METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONFIGURING A COMPUTER FOR REAL-TIME COMMUNICATION
A method and system for configuring a client computer for real-time communication is provided, in which configuration settings are sent to the computer in the form of a configuration document, such as mark-up language document, that is readable by the client computer. The client computer may request the configuration document on an as-needed basis, or may request to be notified whenever new configuration settings are needed.
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The invention relates generally to real-time communication among computers and, more particularly, to providing real-time communication configuration data to client computers over a network
BACKGROUNDWith the increased availability of high bandwidth network connections in both enterprise settings and home settings, there has been an increased demand for real-time communication services such as internet telephony, video conferencing and instant messaging. In response to this increased demand, real-time communication service providers have proliferated. Many of these providers are companies unto themselves. Very often, however, real-time communication services for an enterprise (i.e. corporation or other organization) are provided internally on the enterprise's internal network. Regardless of who actually provides real-time services to computer users, configuring client computers for carrying out real-time communication functions is often a nightmare. In the enterprise setting, a network administrator has to go around to each client computer on the network to set it up. In the home setting, a user is usually forced to configure his or her own computer for real-time communication. These difficulties are exacerbated by the fact that, very often, the topology of the real-time communication service provider's network changes in such a way as to render invalid a user's previous configuration settings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn accordance with the foregoing, a method and system for configuring a client computer for real-time communication is provided. According to the invention, configuration settings are sent to the computer in the form of a configuration document, such as mark-up language document, that is readable by the client computer. The client computer may request the configuration document on an as-needed basis, or may request to be notified whenever new configuration settings are needed.
The invention may be implemented on a network having a management database that maintains the current state of the network. A program executed by a server on the network monitors the database and, whenever a change is detected in the management database that would require new configuration settings for the client computers, the program transmits a document containing the new configuration settings to the client computers.
According to various embodiments, the invention uses a set-up initiation protocol, such as SIP, to enable the client computers to request and receive configuration settings. SIP includes SUBSCRIBE and NOTIFY message formats that allow for this functionality. Additionally, SIP uses a well-defined port and is therefore convenient to implement with firewalls.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments that proceeds with reference to the accompanying figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSWhile the appended claims set forth the features of the present invention with particularity then, the invention, together with its objects and advantages may be best understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
The invention is generally directed to a method and system for configuring a computer for real-time communication, in which a configuration document is transmitted to a client computer over a computer network, either at the request of the client computer itself, or automatically. The configuration document includes configuration settings that are appropriate for the real-time communication services of the network. The client computer executes a real-time communication client program that reads the configuration settings from the document and performs real-time communication functions according to the settings.
Although it is not required, the present invention may be implemented by program modules that are executed by a computer. Generally, program modules include routines, objects, components, data structures and the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The term “program” as used herein may connote a single program module or multiple program modules acting in concert. The invention may be implemented on a variety of types of computers, including personal computers (PCs), hand-held devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers and the like. The invention may also be employed in distributed computing environments, where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.
An example of a networked environment in which the invention may be used will now be described with reference to
Referring to
Computer 100 may also contain communications connections that allow the device to communicate with other devices. A communication connection is an example of a communication medium. Communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. The term computer readable media as used herein includes both storage media and communication media.
Computer 100 may also have input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, pen, voice input device, touch input device, etc. Output devices such as a display 116, speakers, a printer, etc. may also be included. All these devices are well known in the art and need not be discussed at length here.
Referring to
To configure a client computer for real-time communication according to an embodiment of the invention, a configuration document containing the correct configuration settings is provided to the client, and a real-time communication program that is capable of reading the document is executed on the client. An example of the basic procedure carried out to configure a client computer for real-time communication in this embodiment will now be described with appropriate reference to the network of
In another embodiment of the invention, a client computer may already be configured for real-time communication but may need to be updated whenever the required configuration settings change. An example of how this is accomplished will now be described with reference to the network of
The client computer 150 may perform the aforementioned real-time communication functions through the server computer 154 or through another server computer as specified by the configuration settings sent to the client computer 150 by the server computer 154. For example, the client computer 150 may have been previously configured to use server computer 154 as its Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) server. However, the administrator of the network 150 decides to add a new, second server computer, labeled 156 and shown with a dashed line, to the network 150, and wishes to use the second server computer 156 as the SIP server. The administrator could make the appropriate changes to the configuration document, and once the first server computer 154 updates the client computer 150 with the modified configuration document, the client computer 150 would automatically contact the second server 156 in future attempts to set up real-time communication sessions.
