establish a second call leg between the computing device and the caller party, wherein the PSTN call initiation specifies a surrogate called party that is different than the called party; and
coupling the first call leg the second call leg to establish a voice call between the called party and the caller party.
14. The article of manufacture of claim 13 , wherein said receiving the PSTN call initiation comprises receiving a PSTN call initiation specifying a PBX telephone number associated with the caller party.
15. The article of manufacture of claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise:
receiving a second SIP message over the data-bearing path of the cellular network from the caller party; and
controlling the voice call based at least in part on the second SIP message.
16. The article of manufacture of claim 15 , wherein said receiving the second SIP message comprises receiving a second SIP message that specifies an attended transfer.
17. The article of manufacture of claim 15 , wherein said receiving the second SIP message comprises receiving a second SIP message that specifies a transfer to voice mail.
18. The article of manufacture of claim 15 , wherein said receiving the second SIP message comprises receiving a second SIP message that specifies establishment of a conference call.