Method and apparatus for rapid setup of a telephony communication using multiple communication channels

摘要

A first telephony device sets up a first communication channel through an Internet protocol (IP) network for conducting an IP based telephony communication with a second telephony device. The first communication channel includes one or more media relays. The first telephony device then begins to conduct the telephony communication with the second telephony device over the first communication channel. While the initial stages of the telephony communication are ongoing, the first telephony device sets up a second communication channel with the second telephony device that does not utilize media relays. The telephony communication is then switched to the second communication channel. Proceeding in this fashion ensures that a communication channel can be rapidly established between the first and second telephony devices so that the telephony communication can quickly commence.

主权项

1. A method for setting up and using communication channels that allow a first telephony device to conduct a telephone call with a second telephony device in an Internet protocol (IP) environment, the method comprising:
establishing a communication setup path, using a proxy server, between the first telephony device and the second telephony device; setting up a first communication channel between the first telephony device and the second telephony device using at least one media relay based on information received from the proxy server; conducting at least an initial portion of the established and now ongoing telephone call via the first communication channel; setting up a second communication channel between the first and second telephony devices using peer-to-peer based communication; and switching the ongoing telephone call from the first communication channel to the second communication channel while maintaining connectivity between the first and second telephony devices over the first communication channel.