CN101102145A - A multi-party conference system originated by mobile terminal and its method - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention is concerned with a kind of multi-side meeting system and method initiated by moving terminal, using for initiating multi-side meeting with some communication terminals by moving terminal. Set group claim to initiate multi-side meeting in moving terminal, and the said group claim relating to the number of moving terminal for attending the multi-side meeting, and the said moving terminal sends group claim to meeting machine through cellular mobile network and IP net, and the meeting machine resolves the said group claim to get the said number of moving terminal for attending the multi-side meeting. And the meeting machine orders sound/ data net to send call to the said communication terminals for attending the multi-side meeting, and the communication terminals will answer the call send by sound/ data net.

Description

System and method for initiating multi-party conference by mobile terminal

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a communication system, and more particularly, to a system and method for initiating a multi-party conference by a mobile terminal.

Background

With the high degree of informatization of society, mobile phone users no longer satisfy double-party calls, but want to realize simultaneous multi-party calls.

In the existing communication network, a multiparty conference is mainly established by the following method.

First, a reservation needs to be made between the set-up of the multi-party conference. The multi-party conference service is a value added service provided by mobile communication operators for mobile phone users, and the mobile phone users need to go to a mobile business hall for service application, acquire a mobile conference card and further manage the conference service. Before a mobile conference is performed, time reservation, member setting, conference password application, notification of reservation information of members, and the like are required. The method comprises the following steps: a user directly dials a special telephone conference service number, such as 13800898201, and accesses a telephone conference system; the system then prompts "set up new meeting place as 1 and join meeting as 2". The conference moderator chooses "1" to set up a new meeting place and the conference participants choose "2" to join the existing meeting place. The conference organizer needs to notify the conference participants in advance, reserve and establish a meeting place in the conference system, and then the conference participants can join the conference after dialing the number of the conference system according to the time of the conference notification. Secondly, in the fixed telephone network, similar to that in the mobile network, the user sets up a meeting place by dialing a special telephone conference number and obtains a conference code and a password, and the fixed telephone terminal participating in the conference inputs the conference code and the password through a number keypad to enter the meeting place. In the multi-party conference method in the prior art, a conference organizer is required to reserve a conference in advance, and then users participating in the conference enter the multi-party conference by dialing back a number keyboard, so that no matter the conference organizer or conference participants, an instant teleconference can not be carried out, and the establishment of a teleconference is quite complicated.

In addition, a method for establishing a call connection with a multipoint control unit by using a fixed telephone is provided in the prior art, see chinese patent application CN200410042913.6, in which the multipoint control unit performs conference control according to telephone key information, a user initiating a conference is limited by a fixed telephone communication line, and cannot implement mobile conference scheduling, and a means for initiating a conference is performed by a key, which greatly limits convenience and flexibility of a multiparty conference.

Disclosure of Invention

The technical problem to be solved by the invention is to provide a system and a method for initiating a multi-party conference by a mobile terminal, which realize the initiation of the mobile terminal of an instant telephone conference based on a TCP/IP protocol.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for initiating a multi-party conference by a mobile terminal, for initiating a plurality of communication terminals to participate in the multi-party conference by using the mobile terminal, comprising the steps of:

setting a group call request for initiating a multi-party conference in a mobile terminal, wherein the group call request comprises the number of a communication terminal participating in the multi-party conference;

the mobile terminal sends the group call request to a conference machine through a cellular mobile network and an IP network;

the conference machine analyzes the group call request to obtain the number of the communication terminal participating in the multi-party conference;

the conference machine commands the voice/data network to initiate a call to the communication terminals participating in the multi-party conference;

the communication terminals participating in the multi-party conference respond to the call initiated by the voice/data network so as to participate in the multi-party conference; wherein,

the step of setting up the group call request comprises:

setting an instant conference group call request for initiating an instant multi-party conference; and/or

Setting a conference reservation group call request for initiating a reservation of a multi-party conference, wherein the conference reservation group call request comprises the time for reserving the multi-party conference, and a conference machine calls communication terminals participating in the multi-party conference according to the time for reserving the multi-party conference.