The client computer 150 and the server computer 154 (
An example of how the client computer 150 of
After some time, Bob comes across another service provider, CallAreUs.com, which is providing great rates for international calls. Since Bob frequently makes international calls, he decides to give it a try. He signs up with CallAreUs.com (Arrow C of
An example of an XML configuration document containing the profile settings for Bob to avail of the Acme's Internet telephony service is as follows:
An explanation of the parameters used in the example file sent to Bob from Acme in the previous example is as follows:
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- 1) ResClientProvisioningInfo. An XML namespace tag to uniquely identify the type of XML document
- 2) ProfileInfo Key. This is an ID number (such as a Globally Unique ID or GUID) that is used to uniquely identify a profile on the client computer. It is used in the event that the client computer maintains multiple profiles.
- 3) Schema Version. This is the version of the XML schema upon which the configuration document is based.
- 4) ITSPInfo. These are the settings that are particular to each Internet telephony service provider.
- a. ITSPName. This is the name of the Internet telephony service provider.
- b. URIHomePage. This is the Uniform Resource Identifier of the home page that is displayed by the client real-time communication program.
- c. URIPersonalAccount. This is the Uniform Resource Identifier that can be used to by the client computer to display personal account details of the user.
- d. URIDisplayDuringCall. This is the Uniform Resource Identifier that should be displayed by the client computer during an Internet phone call for the purposes of displaying marketing information to the user.
- e. URIDisplayDuringIdle. This is the Uniform Resource Identifier that should be displayed by the client computer during idle periods for the purposes of displaying marketing information to the user.
- f. URIProvisioningUpdate. This is the Uniform Resource Identifier that the user needs to access in order to obtain an updated version of the XML document that contains his profile settings.
- g. NextUpdate. This is when the user's profile settings will need to be updated at the Uniform Resource Identifier specified by the URIProvisioningUpdate parameter.
- 5) UserInfo. These are settings that are applied to the user once the user has been authenticated against a real-time communication server.
- a. UserID. This is the user's unique ID that the real-time communication server uses to authenticate the user.
- b. Password. This is the password that the real-time communication server uses to authenticate the user.
- c. UserURI. This is the user's Uniform Resource Identifier, which is typically in the format of an email address.
- 6) SIPserver. These settings are used to specify which SIP servers are available to the client computer. As there may be multiple SIP servers in a network, there may be multiple sets of SIP server settings.
- a. Address. This is the hostname of the real-time communication server.
- b. Transport. This is the transport protocol that the real-time communication client program is to use to connect to the real-time communication server. Examples include TCP, UDP, TLS and HTTPS.
- c. AuthMethod. This is the form of authentication that is to be used by the client computer. Examples include Basic, Digest, NTLM, Kerberos, and Cert.
- d. Role. This is the role of the SIP server. Examples include Proxy and Registrar.
- e. SessionInfo. The communication modes supported by the SIP server.
- 1) mode. This specifies the mode in which the call will be made. Examples include First Party and Third Party.
- 2) TerminalInfo. This specifies what kind of terminals are to be used.
- 1. ConsumerTerminal. This is what kind of terminal the consumer will use. Examples include PSTN Terminal and IP Terminal.
- 2. ProviderTerminal This is what kind of terminal the Internet telephony service provider will use. Examples include PSTN Terminal and IP Terminal.
- 7) ITSPPrivateData. This includes data that is a particular Internet telephony service provider may want to use. Examples include:
- a. ProvisioningVersion. This is the version number of the configuration information contained in the XML profile document.
- b. AccountType. This is the pay structure that the user has signed up for.
In various embodiments of the invention, the client computer and the server computer 154 (
The invention can be implemented in a variety of computing environments. In the previous example, Bob could have been a home user or a user of an enterprise network. In the enterprise network context various embodiments of the invention allow policy settings to be configured on client computers. Policy settings are established on a global basis, for a group of users, or for individual users, and control which forms of communication various client computers are permitted to be conducted. Through the use of policy settings, an administrator can, for example, disallow audio, video or instant messaging, regardless of which server the client computer uses in performing real-time communication functions. In an embodiment of the invention, the client computer enforces the policy settings and insures that the policy settings are made known to the user by disabling menus, buttons and the like. Examples of policy settings include:
-
- 1) Expires. This specifies (in hours) the length of time that the policy settings should be considered valid. After this time the client computer should send another request for the policy.
