Method and system for updating physical location information
View Patent ↗A method and system for updating physical location data associated with a VoIP endpoint device is implemented in a variety of embodiments. In one such embodiment, a VoIP endpoint device stores an identifier for a packet-communicating device which is subject to changing. The VoIP endpoint device has an interface for communication over the Internet via the packet-communicating device and uses a circuit-implemented method for prompting a VoIP user to update physical location data associated with the VoIP endpoint device. In response to a power state transition and a change in the stored identifier, the VoIP endpoint device facilitates an update to the physical location data associated with the VoIP service.
1. A Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) device comprising:
power sensing circuitry configured and arranged to detect when the VoIP device has experienced a power up event;
nonvolatile memory configured and arranged to store data in an absence of power; and
processing circuitry configured and arranged to
initiate VoIP calls over a packet transmission path that includes a routing node, and
in response to the power sensing circuitry detecting a power up event for the VoIP device,
obtain, from the nonvolatile memory, an address stored before the detected power up event,
obtain, from the routing node and after the detected power up event, an address that identifies the routing node,
compare the address stored before the detected power up event to the address obtained after the detected power up event, and
generate, in response to the comparison indicating that the addresses do not match, a request to update physical location data for the VoIP device, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured and arranged to, in response to the comparison indicating that the addresses do match:
obtain, from a subsequent node relative to the routing node and to the packet transmission path, a subsequent address that identifies the subsequent node after the detected power up event;
obtain, from the nonvolatile memory, another address stored before the detected power up event;
compare the subsequent address to the another address; and
generate, in response to the comparison indicating that the subsequent address to the another address do not match, a request to update physical location data for the VoIP device.
2. A Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) device comprising:
power sensing circuitry configured and arranged to detect when the VoIP device has experienced a power up event;
nonvolatile memory configured and arranged to store data in an absence of power; and
processing circuitry configured and arranged to
initiate VoIP calls over a packet transmission path that includes a plurality of nodes, and
in response to the power sensing circuitry detecting a power up event for the VoIP device,
obtain, after the detected power up event, a first Internet Protocol (IP) address for a first node of the plurality of nodes,
determine whether the first IP address is within a subset of IP addresses,
obtain, in response to determining that the first IP address is within the subset of IP addresses, a second IP address from a second node subsequent to the first node in the packet transmission path,
determine whether the second IP address is within the subset of IP addresses,
obtain, from the nonvolatile memory and in response to determining that the second IP address is not within the subset of IP addresses, a third IP address that was stored before the detected power up event,
compare the second IP address to the third IP address, and
generate, in response to the comparison indicating that the second and third addresses do not match, a request to update physical location data for the VoIP device.
3. The device of claim 2 , wherein the subset of IP addresses are private IP addresses.
4. The device of claim 2 , wherein the subset of IP addresses are IP addresses in the ranges of: 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255, 10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255, 172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255 and 169.254.0.0 to 169.254.255.255.
5. The device of claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured and arranged to continue to obtain IP addresses from subsequent nodes in the packet transmission path until a most-recently obtained IP address does not match the subset of IP addresses.
6. The device of claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured and arranged to generate the request to update physical location data by directing communications from the VoIP device to a physical location update interface provided by a server.
7. The device of claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured and arranged to generate the request to update physical location data by modifying a flashing cadence of a visual indicator.
8. The device of claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured and arranged to continue to obtain IP addresses from subsequent nodes in the packet transmission path until a most-recently obtained IP address does not match the subset of IP addresses, and wherein the processing circuitry is further configured and arranged to generate the request to update physical location data by directing communications from the VoIP device to a physical location update interface provided by a server.
9. The device of claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured and arranged to continue to obtain IP addresses from subsequent nodes in the packet transmission path until a most-recently obtained IP address does not match the subset of IP addresses, and wherein the processing circuitry is further configured and arranged to generate the request to update physical location data by modifying a flashing cadence of a visual indicator.
10. The device of claim 2 , wherein the subset of IP addresses are IP addresses in the ranges of: 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255, 10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255, 172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255 and 169.254.0.0 to 169.254.255.255, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured and arranged to: continue to obtain IP addresses from subsequent nodes in the packet transmission path until a most-recently obtained IP address does not match the subset of IP addresses; and generate the request to update physical location data by modifying a flashing cadence of a visual indicator.
11. The device of claim 2 , wherein the subset of IP addresses are IP addresses in the ranges of: 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255, 10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255, 172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255 and 169.254.0.0 to 169.254.255.255, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured and arranged to: continue to obtain IP addresses from subsequent nodes in the packet transmission path until a most-recently obtained IP address does not match the subset of IP addresses; and generate the request to update physical location data by directing communications from the VoIP device to a physical location update interface provided by a server.