System and method for facilitating secure voice communication over a network
View Patent ↗The present invention involves providing secure Voice Over IP (VOIP) communications to a mobile communications device. Specifically, the disclosed systems and methods enable a standard remote communications device (e.g., a cellular telephone) to utilize the Secure Communications Interoperability Protocol (SCIP) as designed by the U.S. Department of Defense. The invention provides SCIP access to users without requiring specific hardware configurations to be built into, or added to, the remote communications device. The remote communications device is equipped with software that emulates what was previously accomplished through a hardware configuration in order to facilitate secure VOIP communications over standard mobile communication devices.
1. A computer-implemented method for facilitating secure network communication at a remote communications device, said method comprising:
receiving software code at said remote communications device, wherein said software code enables said remote communications device to facilitate said secure network communication by way of a Secure Communications Interoperability (SCIP) session;
enabling a user of the remote communications device to select one of a packet switched protocol or a non-packet switched protocol for a communications protocol for said secure network communication;
receiving a request at said remote communications device to facilitate said secure network communication by way of said SCIP session;
performing transmission setup signaling; and
establishing said SCIP session based on said transmission setup signaling and utilizing said selected communications protocol.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said remote communications device is a cellular telephone.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said remote communications device is configured in accordance with a SCIP specification to facilitate at least one of: end-to-end signaling, interoperability, cryptography, or secure session establishment.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing at least one of: call prioritization and call precedence, wherein a voice application at said remote communications device receives priority over a resource competitive application.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a VOIP Quality of Service (QoS) function, wherein said QoS function includes at least one of: Differentiated Service (DiffServ) or Type of Service (ToS).
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising routing voice frames through a Multi-Carrier Entry Point (MCEP).
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of: a user interface control element or a view element is independent of at least one of: a SoftPhone or a SCIP subsystem.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said remote communications device includes a partition comprising at least one of: a model object, a view object, or a controller object, and wherein said model object maintains domain knowledge; said view object provides a display of data; and said controller object manages external interactions.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein an interface of said software code is notified when a state of said model object is modified.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein said model object presents data in accordance with parameters defined by said user interface.
11. The method of claim 8 , wherein said view object provides a graphical representation that enables a user to at least one of: invoke or manage communications protocols.
12. The method of claim 8 , wherein said display includes at least one of: a menu, a dialog, a menu bar, a status bar, or a title bar.
13. The method of claim 8 , wherein said controller object includes at least one of: a button, a text input, or a menu.
14. The method of claim 8 , wherein said control element includes at least one of: an internal timer event, a call state change, or a call duration timer.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein internal state changes to at least one of: a Call Manager client or a SCIP subsystem triggers a notification to a User Interface subsystem to modify view contents.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein said software code includes an independent and persistent subsystem, and wherein said independent and persistent subsystem comprises at least one of: a user interface, a Call Manager client, said SCIP session, or an Application Controller service.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein said independent and persistent subsystem facilitates at least one of: self initialization, initialization and configuration of dependent modules, or inter-subsystem synchronization.
18. The method of claim 1 , wherein said software code includes a SCIP subsystem configured to at least one of: encode frames, encrypt frames, or pass frames into a network transport subsystem.
19. The method of claim 1 , wherein a user interface subsystem interacts with at least one of: a Client Subsystem or a SCIP subsystem to facilitate at least one of: clear and secure call configuration, clear and secure call status, or clear and secure call control.
20. The method of claim 1 , wherein said software code includes a Client Subsystem configured to facilitate at least one of: Clear Call setup, Clear Call maintenance, or Clear Call transmission.
21. The method of claim 20 , wherein said Clear Call setup manages at least one of: a manual or an automated Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) registration request.
22. The method of claim 1 , wherein said software code includes a SoftPhone subsystem configured to manage core SoftPhone functionality.
23. The method of claim 1 , wherein said software code includes a Minimum Essential Requirements (MER) subsystem configured to maintain a network transport protocol.