The method also comprises an inquiry step, which is used for inquiring the reserved multi-party conference according to an inquiry request input by a user.

Wherein, the method also comprises a canceling step for canceling the reserved multiparty conference.

Wherein, the communication terminal participating in the multi-party conference comprises:

a host terminal; for managing the multi-party conference; and

and the participating terminal is used for participating in the multi-party conference.

Wherein, in the step of setting the group call request, the number of any one of the communication terminals is set as the number of the host terminal.

Wherein, the mobile terminal is also provided with a notice for meeting explanation.

Wherein the notification for meeting description is sent in the form of a short message or an IP data packet.

The voice/data network comprises an IP network, a data private network, a PSTN network and a cellular mobile network.

The present invention also provides a system for initiating a multiparty conference by a mobile terminal, which is used for initiating a plurality of communication terminals to participate in the multiparty conference by using the mobile terminal, and comprises:

a mobile terminal for setting a group call request for initiating a multiparty conference, wherein the group call request comprises the number of a communication terminal participating in the multiparty conference, and the mobile terminal sends the group call request to the conference machine through a cellular mobile network and an IP network;

the conference machine is used for analyzing the group call request to obtain the number of the communication terminal participating in the conference and commanding the voice/data network to initiate a call to the communication terminal participating in the multi-party conference; and

the communication terminal is used for responding to a call initiated by a voice/data network so as to participate in the multi-party conference; wherein,

the mobile terminal includes:

an instant conference setting unit, which is used for setting an instant conference group call request for initiating an instant multi-party conference;

the conference reservation setting unit is used for setting and initiating a conference reservation group call request for reserving the multi-party conference, the conference reservation group call request comprises the time for reserving the multi-party conference, and the conference machine calls the communication terminals participating in the multi-party conference according to the time for reserving the multi-party conference.

The mobile terminal further comprises an inquiry/cancellation unit used for inquiring the reserved multi-party conference by an inquiry request input by a user.

Wherein the inquiring/canceling unit is further configured to cancel the reserved multi-party conference.

Wherein, the communication terminal participating in the multi-party conference comprises:

a host terminal; for managing the multi-party conference; and

and the participating terminal is used for participating in the multi-party conference.

Wherein, in the setting of the group call request, the number of any communication terminal is set as the number of the host terminal.

The mobile terminal is further used for setting a notification for meeting explanation.

Wherein the notification for meeting specification is sent in the form of a short message or an IP data packet.

The voice/data network comprises an IP network, a data private network, a PSTN network and a cellular mobile network.

Therefore, the system and the method for initiating the multi-party conference by the mobile terminal can initiate the conference mobile terminal for any user in the existing voice/data network, and the general performance and the system compatibility of the system are superior to those of the conference mobile terminal initiating system in the prior art.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a mobile terminal of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a network architecture diagram of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a data flow diagram of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a system flow diagram of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a system for sending a group call request in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is one of the schematic diagrams of the present invention for setting up a group call request;

FIG. 7 is one of the schematic diagrams of the present invention for setting up a group call request;

FIG. 8 is one of the schematic diagrams of the present invention for setting up a group call request;

FIG. 9 is one of the schematic diagrams of the present invention for setting up a group call request;

FIG. 10 is one of the schematic diagrams of the present invention for setting up a group call request;

FIG. 11 is one of the schematic diagrams of the present invention for setting up a group call request;

FIG. 12 is one of the schematic diagrams of the present invention for setting up a group call request;

fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of setting up a group call request according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 14 is a system configuration diagram of a mobile terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a system flow diagram of the present invention for querying/canceling a meeting;

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of the invention querying/canceling a meeting;

