Alcatel Lucent

Zlatko Krstulich

Peter Mark Rabinovitch

Bashar Said Bou-Diab

Frederic Gariador

Arnold Jansen

A method and apparatus are provided for allowing IP endpoints to communicate over a PSTN with improved signal quality. Watermarks are used in the handshaking between the end-points when a communication session is being established, the watermarks indicating that the endpoints are capable of VoIP. If the two end-points establish that they are each VoIP-capable then packet data is inserted into a TDM channel using a framing technique managed by the gateways, with the bearer data being native to the VoIP devices, avoiding the lossy conversion of packet-voice data to 64 kb/s PCM and back to packet data again, realizing that the other end-point will be able to decode the data. If an IP-enabled endpoint determines that the other endpoint is not IP-enabled, then the data is inserted into the TDM channel by the gateway after conversion to 64 kb/s PCM so that the resulting TDM stream remains compatible with the PSTN and non-IP endpoints.

Impairment reduction for tandem VoIP calls

A system and method are provided for subscriber to content provider network access service management which is requested by and paid for by the content provider to the network access provider. In response to the request from the content provider the network access provider invokes changes in bandwidth and/or quality of service for network traffic traversing between the web service provided by the content provider and the subscriber, either automatically or in response to a run-time request. The changes made in bandwidth and/or quality of service for the network traffic enables more robust and timely content and applications to be delivered to the specific subscriber from the content provider.

System and method of subscriber to content provider network access service management

A method and apparatus are provided for providing authentication of an e-commerce server to a user engaging in e-commerce transactions. When the user begins an e-commerce session, the e-commerce server requests an authentication token from an authentication proxy with which it has registered. If the authentication proxy recognizes the e-commerce server, the authentication proxy generates an authentication token in the form of a simple image, and sends the authentication token to the e-commerce server over a trusted path. The e-commerce server sends the authentication token to the user. The authentication proxy also sends a copy of the authentication token to the user over a second trusted path to a second device or application accessible by the user. The user can then see that the authentication token presented by the e-commerce server matches the authentication token presented by the authentication proxy. Since the user has received the two authentication proxies over separate channels, one of which is typically secure, the user can be assured that the e-commerce server has been authenticated by the authentication proxy, and that the e-commerce server is therefore legitimate.

Identity verification for secure e-commerce transactions

A system and method are provided for allowing users to verify the presence of personal items. RFID tags are attached to personal items, and the items are entered into a list. The user makes travel lists from the list of items. When traveling, the user queries the system to determine whether all personal items in the travel list are within range of the system. The system checks for the presence of the RFID tags associated with the items in the travel list. If any RFIDs are not present, the user is alerted. Optionally, the system updates the last known location of items whenever checking for the presence of personal items, so that if an item is not found the user can determine where the item was last known to have been.

Personal item reminder

A method is provided for ensuring that specific traffic flows are adequately prioritized in a public packet communication network even when the network is heavily congested. Per-flow QoS capability is added to VPN tunnels. Connection requests are routed through a specific port in an access provider's network to designated VPN gateway. Deep packet inspection is performed on traffic through the port in an attempt to determine whether the connection request was accepted. If the connection request was accepted, the traffic flows associated with that session may be given a specific priority of QoS level when transiting a packet access network.

System and method for prioritization of traffic through internet access network

A system and method are provided for controlling access to a wireless network by a remote terminal in a restricted frequency band in accordance with authorization conditions defined by geographic location. The remote terminal has a geographic self locating capability from which a location specifier is generated. The location specifier is compared to a geographic zone map which has information pertaining to conditions for authorizing communications in the restricted frequency band for various different geographic zones. Depending upon which geographic zone the remote terminal is in or nearby, power level, and time period of communication vary.

Restricted frequency band remote device communication authorization by geographic location

A method and apparatus for assessing a communications' network adherence to Service Level Agreements (SLAs) is presented. The apparatus includes a arrival curve parameter derivation and arrival curve parameter reporting means. A arrival curve parameter generator may be implemented either in hardware for a predefined response in fitting arrival curves to cumulative content arrival variations, or in software for flexibility in the content traffic considered for assessment. The arrival curve generator may be associated with a physical port, a line card, or a network node. Arrival curve parameters defining arrival curves are employed by a Network Management System (NMS) in conjunction with communications network node and communications network service curves in performing SLA conformance assessments. The advantages are derived from a distributed content traffic characterization in terms of arrival curves, a reduced resource overhead in conveying arrival curve parameters without sacrificing SLA assessment thoroughness.

Network service level agreement arrival-curve-based conformance checking

A system and method are provided for providing users of voice conferencing with indications of the quality perceived by other users of the voice conferencing system. A voice conferencing bridge measures the quality of the each user's channel, and provides real-time feedback to users whose channel quality is inadequate and that other users cannot hear them clearly. The feedback may be in the form of in-band or out-of-band signals, indicating for example that the user should speak louder, should mute while off-line, or warning the user that his or her channel may be muted automatically. The last option is particularly useful if a participant has temporarily left the conference and is playing music or hold tones while absent.

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Ottawa, Canada

Zlatko Krstulich