Session identifier for a communication session

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10855654-B2
Application number	US-201816019244-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 26, 2018
Priority date	Jun 25, 2015
Publication date	Dec 1, 2020
Grant date	Dec 1, 2020

Abstract

Techniques for a session identifier for a communication session are described. According to various implementations, a session identifier that is usable for initiating a communication session is allocated prior to the communication session being initiated. The session identifier can then be activated to enable the session identifier to be used for routing data packets of a communication session.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more computer-readable storage media storing instructions that are executable by the one or more processors to perform operations including:
receiving, at a first device and before initiation of a communication session, an offer from a second device to participate in the communication session, the offer including a server address for a server and a session identifier for the communication session;
communicating one or more packets of the communication session to the server addressed with the server address, the one or more packets including the session identifier effective to cause the one or more packets to be forwarded from the server to the second device; and
participating in a network address discovery process between the first device and the second device to enable the first device to discover a network address of the second device, and the second device to discover a network address of the first device such that packets subsequent to the one or more packets of the communication session are routable directly between the first device and the second device by enabling the first device to address a first subsequent packet of the communication session using the network address of the second device, and by enabling the second device to address a second subsequent packet of the communication session using the network address of the first device.

2. A system as described in claim 1 , wherein the offer does not include a network address of a network address translator.

3. A system as described in claim 1 , wherein the offer includes a port identifier to be used for transmitting the one or more packets to the server, and wherein the operations further include addressing the one or more packets using the port identifier.

4. A system as described in claim 1 , wherein the offer includes a port identifier to be used for transmitting the one or more packets to the server, the port identifier being specific to a particular type of communication modality, and wherein the operations further include addressing the one or more packets using the port identifier.

5. A system as described in claim 1 , wherein the offer includes a port identifier to be used for transmitting the one or more packets to the server, the port identifier being specific to a particular quality of service, and wherein the operations further include addressing the one or more packets using the port identifier.

6. A system as described in claim 1 , wherein the one or more packets include communication media of the communication session.

7. A system as described in claim 1 , wherein the network address of the second device comprises a network address of a network address translator that is communicatively associated with the second device.

8. A system as described in claim 1 , wherein the operations further include:
obtaining, prior to receiving the offer from the second device, a different session identifier;
causing, based on the offer from the second device, the different session identifier to be activated at a different server; and
communicating an answer to the second device, the answer including the different session identifier and a server address for the different server, wherein the session identifier and the different session identifier are usable as part of the network address discovery process.

9. A method comprising:
receiving, at a first device and before initiation of a communication session, an offer from a second device to participate in the communication session, the offer including a server address for a server and a session identifier for the communication session;
communicating one or more packets of the communication session to the server addressed with the server address, the one or more packets including the session identifier effective to cause the one or more packets to be forwarded from the server to the second device; and
participating in a network address discovery process between the first device and the second device to enable the first device to discover a network address of the second device, and the second device to discover a network address of the first device such that packets subsequent to the one or more packets of the communication session are routable directly between the first device and the second device by enabling the first device to address a first subsequent packet of the communication session using the network address of the second device, and by enabling the second device to address a second subsequent packet of the communication session using the network address of the first device.

10. A method as recited in claim 9 , wherein the offer includes a port identifier to be used for transmitting the one or more packets to the server, and wherein the method further comprises addressing the one or more packets using the port identifier.

11. A method as recited in claim 9 , wherein the offer includes a port identifier to be used for transmitting the one or more packets to the server, the port identifier being specific to a particular type of communication modality, and wherein the method further comprises addressing the one or more packets using the port identifier.

12. A method as recited in claim 9 , wherein the offer includes a port identifier to be used for transmitting the one or more packets to the server, the port identifier being specific to a particular quality of service, and wherein the method further comprises addressing the one or more packets using the port identifier.

13. A method as recited in claim 9 , further comprising communicating an answer to the offer to the second device, the answer comprising a different session identifier, wherein the session identifier and the different session identifier are usable as part of the network address discovery process.

14. A method as recited in claim 9 , further comprising:
obtaining, prior to receiving the offer from the second device, a different session identifier;
causing, based on the offer from the second device, the different session identifier to be activated at a different server; and
communicating an answer to the second device, the answer including the different session identifier and a server address for the different server, wherein the session identifier and the different session identifier are usable as part of the network address discovery process.

15. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more computer-readable storage media storing instructions that are executable by the one or more processors to perform operations including:
communicating an allocation request including a network address of a first device;
receiving, prior to initiation of a communication session, a response to the allocation request including a session identifier;
receiving, after the response to the allocation request, an offer from a second device to establish the communication session with the second device;
communicating an activation request that includes the session identifier and a transport address for the first device, the activation request indicating that the session identifier is to be activated for the communication session; and
receiving media of the communication session at the first device addressed with the transport address.

16. A system as described in claim 15 , wherein the allocation request and the activation request are communicated from the first device to a server.

17. A system as described in claim 15 , wherein the offer includes a different session identifier and a different transport address assoc

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Moore Timothy Mark
• Qian Tin
• Gunnalan Rajesh

Classifications

• H04L2101/663

  Transport layer addresses, e.g. aspects of transmission control protocol [TCP] or user datagram protocol [UDP] ports · CPC title

• H04L67/146

  Markers for unambiguous identification of a particular session, e.g. session cookie or URL-encoding · CPC title

• H04L65/60

  Network streaming of media packets · CPC title

• H04L65/1069 Primary

  Session establishment or de-establishment · CPC title

• H04L61/2589 Primary

  over a relay server, e.g. traversal using relay for network address translation [TURN] · CPC title