FIG. 17 is a system flow diagram of a conferencing machine;

fig. 18 is an IP packet format created according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a mobile terminal of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, themobile terminal 1 includes: adisplay device 12 for displaying a multiparty conference initiating dialog in the mobile terminal; acontrol device 11, configured to set a group call request according to request information input by a user in the multi-party conference dialog box, where the group call request includes an instant conference group call request for initiating an instant multi-party conference and a conference reservation group call request for initiating a conference reservation; astorage device 13 for storing the group call request and the number of the communication terminal participating in the multi-party conference; and a transmitting/receivingdevice 14, configured to transmit the group call request to the conference machine 4 and receive the conference feedback transmitted by the conference machine. Thecontrol device 11 specifically includes an instantconference setting unit 11a, configured to set an instant conference group call request according to request information input by a user in the multi-party conference dialog box, so as to initiate an instant conference; and/or a reservedconference setting unit 11b for setting a reserved conference group call request according to the request information input by the user in the above-mentioned multiparty conference dialog box, thereby initiating a reserved multiparty conference.

The instant conference and the reservation conference initiated by the mobile terminal will be described in detail below.

Fig. 2 is a network structure diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 3 is a data flow diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 4 is a system flow diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 1, 2, 3 and 4, in the system for initiating a multiparty conference by a mobile terminal provided by the present invention, themobile terminal 1 sends a group call request to the conference machine 4, the group call request is sent to the conference machine 4 through the cellularmobile network 2 and the IP network 3 in the form of an IP (Internet Protocol) packet to initiate the multiparty conference (S1), the IP packet includes the number of a communication terminal participating in the conference, and the IP packet conforms to the TCP/IP Protocol family, such as HTTP Protocol, FTP Protocol, WINSOCK Protocol, and the like. The mobile terminal 1 sends the IP data packet to the conference machine 4 through the cellular mobile network 2, such as GPRS CS1-CS4 channel or C network 1X channel, and the IP network 3, the conference machine 4 authenticates and analyzes the received IP data packet, and determines whether the group call request sent by the mobile terminal 1 is legal through authentication (S2), and obtains the number of the communication terminal 6 participating in the conference through analysis; if the group call request is unauthorized, feeding back a message of conference setup failure to the mobile terminal 1 (S3), otherwise, if the group call request is authorized, setting up the conference and feeding back a message of conference setup success to the mobile terminal 1 (S4); the conference machine 4 analyzes the transmitted group call request, analyzes the obtained number of the communication terminal 6 participating in the conference, and judges whether the group call request is an instant conference group call request or a reservation conference group call request (S5); if the conference is an instant conference, the conference machine 4 forwards the number of the communication terminal 6 participating in the conference, which is obtained by parsing, to the voice/data network 5 and commands the same to call each communication terminal 6 participating in the conference (S9), wherein the voice/data network includes an IP network, a private data network, a PSTN network and a cellular mobile network, the PSTN network is taken as an example, but not limited thereto, if the communication terminal 6 participating in the conference responds to the call, that is, answers the call, the conference is joined (S11), otherwise, if the communication terminal 6 participating in the conference does not respond to the call, that is, the call is hung up, the conference call fails (S10); if it is a reserved conference, the conference machine transmits a notification of the reserved conference to the communication terminals 6 participating in the conference to notify each of the communication terminals 6 participating in the conference of the time and subject of the conference (S6); the conference machine 4 then determines whether the current time is a reserved conference holding time based on the reserved conference time set in the reserved conference group call request (S7), and if not, continues to wait (S8), and if so, executes step S9 to call the communication terminal 6 participating in the conference.

The IP data packet sent by themobile terminal 1 may include the conference ID number and the corresponding password, the number of the host terminal, the number of the participating terminal, the text description of the relevant conference, the conference reservation time, the inquiry and cancellation of the reserved conference, etc. This will be described in detail below.

