At+t Corp.

At&t Intellectual Property I, L.p.

Steven Howard Nurenberg

Oliver Spatscheck

Han Q Nguyen

Gregory J Smith

Kenneth H Rosen

Joseph Thomas O'Neil

Robert Edward Markowitz

David Hilton Shur

Aleksandr Zelezniak

Peter H Stuntebeck

Sanjay Agraharam

Richard Frank Bruno

Ram S Ramamurthy

Glenn Lawrence Cash

Ashok K Kuthyar

Carlos Alberto Perea

Suzanne L LeMole

Joseph Thomas O'neil

A network is configured to utilize available bandwidth to conduct bulk data transfers without substantially affecting the successful transmission of time-sensitive traffic in the network. In order to avoid this interference, the packets carrying data for bulk data transfers are associated with a low priority class such that the routers of the network will preferentially drop these packets over packets associated with the normal traffic of the network. As such, when the normal traffic peaks or there are link failures or equipment failures, the normal traffic is preferentially transmitted over the bulk-transfer traffic and thus the bulk-transfer traffic dynamically adapts to changes in the available bandwidth of the network. Further, to reduce the impact of dropped packets for the bulk-transfer traffic, the packets of the bulk-transfer traffic are encoded at or near the source component using a loss-resistant transport protocol so that the dropped packets can be reproduced at a downstream link.

Bulk data transport in a network

A network is configured to utilize available bandwidth to conduct bulk data transfers without substantially affecting the successful transmission of time-sensitive traffic in the network. In order to avoid this interference, the packets carrying data for bulk data transfers are associated with a low priority class such that the routers of the network will preferentially drop these packets over packets associated with the normal traffic of the network. As such, when the normal traffic peaks or there are link or equipment failures, the normal traffic is preferentially transmitted over the bulk-transfer traffic and thus the bulk-transfer traffic dynamically adapts to changes in the available bandwidth of the network. Further, to reduce the impact of dropped packets for the bulk-transfer traffic, the packets are encoded at or near the source component using a loss-resistant transport protocol so that the dropped packets can be reproduced at a downstream link.

Multimedia content is provided based on a set of assignment weights. A portion of a first multimedia object and a portion of a second multimedia object are buffered. The portion of multimedia content of the first multimedia object and the portion of multimedia content of the second multimedia object are accepted. The portion of multimedia content of the first multimedia object corresponds to the first assignment weight; the portion of multimedia content of the second multimedia object corresponds to the second assignment weight. The portion of multimedia content of the first multimedia object and the portion of multimedia content of the second multimedia object are stored.

Method and apparatus for providing multimedia buffering capabilities based on assignment weights

Proposed is a system and method for providing Intelligent Network services. In one embodiment, the system of the present invention includes a database interacting with a socket redirector installed on a client computer. In one method implemented using the system of the present invention, a socket redirector intercepts a standard Internet Protocol (IP) socket call from a client software application and identifies parameters within the socket call. If the redirector is able to determine that the identified parameters are addressed to the most appropriate socket for accommodating the software application's request, the IP socket call is sent to network software where the socket call is used to form packets which are sent over the network to the requested socket. If the redirector is unable to determine that the identified parameters are addressed to the most appropriate socket for accommodating the request, the redirector requests instructions from a database. The socket redirector then modifies the IP socket call parameters using the instructions received from the database and sends the modified IP socket calls to network software for processing as described above.

Method and apparatus for providing intelligent network services

A endpoint client (,-,) on an IP Unicast network (,) that is provided access to a Multicast session on an IP Multicast network (,) through a Multicast-Unicast gateway server (MUS) (,) is enabled to re-Multicast that session to other endpoint clients (,-,) on the network to which it is connected or to endpoint clients (,) on any Multicast-capable sub-network (,) to which it is directly connected. To act as a re-Multicaster, the endpoint client receiving Unicast-addressed packets from the session from the MUS, re-translates these Unicast-addressed packets to Multicast-addressed packets by translating the Unicast address in the distribution field of each packet's header into a Multicast address and overwriting the Unicast address in each header with the Multicast address. When an endpoint client on the same or connected sub-network as the re-Multicaster desires to join a session that is being re-Multicast, it needs only connect to that Multicast address. A endpoint client on a Unicast network can elect to be a re-Multicaster of packets from a session as long as that same session is not being re-Multicast by another endpoint client on any sub-network on which the electing re-Multicaster is connected or a Multicast router is not forwarding packets from the session onto the sub-network.

Method for a unicast endpoint client to access a multicast internet protocol (IP) session and to serve as a redistributor of such session

A network information delivery system automatically determines end-user information output requirements based on predetermined data corresponding to each requesting end-user terminal. A user profile is maintained in a database either associated with a network information delivery system or with the end-user terminal and is accessed by the network information delivery device. If the network information delivery device has authority to access the end-user terminal, a program may be downloaded to the end-user terminal to determine the exact end-user terminal configuration. The program executing in the end-user terminal returns to the network information delivery device a user profile containing the end-user terminal capabilities so that the requested information may be formatted and delivered to the end-user in an optimal manner. The information to be delivered to end-users may be pre-stored in predetermined formats. The predetermined formats may be determined based on a volume of requests and the characteristic of the information. The information may also be stored in a generic format so that packaging the information for a specific user may be efficiently and timely performed.

Network information delivery system for delivering information based on

A customized advertising repository server is connected on the World Wide Web (WWW), which can be accessed by a registered user through his or her browser either by clicking on an icon, or by inputting the specific URL address of the particular server which stores that user's advertising repository. When the user accesses his or her customized ad repository through the browser, a composite advertising page is dynamically configured by the Customized Advertising Repository (CAR) server for that particular user based on that user's previously provided user profile. Furthermore, at least a portion of that composite advertising page can be dynamically configured on a context dependent basis determined from the particular Web site or sites that the user has accessed prior to accessing the CAR. The dynamically configured composite page or pages of advertising provided to the user may contain plural static images, streaming banners, 3-D images, animation, video and/or audio clips, using any of the technologies available on the Web for presenting textual and/or visual information. Such a composite page or pages is configured from a database which stores such images, banners, animation, etc., from plural advertisers. The customized page is created by selecting from among a storehouse of plural different subscribing advertisers and their associated banner ads, images, etc., those particular images, etc. that will be elements of the customized page based on the user's specific areas of interest as determined from the profile, and/or the context dependency. From such dynamically configured composite page or pages, the user can then click on a particular image, video window, banner, etc., to retrieve, through a hyperlink, further information directly from the selected advertiser's own Web site or mirror Web site.

Method and system for presenting customized advertising to a user on the

A communications system uses a World Wide Web (Web) server to provide multimedia messaging functions over the Internet. Multimedia workstations are interconnected via the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Parties are provided with multimedia mailboxes on message servers that are connected to the PSTN and the Internet. In order to identify the message server on which a called party's mailbox is located, the Web server provides the multimedia number of the called party's message server when a call is made. In addition, the Web server provides the multimedia number of the called party. When a multimedia call is unanswered, the system uses the multimedia number of the message server and the called party multimedia number provided by the Web server to record and store a message for the called party in the called party's mailbox.

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Manalapan, NJ, United States of America

Steven Howard Nurenberg