Abstract: A wireless handset for use in a peer-to-peer voice communications system comprising: a display; a keyboard comprising multifunctional keys capable of entering numeric or alphabetic characters depending on a number of key presses, said keyboard being arranged to enter contact information into a user interface displayed on said display, select contacts on the user interface, and initiate a packet data voice call with a contact; a microprocessor arranged to execute embedded client software, wherein the client software is arranged to establish a packet data voice call over the network and encode speech information as individually addressed packets; and a radio communication device arranged to transmit said individually addressed packets as radio signals from said wireless handset to a network.

Abstract: A terminal for use in a voice communications system includes a base station and at least one handset arranged to communicate wirelessly with the base station. The base station includes a first interface to a packet data network and a second interface to a public switched telephone network, the base station being arranged to selectively establish a packet data call from the first interface and a public switched telephone call from the second interface.

Abstract: A method of transmitting video, a method of receiving and decoding video, and a corresponding transmitter, receiver and computer program products. The method of transmitting video to one or more recipient terminals comprises: transmitting a stream of inter frame encoded video data to a recipient terminal; during ongoing transmission of the stream to the recipient terminal, receiving a request signal from that recipient terminal; and in response to the request signal, transmitting alternatively encoded video data to the recipient terminal in association with the inter frame encoded video data.

Abstract: A terminal for use in a peer-to-peer voice communications system comprising: a base station; and at least one handset arranged to communicate wirelessly with said base station; wherein the base station comprises a first interface to a packet data network and a second interface to a public switched telephone network, said base station being arranged to selectively establish a packet data call from said first interface and a public switched telephone call from said second interface.

Abstract: A communication system, method and program, the system comprising: one or more wireless access nodes of a first communication service provider and at least one server associated with a second communication service provider, interconnected via a packet-based network; and a wireless user terminal operable to establish a session with one of the wireless access nodes of the first communication service provider, the wireless user terminal is installed with an application of the second communication service provider. The application is configured so as to: in event of failure to establish a session via one of the wireless access nodes of the first communication service provider, store information regarding the failed session at the wireless user terminal; and in event of subsequent access to the packet-based network, transmit the information regarding the failed session to the server associated with the second communication service provider over the packet-based network.

Abstract: A method, system and program for use in a communication system. The method comprises: interacting with a document-browser application executed on a first user terminal, the document-browser being configured to retrieve an electronic document from a first storage unit and display it on a screen, wherein the interaction comprises identifying a sequence of numeric or alphanumeric characters in the displayed document as being for use in initiating communication with a second user terminal over the communication system. The method further comprises: querying a second storage unit; and based on that query, selecting a display configuration for the identified sequence of characters from a plurality of available display configurations. The interaction further comprises modifying the display of a portion of the document so as to display the identified sequence of characters or information associated therewith in dependence on the determined display configuration.

Abstract: A method is provided for transmitting information from a user to a first network entity over a communications network. The user enters information into a browser executed at a user terminal. The browser generates a first message comprising the information using a first communication protocol for despatch over the network via a network port, the first message including an identifier of the first network entity. A client executed at the user terminal receives the first message before the first message reaches the network port. The first message is wrapped in a second message of a second communication protocol used for transmitting messages between the client and a second network entity. The second message is transmitted to the second network entity over the communications network.

Abstract: A method of transmitting a first signal from a first terminal to a second terminal via a communication network including: receiving at the first terminal a second signal from the second terminal; outputting the second signal from an output device associated with the first terminal and determining information relating to a characteristic of the second signal. A processing resource of the second terminal used to transmit the second signal is estimated, wherein the estimation is based on the information relating to the characteristic of the second signal. A characteristic of the first signal is adjusted in dependence on the estimated processing resource of the second terminal used to transmit the second signal and the first signal is transmitted to the second terminal.

Abstract: A method, system and program for routing a data stream amongst a plurality of network nodes including at least a plurality of end-user nodes. The method comprises: establishing a plurality of routes for the stream to a plurality of consuming end-user nodes, including at least one route via one or more relaying nodes; at each of a plurality of optimising nodes, executing an optimisation algorithm to determine a respective routing modification by evaluating a routing criterion with respect to a collection of end-user nodes which share information with the respective optimising node and determining a change in the routing criterion that would result from one or more potential routing modifications. The different optimising nodes' collections of end-user nodes are at least partially coincident such that each optimising node can determine a different routing modification with respect to at least some of the same end-user nodes.