Fig. 3 is a data flow diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, in which themobile terminal 1 sends a set IP packet to the conference machine 4 via the cellularmobile network 2 and the IP network 3; the conference machine IP network receiving layer unpacks the IP data packet after receiving the IP data packet to obtain conference authentication information comprising a conference ID number and a corresponding password; then the conference machine IP network receiving layer sends a conference authentication request corresponding to the conference authentication information to a conference machine conference resource layer; the conference machine conference resource layer authenticates the conference authentication request, feeds back illegal conference information to themobile terminal 1 if the conference is unauthorized, and feeds back legal conference information to the conference machine IP network receiving layer if the conference is authorized; after receiving the legal meeting information, the receiving layer of the IP network of the meeting machine sends a meeting establishing mode, such as an instant meeting, a reserved meeting, a meeting inquiry/cancellation and the like, to the meeting machine meeting resource layer; after receiving the above-mentioned mode of establishing a conference, the conference resource layer of the conference machine feeds back to themobile terminal 1, and if the conference is an instant conference, calls thecommunication terminal 6 to participate in the conference.

Themobile terminal 1 stores telephone numbers and IP addresses for conference participants, such as an address book function in the prior art, themobile terminal 1 establishes participants of a multi-party conference by setting a host terminal and a participant terminal, namely setting a corresponding terminal to manage the conference right and the conference participation right, wherein the host terminal of the conference is used for managing the multi-party conference call and has a control right for the multi-party conference call; the participating terminal is used for participating in the conference according to the call and responding to the control of the host terminal. By setting in the initiated group call request, the mobile terminal initiating the group call request can set itself as the host terminal or the participating terminal, and can also not make any setting concerning the host function and the participating function for itself. That is, if the number of the mobile terminal initiating the group call request is not included in the group call request, the mobile terminal initiating the group call request may not participate in the conference after initiating the conference, i.e., the transfer of the conference host/participation function is realized. Therefore, the mobile terminal not only realizes the function of initiating the conference scheduling, but also can selectively participate in the multi-party conference. The mobile terminal comprises a mobile phone, a PDA and other client terminals which can exchange data. For example, in consideration of the current situation that the call charge of the mobile phone is higher than that of the fixed phone, the user can use the mobile phone to initiate the conference and select the fixed phone as the host terminal to host the conference, and in charging, the mobile phone initiating the conference only needs to bear the charge of transmitting the IP data without involving any roaming call charge, and correspondingly, the fixed phone is set to bear the call charge, thereby saving the call charge.

After receiving the IP data packet, the IP network forwards the IP data packet to the conference machine. The conference machine connects the voice/data network with the packet switching network (i.e. IP data network), and realizes the conversion of signaling and data format between the voice/data network and the IP data network. The voice/data network includes IP network, data private network, PSTN network, cellular mobile network, etc. which can transmit data. The conference machine analyzes the IP data packet and authenticates to confirm whether the group call request is legal, and after the group call request is legal, the conference machine orders the voice/data network to initiate a call to the host terminal and the participant terminal so as to participate in the multi-party conference.

The initiation of the group call request requires first setting the group call request in the mobile terminal, as shown in fig. 5, the specific steps are as follows:

in step S21, a host terminal is first set, and the host terminal of the conference can be a mobile phone, a fixed phone, and any communication terminal with an IP address. As shown in fig. 6, specifically, a "host number" dialog box is displayed in thedisplay device 12, the user fills in the "host number" column with the telephone number of the host terminal, which may be the mobile phone number of the mobile terminal, other mobile phone numbers, a fixed phone number, and the IP address of any communication terminal with an IP address, the host terminal of the conference is used for managing the affiliated multiparty teleconference, has the control right for the multiparty teleconference, has the right to join a new participating terminal to participate in the conference or forcibly remove a participating terminal to participate in the conference, has the right to decide whether to record the scene, and the like. The host terminal and the participant terminal of the conference may be a mobile phone and a fixed phone and any communication terminal having an IP address. A conference ID number is filled in a column of 'conference ID', the conference ID number is a conference identification code used by a mobile terminal for initiating a conference, a user can register a multi-party conference with an operator and then obtain the conference ID number through authorization of the operator, and the conference ID number is used for verifying the permission of the mobile terminal for initiating a group call request; finally, the password corresponding to the conference ID number is filled in the password column, and the password is used for further verification of the conference ID number. The authentication system authenticates the group call request initiated by the mobile terminal according to the conference ID number and the password so as to judge whether the group call request is authorized;

