Abstract: A signal state management (SSM) system avoids both the overhead of maintaining call state and complex signaling in a packet network gateway, while simultaneously providing a more scalable system by not placing too great a state or processing burden on the signaling or call processing server. The SSM system sends an event/action table from a call agent to the gateway that directs the gateway to detect and accumulate specified signaling events generated by a telephone. The gateway accumulates the signaling events according to the event/action table and notifies the call agent only when the signaling events specified in the event/action table are detected. The call agent then sends a new event/action table to the gateway that commands the gateway to detect and accumulate a new set of signaling events. After notifying the call agent, the gateway operates in a quarantine where all signaling events are queued.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are disclosed for interconnecting a circuit-switched telephone network and a packet-switched data network for communication among them. A signaling trunk of a circuit-switched telephone network is coupled to a signaling access server that is also coupled to a signaling, management and control network. One or more voice trunks of the telephone network are coupled to one or more network access servers, which are also coupled to the control network to thereby receive instructions from the signaling access server. The network access servers are also coupled to a packet-switched data network, such as the global packet-switched network known as Internet. The signaling access server can receive call setup messages and other messages in standard telephone network protocol formats and convert them into call setup messages in a special protocol for communications between the signaling access server and the network access servers.

Abstract: A dial string is received from a session application that interfaces with a packet-based or circuit-switched system such as VoIP, PSTN, PBX, etc. Regular expression match patterns are compared with the input dial string. The dial plan mapper identifies one of the match patterns providing a longest match with the dial string and outputs call configuration information associated with the identified match pattern. The configuration information contains call parameters necessary for establishing the telephone call with the call destination. The configuration information format allows the dial plan mapper to specify any one of the wide variety of different session protocols that may be associated with a particular call destination.

Abstract: A PC-based server platform includes a first backplane bus used for transferring data and commands to various PC peripheral devices. A network router and a telephony endpoint card are coupled to the backplane bus and separately coupled through a second Time Division Multiplexed (TDM) bus. The router includes interfaces to various packet switched networks such as a Wide Area Network (WAN) and a Local Area Network (LAN). The TDM bus is used to route telephony data between the different Internet Protocol (IP)-based networks and the telephony card independently of the host system. The PC host processor also uses the router as a standard LAN interface for transferring data packets. A DSP voice processing card is coupled between the backplane bus and the TDM bus to compress and decompress the telephony data transferred on the TDM bus.

Abstract: A signal state management (SSM) system avoids both the overhead of maintaining call state and complex signaling in a packet network gateway, while simultaneously providing a more scalable system by not placing too great a state or processing burden on the signaling or call processing server. The SSM system sends an event/action table from a call agent to the gateway that directs the gateway to detect and accumulate specified signaling events generated by a telephone. The gateway accumulates the signaling events according to the event/action table and notifies the call agent only when the signaling events specified in the event/action table are detected. The call agent then sends a new event/action table to the gateway that commands the gateway to detect and accumulate a new set of signaling events. After notifying the call agent, the gateway operates in a quarantine where all signaling events are queued.

Abstract: Different hearing impairment compensation parameters are stored in a searchable attribute database indexed by the telephone numbers of hearing impaired users. Calls made to or from the stored telephone numbers have incoming voice samples redirected to signal processing resources that perform customized hearing compensation. The compensation parameters are downloaded from the attribute database to the chosen signal processing resource at call setup time. The signal processing resource then compensates the audio signals of the telephone call for specific user hearing impairment using the downloaded compensation parameters.

Abstract: Multiple audio streams are spatially separated with a context switching system to allow a listener to mentally focus on individual point sources of auditory information in the presence of other sound sources. The switching system simultaneously directs incoming sound sources to different spatial processors. Each spatial processor moves the received sound sources to different audibly perceived point sources. The outputs from the spatial processors are mixed into a stereo signal with left and right outputs and then output to the listener. Important sound sources are moved to a foreground point source for increased intelligibility while less important source sources are moved to a background point source.

Abstract: A network interconnection device having a router connected by a plurality of links to at least one multiport switch is presented. Each of the plurality of links is connected between one port of the router and one port of the multiport switch such that each link represents a separate path between the router and the multiport switch over which data packets may be transferred. Sets of links are defined as hunt groups, which contain multiple instances of a given resource. Each port has a forwarding engine. When a packet arrives at a router port, the forwarding engine checks if the packet destination port belongs to the same hunt group as the packet sending port. If the destination port and the packet sending port belong to the same group, the packet is sent back through the same port through which it arrived without having to pass through the router backplane, thus transferring the packet efficiently.

Abstract: A naming service for use in a network which includes a plurality of client nodes and server nodes interconnected by a communications link. Each of the client nodes includes a clerk for transmitting service request messages to initiate selected operations. At least one of said server nodes includes a nameserver which includes a transaction agent, a database which contains a plurality of entries each containing attributes relating to an object, such as the location of related entries in any other nameservers, an update transfer portion and a control portion. The transaction agent receives service request messages from the clerk. In response to a service request message received by the transaction agent from the client node's clerk, the control module enables the update transfer section to transfer database updates over said communications link.