- 2) SVR. This is used to specify which domains to which a client computer is allowed to connect. This setting can be used, for example, to restrict a client computer from connecting to any other service that is not within the local domain. By default this option allows for the use of any service.
- 3) Proxy. This is used to specify the default server computer to be used for any traffic that is not within the local domain.
- 4) FTP. This option is used to enable or disable the File Transfer capabilities of the client computer. If disabled, the client computer cannot start or receive files. By default file transfers are allowed.
- 5) PC2PC. This option is used to enable or disable the PC to PC audio capabilities of the client computer. If disabled, the client computer cannot start or receive audio. By default PC to PC audio is allowed.
- 6) PC2Ph. This option is used to enable or disable the PC to phone audio capabilities of the client computer. If disabled, the client computer cannot start PC to phone calls. By default PC to Phone audio is allowed.
- 7) Ph2Ph. This option is used to enable or disable the Phone-to-Phone capabilities of the client computer. If disabled, the client computer cannot start Phone-to-Phone calls. By default Phone to Phone calls are allowed.
- 8) Video. This option is used to enable or disable the video capabilities of the client computer. If disabled, the client computer cannot start or receive video. By default video is allowed.
- 9) IM. This option is used to enable or disable Instant Messaging capabilities of the client computer. If disabled, the client computer cannot send or receive Instant Messages. By default Instant Messaging is allowed.
- 10) DataCollab. This option is used to enable or disable Data Collaboration (Whiteboard or Application Sharing) capabilities of the client computer. If disabled, the client computer cannot start or receive any Whiteboard and Application Sharing sessions. By default Data Collaboration is allowed.
With reference to
A real-time communication client program 172 executes on the first client computer 158. The real-time communication client program 172 performs real-time communication functions such as Internet telephony, video conferencing and instant messaging, thereby allowing a user at the first client computer 158 to avail of real-time communication services of the network 170. The first client computer 158 has a storage medium 174 that can be implemented as any type of computer readable medium. The storage medium 174 has stored therein configuration documents 176, which include various real-time communication configuration settings. The documents 176 are used by the real-time communication client program 172 to perform real-time communication functions.
In an embodiment of the invention, each one of the documents 176 contains the configuration settings for a single real-time communication service and/or service provider. Thus, for example, one of the documents 176 might contain configuration settings for Internet telephony while another might contain configuration settings for an instant messaging service. Yet another of the documents 176 might contain the configuration for a different instant messaging service. Although the configuration documents 176 may be implemented according to a variety of formats, mark-up languages such as XML are known to be suitable.
Referring again to
The first, second and third real-time communication servers 164, 166 and 168 provide real-time communication services to the first, second and third client computers 158, 160 and 162. For example, the second real-time communication server 166 could be an internet telephony server that the first and third client computers 158 and 162 use to set up internet phone calls to one another. Although this embodiment assumes that the configuration documents are provided to the client computers by one or more of the real-time communication servers 164, 166 and 168, the documents could also be provided by other computers that don't necessarily provide real time communication services.
The first real-time communication server 164 has access to a storage medium 180 on which a management database 182 is stored. The management database 182 includes information as to the current state of the network 170 and the location of various resources of the network 170. The management database may be implemented in a variety of ways, but the MICROSOFT ACTIVE DIRECTORY is known to be suitable. Although the management database 182 is shown as being stored on a single storage medium, it can, in fact, be distributed among many different media of many different computers.
The management database 182 can be changed by a system administrator of the network 170, by a user with sufficient access permission, or automatically as a result of changes in the network 170. For example, an administrator of the network 170 might, in response to a virus threat, wish to establish a policy that restricts all users from making FTP downloads. The administrator would simply edit/create the appropriate policy in the management database 182. Each client computer would eventually receive a new configuration document containing the policy. In another example, a user on the network 170 might change his or her password, which would be reflected in the management database 182 and would trigger the transmission of a new configuration document to the user's client computer. In yet another example, a new real-time communication server computer might be -added to the network 170. The new server computer would register itself with the management database 182 and, as a result, the SIP server program 178 would transmit a configuration document containing configuration settings needed to use new server computer to the client computers.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the SIP server program 178 provides configuration documents to the first, second and third client computers 158, 160 and 162, and provides updates to those documents in response to changes that are made in the management database 182. The configuration documents and updates can be provided to one of the client computers in response to a request from the client computer or as part of an ongoing update service to which the client computer had previously subscribed. Referring again to
Referring to
Referring to
An example of how the invention may be implemented in an enterprise network will now be described. In this example, the enterprise network has a system set up that regulates the ability of users on the network to communicate with and/or monitor one another through the use of access control rights. Access control rights are granted on a per user basis or on a per group basis and govern such things as whether a user is allowed to monitor another user's “presence” (i.e. determine whether they are logged onto the network and what their network address is), whether a user is permitted to call another user via internet telephony, whether a user is to be prompted before allowing someone to monitor him or her, and the like.
