Network session management

A communication system for providing telephony communication across combined circuit switched and packet switched networks through gateway control objects providing controlled connectivity between said circuit switched and packet switched networks to terminals for selective communication therebetween, comprising:

• an authorization and account control object comprising a unitary logical processor system having separate and distributed processor instances, said authorization and account control object communicating through said packet switched network with the gateway control objects;
• and
• an information retrieval object associated with said packet switched network and with said authorization and account control object, wherein:
• said authorization and account control object maintains a substantially real time record of user accounts and associated usage, and
• said information retrieval object provides substantially real time retrieval of selected information from said authorization and account control object responsive to request of one of said terminals.

In a communication system providing telephony communication across combined circuit switched and packet switched networks connectable to terminals for selective communication therebetween, a method of account management comprising the steps of:

• a) commencing and terminating a telephony communication path between said circuit switched and packet switched networks to provide communication between a pair of said terminals via a gateway object;
• b) communicating from said gateway object on a substantially real time basis to an account object connected to said packet switched network data regarding said commencement and termination;
• c) storing said data in said account object in an account record for one of said terminals connected via said communication path, the stored data including data regarding usage of said communication system during said connection and data regarding debiting of said account record for said usage;
• d) communicating from said account object to an information retrieval object connected to said packet switched network information regarding the data in said account record;
• and
• e) communicating information regarding the substantially real time data in said account record, from said information retrieval object to a terminal having provided authentication corresponding to said account record.

In a communication system providing telephony communication across combined circuit switched and packet switched networks connectable via multiple selectable gateway objects and respectively connectable to originating and terminating terminals for selective communication therebetween, a method of account management comprising the steps of:

• a) establishing in an authorization and account object connected to said packet switched network account records for ones of said terminals subscribing to a telephony communication service over said communication system;
• b) tracking in said authorization and account object ongoing telephony communications across said communication system using one or more of said gateway objects and chargeable against a respective one or more of said account records;
• c) maintaining in said authorization and account object account record balances for said respective one or more of said account records, as a function of the tracking of the ongoing telephony communications;
• d) communicating from said authorization and account object to an information retrieval object connected to said packet switched network information regarding the tracked communications and the balances for said respective one or more of said account records;
• and
• e) communicating from said information retrieval object to a requesting terminal, which provides authentication, requested information regarding one account record corresponding to said authentication.

A system for use with a communication network comprising a circuit switched network connected to a packet switched network via a plurality of control gateway object and with a plurality of terminals connectable to said communication network for selective communication between said terminals through said network system, the system comprising:

• a unitary logical authorization and account object having distributed processor instances thereof, at least certain of said processor instances of said authorization and account object being coupled for communication with at least certain of said control gateway objects;
• and
• an information retrieval object coupled to said authorization and account object and to said packet switched network, wherein:
• said authorization and account object is for maintaining in distributed storage associated with said processor instances thereof user accounts and associated authorization information, said user accounts being updated on a substantially real time basis with information provided to said authorization and account object from said control gateway objects, whereby said user accounts include substantially real time user account usage and account balance records,
• said information retrieval object is for retrieving from said authorization and account object upon request from one of said terminals through said packet switched network information related to one of the user accounts upon presentation of authentication data corresponding to the one user account, said information retrieval object communicating said requested information to the requesting terminal through said packet switched network, and
• the requested information communicated to the requesting terminal comprises the substantially real time user account usage or the account balance for said one user account.