International Business Machines Corporation

Alan G Ganek

Barry Edward Willner

Edith H Stern

James M Dunn

Michael Gerard Mall

Casper A Scalzi

Colin George Harrison

Carl Edward Clark

Richard I Baum

Richard J Schmalz

Terry L Borden

James Lum

Kenneth E Plambeck

Louis Paul Herzberg

Antonio Ruiz

David Richard Page

Justin R Butwell

Asser Nasreldin Tantawi

Ronald M Smith

Julian Thomas

Stephen Brady

Gopalaswamy Soora

Davis A Foulger

Marc A Block

Thomas E Newman

Barry Marks

Carol E Clark

A packet switching network, e.g., the Internet, employs bandwidth managers to provide guaranteed bandwidth reservations to paired forwarding and receiving agents interfacing with sending and receiving stations in the transfer of large data files therebetween. The forwarding agents obtain guaranteed reservations from the bandwidth manager for segments of the large data file which are transmitted to the receiving station in accordance with the respective reservations. The receiving agent reassembles the segments into the large data file for delivery to the receiving station. By segmenting the large data files, using guaranteed bandwidth reservations on different links or multiple networks, the transmission of large data files through packet switching networks is accomplished without adversely impacting the service requirements of other network users. Reservations and concomitant transmissions are arranged up to the capacity of the network for the attachment which maximizes the transmission ability and allows the network to distribute the bandwidth usage to prevent network congestion.

System and method for large file transfers in packet networks

Secure communication may be conducted between two or more parties over a network, e.g the Internet without prior security arrangements among the parties or agreed to encryption/decryption software. A sending party is connected to a data network through a computer and has access to a communications network, e.g. a public switched telephone network. The sender prepares a file designated, e.g. &ldquo;X&rdquo; containing confidential information for secure transmission over the Internet or the like to one or more receivers. In one embodiment, the sender downloads encryption/decryption or &ldquo;crypto&rdquo; software stored at a location on the Internet e.g. location &ldquo;U&rdquo; in a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). The &ldquo;crypto&rdquo; software is written in executable code or an interpretive language such as JAVA. The sender selects a key &ldquo;K&rdquo; and encrypts the plain text file &ldquo;X&rdquo; into cipher text. At some point the communication network is accessed and the receiver(s) is notified of the URL U where the &ldquo;crypto&rdquo; software is located and the key &ldquo;K&rdquo; for decrypting the file &ldquo;X&rdquo;. Afterwards, the receiver(s) accesses the URL U using his computer and a web browser. The crypto software is pointed to in Hyper Text Mark Up Language (HTML) and displayed on the receiver screen(s). The HTML page requests the &ldquo;Key&rdquo; which the receiver enters. The file &ldquo;X&rdquo; is downloaded and decrypted using the key &ldquo;K&rdquo; and displayed at the receiver screen(s).

System and method of operation for providing user's security on-demand over insecure networks

A network includes a facility for transmitting baseband telephone signals, plural subscriber locations, and twisted pair circuits which connect each subscriber location to the baseband telephone facility. The network further includes apparatus for transmitting and receiving broadband signals over the twisted pair circuits. A broadband transmitter is coupled to a network twisted pair circuit and outputs a broadband signal for delivery to a subscriber location. A first twisted pair circuit (which has no predetermined relationship to the network twisted pair circuit nor to the subscriber location served thereby) is utilized as an intermediate transmission path for the broadband signals. A distribution module is coupled to the first twisted pair circuit and is connected to a destination subscriber location via a destination twisted pair circuit. First filter circuits are connected in the network twisted pair circuit; are transparent to the baseband telephone signals and block the broadband signals. Second filter circuits are connected in the first twisted pair circuit; are transparent to baseband telephone signals and block the broadband signals. A coupling circuit connects the first and second filter circuits and enables passage of broadband signals from the network twisted pair circuit to the first twisted pair circuit, and then to a distribution module and to a broadband destination location. In a preferred embodiment, the destination twisted pair circuit exhibits a physical distance no more than about 1,500 feet from the subscriber's premises, thereby enabling use of low cost modem technologies that have been developed for local area network applications.

Apparatus for provision of broadband signals over installed telephone

A user through a personal computer, in real time, controls the activation and selection of voice and data transmission paths in a communication network independent of network profiles. The network includes a public switched telephone network and a data network, e.g. the Internet for voice and/or data transmissions over either the voice or data networks. In the network, a voice terminal and a computer terminal are coupled to a shared voice and data terminal. A digital subscriber line access multiplexer is coupled to the shared voice and data terminal; the data network through a client server interface, and a voice network through an intelligent switch. The client server interface includes programmable stored data descriptive of network-authorized data and voice functions and transmission paths in the voice and data networks. The interface is linked to the multiplexer and switch for transmitting signaling messages directing traffic to the voice and data networks in accordance with the stored data. The computer terminal displays menus obtained from the client server which enable the user, in real time, to activate and select voice and/or data transmission paths through either the voice and/or data networks independent of pre-defined network profiles and/or traditional traffic assumptions.