In continuing with the enterprise network example, reference is made to
The concept of access control as it applies to this embodiment of the invention will now be discussed in more detail. For each user or group of users of the network 300 (
Continuing the discussion of access control, a user or a group of users will also be referred to herein as an “identity.” There are many possible ways to designate an identity. In an embodiment of the invention, the following types of identities exist.
Each access control list has one or more access control entries. Each access control entry confers one or more rights to an identity. For example, possible access control entries for the user joeb@microsoft.com include:
According to an embodiment of the invention, the administrator of the network 300 (
The administrator may also set a “mandatory” access control list that is applied to all users in a particular group.
In an embodiment of the invention, the first, second, and third client computers 304, 306 and 308 receive two access control lists: the mandatory access control list and the user's personal access control list (that has already been merged with the default access control list). The client is responsible for enforcing the mandatory access control list, even when the user's personal access control list may contradict it. An access control entry in the user's personal access control list is overridden by an access control entry in the mandatory access control list whenever:
-
- An access control entry in the user's access control list has the same identity as an access control entry in the mandatory access control list
- An access control entry in the user's access control list has a USER identity from a domain matching a DOMAIN access control entry in the mandatory access control list.
- The mandatory access control list has an “ALL” access control entry.
Referring to
In this example, the client computer 304 is assumed to have previously subscribed (using a SIP SUBSCRIBE message) to an “event” that is triggered whenever the management database 312 has a new access control list for the user of the client computer 304. The real-time communication server 308 monitors the management database 312, and upon detecting the presence of a new access control list for the user, transmits a document 350 containing a block of XML text that has the new access control configuration settings. The client computer 304 responds with a document 356 containing a SIP “OK” message. As shown in the example, these settings indicate that the user is to be prompted when anyone (“ALL”) tries to monitor the user's presence. Anyone may send incoming real-time communication traffic to the user, however, as long as they are not bound by any other settings. The access control configuration settings also include more specific settings and, in general, more specific settings override less specific settings. For example, anyone in the domain “nasty company.com” who attempts to monitor the user's presence or contact the user will be denied access. The “nasty company.com setting takes precedence over the “ALL” setting, and, as a result, a more restrictive access policy is applied to “nasty company.com” than to other groups of users.
Referring to
It can thus be seen that a new a useful method and configuring a computer for real-time communication has been provided. In view of the many possible embodiments to which the principles of this invention may be applied, it should be recognized that the embodiments described herein with respect to the drawing figures is meant to be illustrative only and should not be taken as limiting the scope of invention. For example, those of skill in the art will recognize that the elements of the illustrated embodiments shown in software may be implemented in hardware and vice versa or that the illustrated embodiments can be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, the invention as described herein contemplates all such embodiments as may come within the scope of the following claims and equivalents thereof.
Claims
1-36. (canceled)
37. A method for ensuring that a client computer on a computer network is properly configured for real-time communication, the method comprising:
- receiving, from the client computer, a request to be notified when network conditions require a change in configuration settings of the client computer, wherein the configuration settings of the client computer allow the client computer to engage in real-time communication over the computer network;
- maintaining a database with the current state of the computer network;
- monitoring the database to detect network conditions of network devices other than the client computer that require a change in the configuration settings of the client computer; and
- in response to detecting a network condition that requires a change in the configuration settings of the client computer, generating new configuration settings for the client computer; and transmitting the new configuration settings to the client computer so that the client computer can update its configuration settings with the new configuration settings to engage in real-time communication over the computer network with the detected network conditions and so that the new configuration settings are automatically transmitted to the client computer without the need for the client computer to initiate the transmission.
38. The method of claim 37 wherein the receiving step comprises:
- receiving a subscribe message formatted according to a session initiation protocol wherein the subscribe message identifies the user that is operating the client computer and includes a request for that user's profile that indicates how the client computer should be conducting real-time communication over the network.
39. The method of claim 37, wherein monitoring the network includes monitoring a database comprising configuration settings for allowing computers on the computer network to conduct real-time communication, wherein the database is distinct from the client computer.
