A SECOND SERVICE PROVIDER COUPLED TO A FIRST SERVICE PROVIDER OVER A PEER-TO-PEER INTERNET PROTOCOL CONNECTION AND A METHOD OF OPERATING THE SAME.

摘要

A second service provider (420) is coupled to a first service provider (410) over a peer-to-peer Internet Protocol (IP) connection (411). The first service provider (410) is coupled to end-user systems over IP connections. The second service provider (420) comprises a router (512), service portal (514), and packet telephony network (513). The router routes a first set of IP packets between the peer-to-peer IP connection (411) and a service connection based on a first set of IP addresses in the first set of the IP packets. The router (512) routes a second set of the IP packets between the peer-to- peer IP connection (411) and an Internet backbone IP connection based on a second set of the IP addresses in the second set of the IP packets. The service portal (514) exchanges the first set of the IP packets with the service connection. The service portal (514) provides protocol conversion between the first set of the IP packets and a first set of the service packets. The service portal (514) exchanges the first set of the service packets with the packet telephony network (513). The packet telephony network (513) routes the service packets to provide telephony service.