step S22, a participant terminal of the conference is then selected, and the participant terminal of the conference can be a mobile phone, a fixed phone, and any communication terminal with an IP address. The selected participant terminal can participate in the conference after responding to the call of the voice/data network. Specifically, as shown in fig. 7, thedisplay device 12 pops up a "join terminal selection" dialog box, and the user performs a selection operation in the join terminal list, accordingly, he may select all the join terminals, or a part of the join terminals, or may perform group selection on the join terminals, where the join terminals "Hank", "John" and "Tom" are selected to participate in the conference, as shown in fig. 8, or may perform group selection, where the groups "IBM" and "microsoft" are selected to participate in the conference, where each group may include one or more join terminals, so that a group selection operation may be performed to simultaneously select a plurality of join terminals;

step S23, in which each participating terminal may have multiple phone numbers corresponding to each other, as shown in fig. 9, thedisplay device 12 pops up a "number selection" dialog box, for example, a phone number and a fixed phone number are stored in the participating terminal "Hank", and at this time, it is determined whether to initiate a call to all the numbers or to select one of the numbers for a call, and if a selection of a number is made, step S24 is executed; otherwise, executing step S25;

step S24, thecontrol device 11 then traverses all participating terminals, and the user selects one of the numbers for all participating terminals with multiple numbers;

step S25, or the user can select all phone numbers corresponding to the option of the participating terminal and confirm the selected participating terminal, as shown in fig. 10, so that theconference machine 11 will instruct the PSTN network to call all phones corresponding to the option of the participating terminal after receiving the group call request;

step S26, after confirming the participating terminal, as shown in fig. 11, thedisplay device 12 pops up a "conference selection" dialog box, the user can input the corresponding conference description in the "content" column of the dialog box, such as "conference about bid-on", so that the conference caption can be displayed on the host terminal and the participating terminal, the conference caption includes text content and/or image (not shown in the figure), then, if the initiated conference is an instant conference, the user can click the "instant conference" button, the instantconference setting unit 11a in thecontrol device 11 generates an instant conference group call request for initiating the instant conference according to the selection (S27); if the initiated conference is a reserved conference, the user may click a "reserved conference" button, and the reservedconference setting unit 11b in thecontrol device 11 generates a reserved conference group call request for initiating the reserved conference according to the selection (S27); and the control means 11 stores the group call request in the storage means 13.

Step S28, after generating the group call request (S27), the transmitting/receivingdevice 14 transmits the group call request to the conference machine 4 in the form of an IP packet, and simultaneously transmits the conference description to the conference machine 4 in the form of a short message or in the form of an IP packet; in addition, when the description is not required, any character description may not be input in the dialog box;

in step S26, if the user clicks the "reserve conference" button, as shown in fig. 12, the "reserve conference confirmation" dialog box pops up on thedisplay device 12, and the user selects a conference reservation time, such as the time "2006-07-10, 15: 30" of reserving the conference, while setting the conference description in themobile terminal 1. Thus, after receiving the group call request, the conference machine 4 analyzes the group call request, and calls the host terminal and the participant terminal at the time of reserving the conference according to the setting, that is, firstly commands the voice/data network to transmit the short message of the explanation of the reserved conference to the host terminal and the participant terminal, and then commands the voice/data network to call the host terminal and each participant terminal at 2006-07-10, 15: 30.

In another embodiment of the present invention, multiple multi-party conferences may also be initiated simultaneously, as shown in fig. 13, and described in detail below.