40. The method of claim 37, wherein the configuration settings include the network address of the server computer that the client computer needs to contact in order to set up a real-time communication session.
41. The method of claim 37, wherein the transmitting step comprises:
- inserting the new configuration settings into a message formatted according to a session initiation protocol; and
- transmitting the message to the client computer.
42. The method of claim 41, wherein the inserting step comprises inserting into the message a block of mark-up language text that includes the new configuration setting.
43. The method of claim 37, wherein the client computer is currently configured for real-time communication according to a set of old configuration settings, and wherein the transmitting step comprises transmitting to the client computer changes that are to be made to the old configuration settings in order to derive the new configuration settings.
44. A method in a client computer for singing up for a telephony service through a telephony service provider, the telephony service being provided over a computer network, by a method comprising:
- receiving an electronic mail message that contains an indication of a telephony service that can be provided through a client computer and contains a link for signing up for the telephone service;
- after a user selects the link, displaying a web page that prompts the user for identifying information; sending to a server the identifying information input by the user; receiving from the server a profile of the user that includes configuration settings that allows the user to use the telephone service; and
- after network conditions of a network device change in a way that require a change in the configuration settings of the client computer, receiving from the server the profile of the user with new configuration settings so that the client computer can update its configuration settings with the new configuration settings to make use of the telephony service over the computer network with the changed network conditions and so that the new configuration settings are automatically received at the client computer.
45. The method of claim 44 wherein the user signs up with another telephony service provider that provides another profile with configuration settings for the other telephony service, so that the user can chose between telephony services depending on a destination number to be called.
46. The method of claim 45 wherein the user uses a single client program to use either of the telephony services.
47. A system for facilitating real-time communication in a computer network, the system comprising:
- a client computer executing one or more programs for performing steps comprising engaging in real-time communication on the computer network based on configuration settings that change based on changes in network conditions; and
- a server computer executing one or more programs for performing steps comprising: monitoring conditions on the computer network to detect network conditions of network devices that require a change in the configuration settings of the client computer; when a network condition that requires a change in the configuration settings of the client computer is detected, automatically generating new configuration settings for the client computer; and transmitting the new configuration setting to the client computer over the computer network, so that the client computer can update its configuration settings with the new configuration settings to engage in real-time communication over the computer network with the detected network conditions.
48. The system of claim 47, wherein the one or more programs executing on the client computer perform further steps comprising transmitting a request for the latest version of the configuration settings to the server computer.
49. The system of claim 48, wherein the configuration settings include the network address of a server that the one or more programs executing on the client should use to engage in real-time communication on the network.
50. The system of claim 47, wherein the one or more programs executing on the server computer perform further steps comprising:
- generating a message formatted according to a session initiation protocol: and including the new configuration setting within the message, and
- wherein the transmitting step comprises transmitting the message to the client computer.
51. The system of claim 50, wherein the one or more programs executing on the client computer perform further steps comprising:
- generating a message formatted according to a session initiation protocol;
- inserting a request to obtain the new configuration setting into the message; and
- transmitting the message to the server computer.
52. The system of claim 47, wherein the new configuration settings include a configuration document that contains a list of users and an indication of the extent to which each of the users and groups of users is permitted to monitor the presence of the user of the client computer.
53. The system of claim 47, wherein the new configuration settings include a configuration document that contains a list of other users and groups of users and an indication of the extent to which each of the users and groups of users is permitted to contact, via real time communication, the user of the client computer.
54. The system of claim 47 wherein the one or more programs executed by the server computer performing steps comprising:
- receiving a first message from the client computer, the message including the identity of a user of the client computer;
- retrieving information as to the extent to which individuals or groups of individuals are permitted to monitor the presence of the user on the computer network and to contact the user via real-time communication;
- transmitting the information to the client computer in the form of mark-up language text as part of a second message formatted according to a session initiation protocol
- wherein the one or more program executed by the client computer perform further steps comprising:
- transmitting the first message to the server computer in the form of a session initiation protocol message.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 4, 2007
Publication Date: Feb 14, 2008
Applicant: Microsoft Corporation (Redmond, WA)
Inventors: Vishwajith Kumbalimutt (Redmond, WA), Robert Osborne (Redmond, WA), Robert Brown (Kirkland, WA), David Simons (Remond, WA), Jeremy Buch (Redmond, WA)
Application Number: 11/849,920
International Classification: G06F 15/177 (20060101);