Method and apparatus for establishing communications between packet-switched and circuit-switched networks
US6347085B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 14, 1997 |
| Grant date | Feb 12, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 14, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04Q3/0025
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus for enabling communication between packet-switched data networks and circuit-switched communication networks utilizes the existing domain name system infrastructure of the Internet to resolve traditional PSTN telephone numbers into domain names, and, using one or more domain name servers, locate the network protocol address of a gateway capable of connecting an executing task on the packet-switched data network to the desired terminating apparatus on the circuit switched communication network. Also disclosed is a gateway architecture capable of performing the cross network connections as well as domain name server architecture which stores the segments of a telephone number, such as country code, area code and exchange, in a hierarchical tree configuration.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.