Communication network and method of operation for real time user

A system/method is disclosed for screening telephone system callers, using speaker-dependent text-independent voice recognition, to either prevent excessive fraudulent use of certain telephone system lines (or radio channels) or to selectively restrict classes of service allowed for different users of a common line. The voice recognition process is configured to provide an extent of mismatch indication, between a voice sample taken from a caller immediately using the protected line (or channel) and a recorded reference voice sample, which indication corresponds to the probability that the instant caller is not the same as the person who provided the reference sample. The extent of mismatch indication is compared to a mismatch limit value which can be set to a different magnitude for each call. Different actions are taken depending upon whether the extent of mismatch indication is or is not larger than the limit value. In situations screening for potential fraudulent use of a line/channel, a mismatch indication larger than the set limit is considered representative of possible fraud and further action is taken to either immediately block continuation of the call or to acquire additional information from the caller which can be used to verify authorized usage.

Telephony fraud detection using voice recognition techniques

An apparatus and means enabling a user to operate across multiple service domains using a single IDENTIFIER, ID. A Cross Service Association Domain mapping system is used to allow the desired IDENTIFIER and common user integration. A user is able to employ a single appropriate ID to access any of a plurality of services. The apparatus associates and relates all the IDENTIFIERs associated with each common user by maintaining an image of all the IDENTIFIERs for each user for all that user's applications which bridge the service and/or domain boundaries. Once a user is identified with any of the associated user IDENTIFIERs, the means allows the connection and/or routing to and from even otherwise disparate services. Included are a method, apparatus, and architecture which satisfies the above requirements while providing domain service interrelation and a common user image for the resulting interrelation. It provides for real time collaboration for cooperative, shared, and adaptive service network entities. The invention is used to advantage in many existent and developing service and user applications including applications for service support, cross service end user interfaces, service media transformations and multi-media cross services.

Cross service common user image association

A newly developed computer adapter and call routing system allow for cable television networks (or other broadband networks) to offer digital telephony services seamlessly; i.e. in a manner such that a user receiving the service is unaware of any difference between that service and comparable telephone services presently supported by the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The adapter attaches to a computer, one or more telephones, the PSTN, and the broadband network. During utility power outages, switch circuitry in the adapter connects attached devices directly to lines in the PSTN, so that existing power support functions of the PSTN are fully utilizable. At other times, the adapter conditionally routes outgoing telephone calls from the attached devices to either the PSTN or cable network. Conditions determining the routing of outgoing calls can be set by users and also determined automatically (e.g. as logical functions of called numbers). At a signal concentration office in the broadband network (e.g. at head end of a cable network), a gateway system having newly defined telephone call handling capabilities provides connections to other networks, the latter including the PSTN, Internet and private broadband networks (e.g. leased channels on satellite radio networks). The resulting arrangement allows for a business 'telecommuter' to receive telephone services seamlessly, both at home and in business facilities remote from home.

Integrated telephony and data services over cable networks

An audio teleconferencing apparatus and method provide an audio sound field among a plurality of teleconferencees creating a sense of a virtual conference table having a spatial location for each conferencee at the virtual table. Each conferencee has a speakerphone including a programmable Digital Signal Processor (DSP) for receiving a conference audio signal. In one form, the speakerphones are coupled to a conference bridge through individual ports, the bridge linking together all conferencees for purposes of the multiparty teleconference and transmitting port identifying signals denoting at discrete instants of time which remote port has a currently speaking conferences. The port identity signals are transmitted in-band or out-of-band to the speakerphones in conjunction with the conference audio signal. Each speakerphone uses the programmed DSP and the port identity signal/audio signals to cause sound reproduced at the speakerphone to appear to emanate from positions around the virtual conference table according to the port identity signals. In another form, a conference speakerphone exchanges its ID with other conference phones on the call and creates an 'outgoing image' of participants at a speakerphone. Using the Id information, each DSP maps a virtual conference table for the conferencees and the relative spatial positions of the speakers within a group.