In themobile terminal 1, a "instant/reserved conference setting" dialog box pops up in thedisplay device 11, the user can select "participants" one by one for a plurality of multiparty conferences, input "conference descriptions" and select the attributes of the corresponding "instant conference" or "reserved conference", after setting all multiparty conferences, select a "ok" button, correspondingly, the instantconference setting unit 11a sets an instant conference group call request for making an instant conference, the reservedconference setting unit 11b sets a reserved conference group call request for making a reserved conference, then, the transmission/reception unit 14 simultaneously transmits the set one or more group call requests to the conference machine 4, the group call request comprises an instant conference group call request and/or a conference reservation group call request, so that the step of setting a plurality of multiparty conferences by a user can be reduced.

In addition, themobile terminal 1 may also query and/or cancel a conference it subscribes to. As shown in fig. 14, the control device 11' further includes an inquiry/cancellation unit 11c for inquiring about/canceling the reserved conference set by the mobile terminal.

As shown in fig. 15, first, the inquiry/cancel unit 11c inquires about the reserved conference stored in thelocal storage device 13 of themobile terminal 1 according to the user' S request (S31), when the user makes the inquiry request of the reserved conference, themobile terminal 1 makes the reserved conference search in its local storage and displays the search result so as to respond to the inquiry request of the reserved conference of the user and feed back information of all the reserved conferences, as shown in fig. 16, thedisplay device 12 pops up a "reserved conference" dialog box, if the user wishes to cancel a certain reserved conference, the reserved conference is selected and confirmed in the "reserved conference" dialog box (S32), then the inquiry/cancel unit 11c deletes the reserved conference and updates the reserved conference information stored in thestorage device 13, and generates a reserved conference cancel request to cancel the reserved conference (S33), the transmission/reception apparatus 14 transmits the reservation conference cancel request to the conference machine (S34), and accordingly, the conference machine cancels the reservation conference and notifies each communication terminal participating in the reservation conference that the conference has been cancelled.

After setting the group call request, themobile terminal 1 transmits the group call request to the conference machine 4 via the cellular mobile network and the IP network. The conference machine 4 authenticates the group call request, judges whether the conference ID number and the password of themobile terminal 1 are legal, if so, the conference machine 4 feeds back information of successful conference establishment to themobile terminal 1 and commands the voice/data network 5 to call the host terminal and each participant terminal; otherwise, the conference machine 4 feeds back the information of the failure of establishing the conference to themobile terminal 1, and ends the establishment of the conference. As shown in fig. 17, the specific steps are as follows.

Step S41, the conference machine 4 receives the group call request forwarded by the IP data network, and analyzes the IP data packet of the group call request to obtain the conference ID number and the corresponding password, and the telephone numbers of the host terminal and the participant terminal;

step S42, the above analysis result is authenticated, and whether the conference ID number of themobile terminal 1 is authorized legal number and whether the corresponding password is correct are judged; if the conference ID number is illegal or the password is incorrect, go to step S43; if the conference ID number is legal and the password is correct, go to step S44;

step S43, the conference machine 4 feeds back the information of conference failure to themobile terminal 1;

step S44, the conference machine 4 feeds back the information of successful conference establishment to themobile terminal 1;

step S45, judging whether to send short message related to meeting explanation; if yes, go to step S46; otherwise, executing step S47;

step S47, judging whether the multi-party conference is an instant conference; if the instant conference is performed, step S49 is executed; otherwise, the conference is reserved, and step S48 is executed;

a step S48 of setting a reserved meeting time according to the setting of themobile terminal 1, and executing the step S49 when the reserved meeting time is reached;

step S49, instructing a voice/data network, such as PSTN network, to call a communication terminal participating in the conference to participate in the multi-party conference, giving the host terminal the authority to perform the multi-party teleconference management according to the telephone numbers of the host terminal and the participating terminals, and giving the participating terminals the authority to participate in the multi-party teleconference,

then, the voice/data network calls the participating terminals participating in the multi-party conference according to the above commands, and the participating terminals can participate in the conference by selecting answering when being called, for example, a mobile phone, after receiving the call.

