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

Abstract

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.

What is claimed is: 
     
         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:
 receiving a telephone call request from an IP telephony system component;   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 telephone call request;   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;   determining a quality of the second communication channel while the initial portion of the telephone call is ongoing; 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 based on the results of the determining step.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising keeping the first communication channel open and available after the ongoing telephone call is switched to the second communication channel. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 determining if a quality of the second communication channel falls below a threshold level after the ongoing telephone call has been switched to the second communication channel; and   switching the ongoing telephone call back to the first communication channel if the quality of the second communication channel is determined to have fallen below the threshold level.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of setting up a second communication channel comprises communicating with the second telephony device while the initial portion of the ongoing telephone call is being conducted to obtain information which is used to setup the second communication channel. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ongoing telephone call is an ongoing audio or video telephone call. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a minimal amount of connectivity between the first and second telephony devices over the first communication channel is maintained. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein connectivity is maintained over the first communication channel by periodically sending data packets along the first communication channel.