Patents by Inventor Howard L. Lang

Howard L. Lang has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10972602
    Abstract: In one example, a processing system including at least one processor may obtain a call request from a calling device to a destination device, identify a caller category associated with the calling device, and forward the call request to the destination device with an indicator of the caller category, where the indicator of the caller category is to cause the destination device to present at least one of: a first ringtone that is associated with the caller category or a first vibration pattern that is associated with the caller category.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, L.P.
    Inventor: Howard L. Lang
  • Patent number: 10834258
    Abstract: Concepts and technologies are disclosed herein for screening and selectively blocking private calls. A processor executing instructions associated with a private call blocking service can detect a call from a calling device directed to a called device. The processor can determine that the call has a caller identification blocking marker indicating that a fixed label should be provided to the called device to prevent the called device from presenting caller identification data associated with the calling device. In response to determining that the call has the caller identification blocking marker, the processor can obtain a custom private caller identification mask instead of the fixed label. The processor can provide the custom private caller identification mask to the called device for the call, where the custom private caller identification mask can be presented to a called party associated with the called device without revealing the caller identification data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2020
    Assignees: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., AT&T Mobility II LLC
    Inventors: Howard L. Lang, Vanda Oliveira
  • Publication number: 20200204678
    Abstract: Concepts and technologies are disclosed herein for screening and selectively blocking private calls. A processor executing instructions associated with a private call blocking service can detect a call from a calling device directed to a called device. The processor can determine that the call has a caller identification blocking marker indicating that a fixed label should be provided to the called device to prevent the called device from presenting caller identification data associated with the calling device. In response to determining that the call has the caller identification blocking marker, the processor can obtain a custom private caller identification mask instead of the fixed label. The processor can provide the custom private caller identification mask to the called device for the call, where the custom private caller identification mask can be presented to a called party associated with the called device without revealing the caller identification data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 28, 2020
    Publication date: June 25, 2020
    Applicants: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., AT&T Mobility II LLC
    Inventors: Howard L. Lang, Vanda Oliveira
  • Patent number: 10582051
    Abstract: Concepts and technologies are disclosed herein for screening and selectively blocking private calls. A processor executing instructions associated with a private call blocking service can detect a call from a calling device directed to a called device. The processor can determine that the call has a caller identification blocking marker indicating that a fixed label should be provided to the called device to prevent the called device from presenting caller identification data associated with the calling device. In response to determining that the call has the caller identification blocking marker, the processor can obtain a custom private caller identification mask instead of the fixed label. The processor can provide the custom private caller identification mask to the called device for the call, where the custom private caller identification mask can be presented to a called party associated with the called device without revealing the caller identification data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2020
    Assignees: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., AT&T Mobility II LLC
    Inventors: Howard L. Lang, Vanda Oliveira
  • Publication number: 20200045171
    Abstract: Concepts and technologies are disclosed herein for screening and selectively blocking private calls. A processor executing instructions associated with a private call blocking service can detect a call from a calling device directed to a called device. The processor can determine that the call has a caller identification blocking marker indicating that a fixed label should be provided to the called device to prevent the called device from presenting caller identification data associated with the calling device. In response to determining that the call has the caller identification blocking marker, the processor can obtain a custom private caller identification mask instead of the fixed label. The processor can provide the custom private caller identification mask to the called device for the call, where the custom private caller identification mask can be presented to a called party associated with the called device without revealing the caller identification data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2018
    Publication date: February 6, 2020
    Applicants: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., AT&T Mobility II LLC
    Inventors: Howard L. Lang, Vanda Oliveira
  • Patent number: 8055755
    Abstract: A system and method make quality measurements in a network to determine if a Service Level Agreement is breached. The system includes a plurality of routers for routing traffic through the network, means for taking measurements on a path between a first router and a second router, and means for charging at least one of the plurality of routers when data related to the measurements falls below a target value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2004
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2011
    Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property II, L.P.
    Inventors: Robert G. Cole, Howard L. Lang, Eric Woerner
  • Publication number: 20100165837
    Abstract: In one embodiment, the present invention is a method and apparatus for testing backup sites in a Voice over Internet Protocol network. In one embodiment, a method for testing a backup site in a communications network includes simulating, in the network, a failed customer call and outputting an indicator to indicate whether the failed customer call was successfully re-routed from a primary site to the backup site. The testing of the backup site occurs in a manner that minimizes impact to the routing of customer calls destined for the primary site.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 29, 2008
    Publication date: July 1, 2010
    Inventors: Sumitra Sinha, Howard L. Lang, Chris Vestal
  • Patent number: 7298832
    Abstract: A method employs call detail records for developing a report on the usage of VoIP calling along a network path or through a network location. By utilizing, for example, a call-beginning record and a call-ending record for each connection, a report is created of the number of concurrent VoIP calls that a specified equipment or network path carries at any given instance by retrieving batches of stored call detail records, culling the records that are relevant to the specified equipment or network path, considering the culled records in a time sorted manner, and incrementing or decrementing a counter based on whether a considered record is a call-beginning record or a call-ending record, respectively. The state of the counter is reported, illustratively, as a line entry each time the counter's state is modified.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2007
    Assignee: AT&T Corp
    Inventors: Howard L. Lang, Eric M. Woerner, Jaap Voets
  • Patent number: 6954520
    Abstract: A method employs call detail records for developing a report on the usage of VoIP calling along a network path or through a network location. By utilizing, for example, a call-beginning record and a call-ending record for each connection, a report is created of the number of concurrent VoIP calls that a specified equipment or network path carries at any given instance by retrieving batches of stored call detail records, culling the records that are relevant to the specified equipment or network path, considering the culled records in a time sorted manner, and incrementing or decrementing a counter based on whether a considered record is a call-beginning record or a call-ending record, respectively. The state of the counter is reported, illustratively, as a line entry each time the counter's state is modified.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2005
    Assignee: AT&T Corp.
    Inventors: Howard L. Lang, Eric M. Woerner, Jaap Voets