In this way, themobile terminal 1 can establish a multi-party conference by sending an IP data packet, and can establish a call of the multi-party conference even when the conference initiating terminal is not on line by setting the host terminal.

Themobile terminal 1 sends out a group call request through an outbound call, the group call request is an IP data packet, the IP data packet includes the number of the communication terminal participating in the conference, and the IP data packet conforms to the TCP/IP protocol family, such as HTTP protocol, FTP protocol, WINSOCK protocol, and the like. Themobile terminal 1 sends the IP data packet to the IP network through the GPRSCS1-CS4 channel or the C network 1X channel. The IP data uses a flexible definition, making the protocol definition very flexible and easy to scale. Fig. 18 is an IP packet format created according to an embodiment of the present invention. The IP data packet is composed of four parts, including: length, Reserved, Header, and Body. Specifically, as shown in table one:

table one: IP packet composition

Item	Description of the invention
		Length	The total Length of the message is the sum of the lengths of the Length, Reserved, Header and Body. This field itself takes 4 bytes.
Reserved	Fields are reserved. This field itself occupies 8 bytes.
		Header	Header, all message structures must contain a header. The message itself takes up 32 Bytes.
Body	The message bodies of different messages are different, and the length of the message bodies is variable.

The message Header (Header) is used for defining a protocol version used when data is sent by using a Verson field; defining Sender ID of group call request by using 'Sender'; the "Receiver" field is used to define the ID of the participating terminals participating in the conference.

When the numbers of the participating terminals participating in the multi-party conference are included in the 'Receiver' field, the conference machine can obtain the numbers of the participating terminals participating in the multi-party conference by analyzing the IP data packet after receiving the IP data packet, thereby commanding the voice/data network to call the participating terminals participating in the multi-party conference.

Various modifications may be made to the above without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. The scope of the invention is therefore intended to be limited not by the above description, but rather by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (24)

1. A method for initiating a multi-party conference by a mobile terminal, for initiating a plurality of communication terminals to participate in the multi-party conference by using the mobile terminal, comprising the steps of:

setting a group call request for initiating a multi-party conference in a mobile terminal, wherein the group call request comprises the number of a communication terminal participating in the multi-party conference;

the mobile terminal sends the group call request to a conference machine through a cellular mobile network and an IP network;

the conference machine analyzes the group call request to obtain the number of the communication terminal participating in the multi-party conference;

the conference machine commands the voice/data network to initiate a call to the communication terminals participating in the multi-party conference;

the communication terminals participating in the multi-party conference respond to the call initiated by the voice/data network so as to participate in the multi-party conference; wherein,

the step of setting up the group call request comprises:

setting an instant conference group call request for initiating an instant multi-party conference; and/or

Setting a conference reservation group call request for initiating a reservation of a multi-party conference, wherein the conference reservation group call request comprises the time for reserving the multi-party conference, and a conference machine calls communication terminals participating in the multi-party conference according to the time for reserving the multi-party conference.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising a querying step for querying the reserved multi-party conference according to a query request input by a user.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising a cancellation step for canceling the reserved multi-party conference.

4. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said communication terminals participating in a multi-party conference comprise:

a host terminal; for managing the multi-party conference; and

and the participating terminal is used for participating in the multi-party conference.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein in the step of setting the group call request, a number of any one of the communication terminals is set as a number of the hosting terminal.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that a notification for meeting instructions is also provided in the mobile terminal.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the notification for meeting specification is sent in the form of a short message or an IP packet.

8. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the voice/data network comprises an IP network, a private data network, a PSTN network and a cellular mobile network.