Abstract: A method of transmitting a data stream to end-user nodes of a network, and a corresponding communication system, program, and distribution system for distributing the program. The method comprises: for each of a plurality of possible combinations of routes of the stream to a plurality of consuming end-user nodes, evaluating a utility function for each of the consuming end-user nodes, the utility function being dependent on route and defining a quantitative measure of end-user benefit that would be experienced at the respective end-user node by consumption of the stream; for each of the plurality of possible combinations of routes, determining an overall utility value based on the respective evaluation of the utility functions of each of the plurality of consuming end-user nodes; and selecting a preferred combination of routes for the stream based on the overall utility values of the different possible combinations.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method of transmitting data in a network of interconnectable end-user nodes comprising a source node, a recipient node and a plurality of further nodes, wherein each of the end-user nodes is executing an instance of a communication client application. The invention also provides corresponding method of receiving data, and corresponding computer programs and user terminals. The method of transmitting data comprises: comprising: the communication client of the source node receiving a command to transmit the data to the recipient node; the source node selecting from the plurality of further nodes at least one storage node to store the data from the source node before being retrieved by the recipient node; transmitting the data from the source node to the at least one storage node; and the source node providing a network identity for each of the at least one storage nodes to the recipient node.

Abstract: A method, system and program for transmitting different quality versions of a stream to end-user nodes of a network. The method comprises: for each of a plurality of possible combinations of versions of the stream to different consuming end-user nodes, evaluating a utility function for each of those consuming end-user nodes, the utility function being dependent on the version and defining a quantitative measure of end-user benefit that would be experienced at the respective end-user node by consumption of the respective version; for each of said plurality of possible combinations of versions of the stream over said routes, determining an overall utility value based on the respective evaluation of the utility functions of each of said plurality of consuming end-user nodes; and selecting a preferred combination of versions of the stream over said routes based on the overall utility values of the different possible combinations.

Abstract: A method, system and program for transmitting a data stream in a network of interconnectable end-user nodes comprising a source node, a plurality of recipient nodes and a plurality of further nodes, wherein each end-user node executes a communication client application. The method comprises: the source receiving a command to transmit the data stream to the plurality of recipients; selecting from the plurality of further nodes at least one relaying node to relay the data stream between the source node and the plurality of recipients; the source establishing a connection to the at least one relaying node; the at least one relaying node establishing a connection to each of the plurality of recipients; transmitting the data stream from the source to the at least one relaying node; and transmitting the data stream from the at least one relaying node to the plurality of recipients.

Abstract: A method, program and apparatus for estimating a bandwidth of a channel from a transmitter to a receiver. The method comprises: receiving a packet stream at the receiver from the transmitter; receiving from the transmitter an indication of data transmitted from the transmitter to one or more other recipients than said receiver between packets of said packet stream; and determining at the receiver, using said indication, an estimate of the bandwidth of said channel. The estimate may enable transmission of packets from the transmitter to be controlled.

Abstract: A method and system for transmitting data over a channel of a network. The method comprises: receiving data at a first node; encoding a first portion of the data at a first bit rate to generate a first encoded data stream; monitoring an indication of the capacity of the channel; transmitting to the second node a padded data stream via the channel, wherein padding bits are added to the first encoded data stream, in dependence on the indication of the capacity of the channel, to generate the padded data stream; determining if transmitting the padded data stream exceeds the capacity of the channel; and encoding a second portion of the data at a higher bit rate than the first bit rate, to generate a second encoded data stream for transmission over the channel, if it is determined that transmitting the padded data stream does not exceed the channel's capacity.

Abstract: A method, system and program for encoding speech.

Abstract: A method, system and computer program for encoding speech according to a source-filter model. The method comprises deriving a spectral envelope signal representative of a modelled filter and a first remaining signal representative of a modelled source signal, and deriving a second remaining signal from the first remaining signal by, at intervals during the encoding: exploiting a correlation between approximately periodic portions in the first remaining signal to generate a predicted version of a later portion from a stored version of an earlier portion, and using the predicted-version of the later portion to remove an effect of said periodicity from the first remaining signal. The method further comprises, once every number of intervals, transforming the stored version of the earlier portion of the first remaining signal prior to generating the predicted version of the respective later portion.

Abstract: A method, system and program for encoding and decoding speech according to a source-filter model whereby speech is modelled to comprise a source signal filtered by a time-varying filter. The method comprises: receiving a speech signal; and from the speech signal, deriving a spectral envelope signal representing the modelled filter and a remaining signal representing the modelled source. At intervals during the encoding, the method further comprises determining a period between portions of the remaining signal having a degree of repetition and determining a correlation between said portions based on that period, thus producing a respective vector of the correlation for each interval. Once every number of said intervals, the method further comprises selecting a codebook from a plurality of codebooks for quantizing the vectors, quantizing the vectors of that number of intervals according to the selected codebook, and transmitting the quantized vectors along with an indication of the selected codebook.

Abstract: A method of filtering a speech signal for speech encoding in a communications network, includes determining a cut off frequency for a filter, wherein a component of the speech signal in a frequency range less than the cut off frequency is to be attenuated by the filter; receiving the speech signal at the filter; determining at least one parameter of the received speech signal, the at least one parameter providing an indication of the energy of the component of the received speech signal that is to be attenuated; and adjusting the cut off frequency in dependence on the at least one parameter, thereby adjusting the frequency range to be attenuated.