Real time replay service for communications network

Abstract

The present invention is a method and system for buffering and replaying a segment of a voice or data transmission. A connection is established between two end nodes in the network. At an intermediate node in the network between the end nodes, a predetermined segment of the data is maintained in a memory as a buffer. Upon receiving a request from one of the end nodes to replay the segment, that segment is replayed and transmitted to the requesting node. The request may be made by a user at one of the end nodes, or may be made automatically after detecting corrupt data. Because the buffering module is in the network, it need not be incorporated in premises or mobile equipment. Because the buffering module is remote from the requesting end node, the replayed data does not contain errors introduced in the original data between the buffering module and the requesting end node.

1 . A method replaying a portion of a communication, comprising the steps of: 
 establishing a connection between first and second end nodes thereby establishing a communication in progress;    receiving, at a buffering module in the connection from the first and second end nodes, a communications signal sent from the second end node to the first end node;    maintaining in a memory a segment of the communications signal that was transmitted through the buffering module immediately previous to present time;    receiving at the buffering module a request to retransmit at least a portion of the segment of the signal; and    during the communication in progress retransmitting from the buffering module to the first end node the portion of the segment.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the connection is a PSTN, and wherein the step of establishing a connection includes establishing a circuit-switched path.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the request to retransmit is a touch-tone sequence.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the request to retransmit is an in-band signal.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the request to retransmit is an out-of-band signal.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of receiving at the buffering module a request to begin maintaining in a memory a segment of the signal.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the connection is a packet switched network.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the step of establishing a connection comprises establishing a TCP/IP connection.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the communications signal is a voice signal, and the segment of the signal is a time segment of the voice signal.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the connection includes an unreliable portion between the first node and the buffering module.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first node is a handheld device selected from a group consisting of a premises telephone station set, a wireless telephone handset and a PDA.  
   
   
       12 . A method replaying a portion of a communication, comprising the steps of: 
 establishing a connection between first and second end nodes;    receiving, at a buffering module in the connection remote from the first and second end nodes, a communications signal sent from the second end node to the first end node;    maintaining in a memory a segment of the communications signal that was transmitted through the buffering module immediately previous to present time;    receiving at the buffering module a request to retransmit at least a portion of the segment of the signal;    retransmitting from the buffering module to the first end node the portion of the segment; and wherein the connection includes an audio bridge, and wherein the step of maintaining in memory a segment of the signal comprises maintaining in memory a segment of a signal sent by the audio bridge to listening station sets.    
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of storing a record of the retransmitting step in a message record accumulator.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the request to retransmit received at the buffering module is automatically generated.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the request is generated at the first node.  
   
   
       16 . A method for retransmitting a portion of a communication signal to an end node in a network having an unreliable link, comprising the steps of: 
 buffering, at a location in the network on a side of the unreliable link opposite the end node, a segment of the communication transmitted immediately previous to present time;    receiving, at said location, a request to retransmit at least a portion of the communication segment; and    retransmitting the portion of the segment across the unreliable link to the end node.    
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the unreliable link is a wireless signal.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the request to retransmit is a touch-tone sequence.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the first node is a handheld device selected from a group consisting of a wireless telephone handset and a PDA.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the buffering module and the first node are essentially co-located.