9. A system for initiating a multi-party conference using a mobile terminal to initiate a plurality of communication terminals to participate in the multi-party conference, comprising:

the mobile terminal is used for setting a group call request for initiating a multi-party conference, wherein the group call request comprises the number of a communication terminal participating in the multi-party conference, and the mobile terminal sends the group call request to a conference machine through a cellular mobile network and an IP network;

the conference machine is used for analyzing the group call request to obtain the number of the communication terminal participating in the conference and commanding the voice/data network to initiate a call to the communication terminal participating in the multi-party conference; and

the communication terminal is used for responding to a call initiated by a voice/data network so as to participate in the multi-party conference; wherein,

the mobile terminal includes:

an instant conference setting unit, which is used for setting an instant conference group call request for initiating an instant multi-party conference; and/or

The conference reservation setting unit is used for setting and initiating a conference reservation group call request for reserving the multi-party conference, the conference reservation group call request comprises the time for reserving the multi-party conference, and the conference machine calls the communication terminals participating in the multi-party conference according to the time for reserving the multi-party conference.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the mobile terminal further comprises an inquiry/cancellation unit for inquiring the reserved multi-party conference according to an inquiry request input by a user.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the query/cancellation unit is further configured to cancel the reserved multi-party conference.

12. The system of claim 9, 10 or 11, wherein the communication terminals participating in the multiparty conference comprise:

a host terminal; for managing the multi-party conference; and

and the participating terminal is used for participating in the multi-party conference.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein a number of any one of the communication terminals is set as a number of the hosting terminal in setting of the group call request.

14. A system according to claim 9, 10 or 11, wherein the mobile terminal is further arranged to set up a notification of a meeting to be taken.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the notification for meeting specification is sent in the form of a short message or an IP packet.

16. A system according to claim 9, 10 or 11, wherein the voice/data network comprises an IP network, a private data network, a PSTN network and a cellular mobile network.

17. A mobile terminal for initiating a multi-party conference, said mobile terminal sending said group call request to said conferencing machine via a cellular mobile network and an IP network, said conferencing machine parsing said group call request to obtain the number of said communication terminals participating in the multi-party conference and instructing a voice/data network to initiate a call to said communication terminals participating in the multi-party conference; the communication terminal for participating in the multi-party conference responds to the call initiated by the voice/data network so as to participate in the multi-party conference, and the mobile terminal comprises a display device, a storage device and a sending/receiving device, and is characterized by also comprising:

a control device, which is used for setting a group call request for initiating a multi-party conference, wherein the group call request comprises the number of a communication terminal participating in the multi-party conference; wherein,

the control device includes:

an instant conference setting unit, which is used for setting an instant conference group call request for initiating an instant multi-party conference; and/or

The conference reservation setting unit is used for setting and initiating a conference reservation group call request for reserving the multi-party conference, the conference reservation group call request comprises the time for reserving the multi-party conference, and the conference machine calls the communication terminals participating in the multi-party conference according to the time for reserving the multi-party conference.

18. The mobile terminal of claim 17, further comprising an inquiry/cancellation unit for inquiring the reserved multi-party conference according to an inquiry request input by a user.

19. The mobile terminal of claim 18, wherein the query/cancel unit is further configured to cancel the subscribed multi-party conference.

20. The mobile terminal of claim 17, 18 or 19, wherein said communication terminal participating in a multi-party conference comprises:

a host terminal; for managing the multi-party conference; and

and the participating terminal is used for participating in the multi-party conference.

21. The mobile terminal of claim 20, wherein a number of any one of the communication terminals is set as a number of the hosting terminal in setting of the group call request.

22. A mobile terminal according to claim 17, 18 or 19, wherein the mobile terminal is further arranged to set up a notification of a meeting specification.

23. The mobile terminal of claim 22, wherein the notification for meeting specification is sent in the form of a short message or an IP packet.

24. A mobile terminal according to claim 17, 18 or 19, wherein said voice/data network comprises an IP network, a private data network, a PSTN network and a cellular mobile network.

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