Method for controlling a communication comprising multiple transactions

Abstract

A method is described, the method relating to control of a communication between a first device and a second device using a communication protocol including at least a first transaction, and at least one subsequent second transaction. The method can include transmission, by the first device to the second device during the first transaction, of both a maximum acceptable delay between the end of the first transaction and the beginning of the second transaction, as well as an explicit indication of the type of message characterizing the beginning of the second transaction. The second device can then trigger a timer for the delay. The method is applicable to IMS networks.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a communication between a first device and a second device, a protocol of the communication comprising at least a first transaction and a second transaction subsequent to the first transaction, the method comprising: during the first transaction, transmitting from the first device to the second device a maximum acceptable delay time between the end of the first transaction and the start of the second transaction, and an explicit indication of the type of message characterizing the start of the second transaction, and triggering, by the second device, a timer for the delay time, wherein during the first transaction, the maximum acceptable delay time between the end of the first transaction and the start of the second transaction and the explicit indication of the type of message characterizing the start of the second transaction are transmitted from the first device to the second device in a single message.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the communication is associated with at least one dialog, the second device no longer takes account of the delay time if the first device releases the dialog before the delay time has elapsed.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first device and the second device comprise SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) agents, and wherein the type of message characterizing the start of the second transaction is an SIP method.

4. A communication device comprising electronic circuitry, the communication device configured to, when the device is in communication with a second communication device, a protocol of the communication comprising at least a first transaction and a second transaction subsequent to the first transaction, transmit to the second device during the first transaction: a maximum acceptable delay time between the end of the first transaction and the start of the second transaction, and an explicit indication of the type of message characterizing the start of the second transaction, wherein during the first transaction, the maximum acceptable delay time between the end of the first transaction and the start of the second transaction and the explicit indication of the type of message characterizing the start of the second transaction are transmitted from the first device to the second device in a single message.

5. A communication device comprising electronic circuitry, the communication device configured to, when the device is in communication with another communication device, a protocol of the communication comprising at least a first transaction and a second transaction subsequent to the first transaction: receive from the first device, during the first transaction: a maximum acceptable delay time between the end of the first transaction and the start of the second transaction, and an explicit indication of the type of message characterizing the start of the second transaction, and trigger a timer for said delay time, wherein during the first transaction, the maximum acceptable delay time between the end of the first transaction and the start of the second transaction and the explicit indication of the type of message characterizing the start of the second transaction are transmitted from the first device to the second device in a single message.

6. The communication device as claimed in claim 5, the communication device further configured to, when the communication is associated with at least one dialog, no longer take account of the delay time if the first device releases the dialog before the delay time has elapsed.

7. The communication device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the communication device comprises an SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) agent, and wherein the message type is an SIP method.

8. The communication device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the communication device is accommodated in a client device.

9. The communication device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the communication device is accommodated in a server.

10. A communication system comprising: a communication device as claimed in claim 4 and another communication device, both comprising electronic circuitry, the other communication device configured to: receive from the first device, during the first transaction: the maximum acceptable delay time between the end of the first transaction and the start of the second transaction, and the explicit indication of the type of message characterizing the start of the second transaction, and trigger a timer for the delay time wherein during the first transaction, the maximum acceptable delay time between the end of the first transaction and the start of the second transaction and the explicit indication of the type of message characterizing the start of the second transaction are transmitted from the first device to the second device in a single message.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to implement the method as claimed in claim 1.

12. A computer comprising a processor and a memory, the memory having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the computer to implement the method as claimed in claim 1.

Description

(1) Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent on reading the detailed description below of particular embodiments, which are given by way of nonlimiting examples. The description makes reference to the figures accompanying it, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 depicts a registration procedure,

(3) FIG. 2 depicts a subscription procedure,

(4) FIG. 3 depicts resource reservation,

(5) FIG. 4 depicts the establishment of a multimedia communication using the RTP protocol,

(6) FIG. 5 depicts the activation of a voice announcement service,

(7) FIG. 6 depicts the activation of a no-answer forwarding service,

(8) FIG. 7 depicts the activation of the holding of a call, and

(9) FIG. 8 schematically depicts a system for providing multimedia services which is suitable for implementing the invention.

(10) Although the present invention relates to IP networks in general, what will now be considered, as an exemplary embodiment, is an IMS network architecture, such as is succinctly presented above. This architecture is illustrated in FIG. 8.

(11) The multimedia services offered by this IMS network 1 may comprise telephony, videotelephony, content sharing, Presence, Instant Messaging, or television services. These services are available to the user of a client device (“User Equipment”, or UE) 10 belonging to the network 1, which allows the client device 10 to exchange multimedia streams and session control signals in accordance with the SIP protocol with, for example, the client device (not shown) of a user belonging to an SIP network (not shown) connected to the network 1.

(12) The client device 10 may be a fixed or mobile terminal, or a residential or business gateway having SIP signaling means and possibly comprising means for rendering audiovisual content.

(13) As shown in FIG. 8, this IMS network 1 comprises, as well as an IP transport infrastructure (not shown): at least one S-CSCF server; the S-CSCF server 27 manages in particular the procedure for registering the devices connected to the network 1; the S-CSCF server 27 also manages the routing of the signaling between the client device 10 and the voicemail VM server 25, Instant Messaging server 26, and telephony server TAS 29; at least one I-CSCF server; the I-CSCF server 22 manages in particular the routing toward other terminals managed by the same IMS network 1 and the routing of the signaling between this IMS network 1 and other networks (not shown); at least one P-CSCF server; the P-CSCF server 21 serves as an entity connecting the core IMS network and the access network used by the client device 10; at least one HSS-type database server; the HSS server 24 contains the profile of the user of the client device 10 in terms of authentication and location data, and services subscribed to; at least one voicemail (“message-summary”) VM server 25; the VM server 25 manages the subscription of the client device 10 to events relating to messages for the client device 10 being left/listened to, and notifies the client device 10 when these events occur; at least one Instant Messaging IM server 26; if the user of the UE 10 has a subscription to the Instant Messaging service, this user can “instantly” chat online with other subscribers to this service; and at least one telephony server TAS 29; the TAS server manages the telephony services which the user of the terminal 10 has subscribed to with his or her operator, such as number displaying or call forwarding.