Enhanced audio teleconferencing with sound field effect

This invention allows customers and other users of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to enable, disable or modify special services provided by the network. The PSTN is defined here as all equipment world wide (land-based, radio or other) enabling ordinary telephone users to connect to other telephone users, but excludes private telephone networks such as 'tie line' systems maintained or leased by private enterprises. Presently contemplated actions can be taken independent of the state of the customer's telephone line (e.g. on-hook or off-hook), and usually involve use of equipment other than telephones and communication networks other than the PSTN (e.g. computers operating through the Internet and pagers operating through pager networks). The special services include existing services (call waiting, call blocking, call forwarding, etc.) and new ones (e.g. transferring an active call from a desk phone to a mobile cellular one without interrupting the call). Security firewalls, between the public and telephony application intelligence (TAI) systems that administer customer services within the PSTN, ensure that actions by unauthorized individuals do not interfere with or adversely affect telephone system operations. Authorized customers taking presently contemplated actions will not be able to adversely affect telephone system operations. The present system will work on information maintained at any level of an intelligent network hierarchy within the PSTN, including service nodes through which customer services are traditionally provided.

User invocation of services in public switched telephone network via

A network includes a facility for transmitting baseband telephone signals, plural subscriber locations, and twisted pair circuits which connect each subscriber location to the baseband telephone facility. The network further includes apparatus for transmitting and receiving broadband signals over the twisted pair circuits. A broadband transmitter is coupled to a network twisted pair circuit and outputs a broadband signal for delivery to a subscriber location. A first twisted pair circuit is utilized as an intermediate transmission path for the broadband signals. A distribution module is coupled to the first twisted pair circuit and is connected to a destination subscriber location via a destination twisted pair circuit. First filter circuits are connected in the network twisted pair circuit; are transparent to the baseband telephone signals and block the broadband signals. Second filter circuits are connected in the first twisted pair circuit; are transparent to baseband telephone signals and block the broadband signals. A coupling circuit connects the first and second filter circuits and enables passage of broadband signals from the network twisted pair circuit to the first twisted pair circuit, and then to a distribution module and to a broadband destination location.

A system, method and apparatus for Video-on-demand (VOD) satisfying the desire of `surfers`. The process entails a server operating in a standard Near-Video-on-demand (NVOD) mode, whereby it repeatedly transmits multiple copies of each program on separate channels. Each copy is delayed by a staggered time interval. The server also repeatedly transmits a beginning portion of each NVOD program of a duration up to the staggered time interval. The invention provides a way to fulfill a VOD user requests asynchronous with the start of a NVOD transmission but which still makes primary use of the NVOD transmission for that requestor. The invention further advantageously provides fixed asset utilization in a predictable manner.

Fixed video-on-demand

A system and method for Video-on-Demand (VOD) satisfying the desire of `surfers`. The process entails a server operating in a standard NVOD mode, whereby it continuously sends multiple copies of each program on separate channels. Each copy is delayed by a staggered time interval. The invention provides a way to fulfill a VOD user request asynchronous with the start of a NVOD transmission but which still makes primary use of the NVOD transmission for that requestor. The system and method combines independent server service satisfying an asynchronous request for only a short duration, usually less than or equal to the NVOD staggered time interval, and then aligns that requestor with an immediately previously commenced NVOD transmission.

Hybrid video-on-demand based on a near-video-on-demand system

A computer system has general purpose registers, control registers and access registers for containing information to allow address space capability. A linkage stack uses protected address space to store state information during program call and program return operations. The linkage stack contains information relating to state entries for the saved information and header and trailer entries to point to other linkage stack sections. A control register contains the pointer to the current linkage stack entry and is changed as the program call or return moves through the stack.

Linkage mechanism for program isolation

A program authorization mechanism for authorizing access to an address space in the main memory of a computer system by a program being run under a multiple address space facility. An access-list entry is associated with each address space, each access-list entry being designated by an access-list-entry token contained in an access register. Each access-list entry includes a private indicator which indicates if the associated address space can be accessed by all programs from this access-list entry or if the associated address space can only be accessed by an authorized program. For program to be authorized, an extended authorization index in a control register must match an access-list extended authorization index in the access-list entry, or the extended authorization index value must be authorized in an authority table associated with the address space. An instruction for testing a given extended authorization index for a given access-list-entry is also disclosed.

Authorization for selective program access to data in multiple address

A method and apparatus is provided to translate the contents of access registers into information for use in performing addressing functions for multiple virtual address spaces. The access registers represent the full addressing capability of the system but do not directly contain the addressing information. The system has a plurality of general purpose registers, a plurality of access registers associated with the general registers, an access list having access list entries which is addressed by the contents of the access register, memory storage for holding address space number second table entries (ASTE), where the contents of the access list entry locate the ASTE and where the ASTE contains the addressing information needed to translate a virtual address when combined with the contents of a general purpose register. Access register translation (ART) consists of the process of determining addressing information by using the access list entry and the ASTE. The results of the ART process are stored in an ART lookaside buffer (ALB) which stores the results of ART while valid for later use.

Growing community of inventors

Chappaqua, NY, United States of America

Alan G Ganek