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Telecommunications

Patent Issued for Location-Based Address Normalization

2012 AUG 22 (VerticalNews) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Telecommunications Weekly -- A patent by the inventor Parameswar, Sriram (Snoqualmie, WA), filed on June 11, 2008, was cleared and issued on August 7, 2012, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by VerticalNews correspondents.

Patent number 8238922 is assigned to Microsoft Corporation (Redmond, WA).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: "Number normalization is used in telecommunications networks for receiving a string of dialed numbers from a user and converting the string into a format that can be used by call processing equipment, to route communication sessions from the user to a destination entity. Number normalization is typically used in conjunction with a conventional numbering scheme, such as E.164, recommended by the International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T), which defines the international public telecommunication numbering plan used in the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) includes various geographically-bounded numbering plan areas, having numbers defined by a three-digit area code and a seven-digit telephone number for routing calls.

"A specific example of number normalization is abbreviated dialing, in which a user can dial a shortened string of digits to connect within a particular service area. For example, for local dialing within an area code, a user can dial 555-1234 and the number is automatically normalized within the network to the NANP number of 425-555-1234. In dialing within a private corporate network, a further abbreviated number can be used (e.g., 51234) and that dialed string is normalized to 425-555-1234, even for corporate users within the network from different geographic locations outside the local numbering plan boundaries.

"In mobile communications, a problem can arise when a mobile user is operating outside the user's normal operating area while traveling, since a user's location affects the normalization of the number. For example, a United States user traveling in the United Kingdom (UK) may be unable to complete calls since the local UK phone network uses different number normalization rules to format the dialed string than the rules used by the user's NANP normalized phone. This results in frustration, inconvenience, and a loss in productivity for the user and for the individuals the user needs to contact.

"In addition to mobile phones, normalization can also applied be to other types of mobile devices or mobile-capable systems, such as laptop computers that use different address formats, when roaming across numbering plan boundaries. Such address formats can include URIs (uniform resource identifiers) based addresses, which include both email addresses and session initiation protocol (SIP) addresses."

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, VerticalNews journalists also obtained the inventor's summary information for this patent: "The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some novel embodiments described herein. This summary is not an extensive overview, and it is not intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope thereof. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

"To that end, architecture is disclosed for normalizing phone numbers and other data strings when a user is communicating outside the user's local service area. A variety of normalization rules are provided for numbering plans corresponding a variety of geographic locations representing different telecommunications service areas. These normalization rules can be stored in a normalization database. When dialing a phone number or other connection address, a current location of the user's mobile device is sent to an enterprise communications server. The location is used to select a suitable normalization rule that applies for the local service area. The selected normalization rule is applied to the dialed phone number or other type data string to produce a normalized number that can be used in connecting to the destination in accordance with the local communications network. In this way, communication is facilitated for mobile users traveling outside a normal service area.

"To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative of the various ways in which the principles disclosed herein can be practiced, all aspects and equivalents of which are intended to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Other advantages and novel features will become apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the drawings."

URL and more information on this patent, see: Parameswar, Sriram. Location-Based Address Normalization. U.S. Patent Number 8238922, filed June 11, 2008, and issued August 7, 2012. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=30&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1488&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=20120807.PD.&OS=ISD/20120807&RS=ISD/20120807

Keywords for this news article include: Telecommunications, Microsoft Corporation.