(14) The voicemail VM server 25, Instant Messaging IM server 26, and telephony server TAS 29 are examples of Application Servers (AS).

(15) Some services, such as those of the VM server 25 and the Instant Messaging IM server 26, rely on the subscription of the terminal 10 to predetermined events, as explained above.

(16) The present invention relates to a communication between two devices, wherein the protocol of said communication comprises at least one transaction, known as the first transaction, and at least one subsequent transaction, known as the second transaction.

(17) According to one embodiment of the invention, the following steps are implemented: during said first transaction one of said devices, known as the first device, transmits to the other device, known as the second device, a maximum acceptable delay time between the end of the first transaction and the start of said second transaction, and also an explicit indication of the type of message characterizing said start of the second transaction, and said second device triggers a timer for said delay time.

(18) According to a specific application, the “first device” and the “second device” comprise SIP agents. In this case, according to a variant, the first device may conveniently use a new SIP header that indicates the maximum time for waiting for a new transaction for the same call reference (Call-ID). This header could for example take the following form:

(19) Next-Transaction-Limit: method; delay

(20) Here, the “method” parameter indicates the SIP method characterizing the start of the upcoming transaction, and the “delay” parameter indicates the timeout time.

(21) Thus, in the first example, the SIP server can introduce the following information in step F2:

(22) Next-Transaction-Limit: REGISTER; 60

(23) to indicate to Bob that the temporary authentication data are valid only for the next 60 seconds. After that, Bob will have to re-send an initial registration request. Likewise, in the case of mobility between two access networks, Bob's terminal will be aware that it can send the initial REGISTER on the new access only after waiting 60 seconds.

(24) In the second example, the notifier can introduce the following information in step F2:

(25) Next-Transaction-Limit: NOTIFY; 140

(26) to indicate to the subscriber that if no notification is received (step F3) within a delay time of 140 seconds, the current subscription will have to be canceled and renewed.

(27) In the third example, the SIP agent A can introduce the following information in step F3:

(28) Next-Transaction-Limit: UPDATE; 10

(29) in the PRACK message from step F3, in order to indicate to the SIP agent B that if the latter does not receive an UPDATE request (step F5) within 10 seconds following the receipt of the PRACK message, the agent B will have to release the resources using an appropriate code (thus allowing the SIP agent A to transfer the communication to the circuit domain). This behavior could likewise be employed to restrict the delay time for receiving the PRACK message in steps F3 and F8.

(30) In the fourth example, the agent B can introduce the following information in step F3:

(31) Next-Transaction-Limit: BYE; 43200

(32) in order to indicate to the agent A that if the dialog has not been released after 12 h, the agent A will have to release the resource using an appropriate code. In the same example, the agent A can supply the same information to the agent B in step F4.

(33) In the fifth example, the SIP server can introduce the following information in step F4:

(34) Next-Transaction-Limit: BYE; 300

(35) in order to indicate to the voice machine that the announcement has to be delivered at most for 5 minutes.

(36) In the sixth example, the agent A can introduce the following information in step F1:

(37) Next-Transaction-Limit: CANCEL; 30

(38) in order to indicate to the agent B that the waiting time for the CANCEL request is 30 seconds at most.

(39) In the seventh example, the agent A can introduce the following information in step F1:

(40) Next-Transaction-Limit: INVITE; 300

(41) in order to indicate to the agent B that the hold time is 5 minutes at most.

(42) It should be noted that, in the examples described above, the timeout information has been conveyed in a dedicated header. However, other formats are obviously possible for conveying this information. Thus, as a variant, this information can be conveyed in the message body (“body xml”) of a request and/or of the response to a request.

(43) Generally, the present invention can be implemented within the nodes of an IP network, for example within the client devices or servers, using software and/or hardware components.

(44) The software components may be integrated into a conventional computer program for network node management. It is for this reason, as indicated above, that the present invention also relates to a computing system. This computing system includes, as is conventional, a central processing unit using signals to control a memory, and also an input unit and an output unit. Moreover, this computing system can be used to execute a computer program including instructions for implementing steps of any one of the control methods according to the invention.

(45) Indeed, another subject of the invention is a computer program that can be downloaded from a communication network and comprises instructions for executing steps of a control method according to the invention when it is executed on a computer. This computer program may be stored on a computer-readable medium and may be able to be executed by a microprocessor.

(46) This program may use any programming language and take the form of source code, object code, or intermediate code between source code and object code, e.g. it may be in a partially compiled form or in any other desirable form.

(47) Another subject of the invention is an irremovable, or partially or fully removable computer-readable information medium including instructions of a computer program such as is mentioned above.

(48) The information medium may be any entity or device capable of storing the program. For example, the medium may comprise a storage means, such as a ROM, for example a CD ROM or a microelectronic circuit ROM, or a magnetic recording means, such as a hard disk, or else a USB stick (“USB flash drive”).

(49) Moreover, the information medium may be a transmissible medium such as an electrical or optical signal, which may be routed via an electrical or optical cable, by radio or by other means. The computer program according to the invention may in particular be downloaded to an Internet network.

(50) As a variant, the information medium may be an integrated circuit in which the program is incorporated, the circuit being designed to execute steps or to be used in the execution of steps of any one of the control methods according to the invention.