WO2011066626A1

WO2011066626A1 - Communications apparatus and method

Info

Publication number: WO2011066626A1
Application number: PCT/AU2010/001640
Authority: WO
Inventors: Daniel Paul Winchester
Original assignee: Messmo Technologies Pty Limited
Priority date: 2009-12-04
Filing date: 2010-12-03
Publication date: 2011-06-09
Also published as: WO2011066626A8

Abstract

A communications apparatus for establishing communications between users of a communications network, comprising (a) a receiving unit to receive communication from a first communications device associated with an originator and addressed to a first substitute address; (b) a processing unit to determine a private address associated with a recipient for the received communication, wherein determination is based on the originator and the first substitute address; and (c) a establishment unit to establish communication between the originator and the recipient at the determined private address without making the private address associated with the recipient available to the originator. In other aspects, there are provided a communications method for establishing communications between users of a communications network, and a computer program to implement the communications apparatus.

Description

Communications Apparatus and Method Cross-Reference to Related Application

The present application claims priority from Australian Provisional Application No 2009905924 filed on 4 December 2009, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to communications, and more particularly, to a commuiucations apparatus and method for establishing communication between users of a communications network. In another aspect, there is provided a computer program to implement the communications apparatus.

Background Art

Voice or message communication between an originator and a recipient is generally established by an originator by dialling or sending a message to the recipient's private phone number. To conceal the private phone number of the recipient from the originator, a number or temporary identifier can be assigned to the recipient such that the recipient is contactable at the temporary identifier. The temporary identifier is generally in the form of a phone number, or a phone number followed by an alias. Mapping between a temporary identifier and a recipient is generally unique. For example, if there are 100 unique recipients in the system, 100 temporary identifiers have to be created to uniquely map a recipient to an identifier.

Disclosure of the Invention ln a first aspect, there is provided a communications apparatus for establishing communications between users of a communications network, comprising:

(a) a receiving unit to receive communication from a first communications device associated with an originator and addressed to a first substitute address;

(b) a processing unit to determine a private address associated with a recipient for the received communication, wherein determination is based on the originator and the first substitute address; and

(c) an establishment unit to establish communication between the originator and the recipient at the determined private address without making the private address associated with the recipient available to the originator.

The first substitute address may be selected from a pool of substitute addresses associated with the originator. In this case, the communications apparatus may maintain a pool of substitute addresses for use by the users. The pool of substitute addresses may be established independently of the addresses of the users. Either the entire pool or a subset of the substitute addresses in the pool, may form the pool of substitute addresses for each user. Advantageously it is not necessary for the originator to have knowledge of, or be required to select or identify the substitute addresses, or pool of substitute addresses with which they may be, from time to time, dynamically associated with.

Using the apparatus, a recipient is uniquely mapped to the combination of an originator and a substitute address. Advantageously, this allows the same substitute address to be simultaneously utilised by a different pair of originator and recipient, a different originator to contact the same recipient, or the recipient to reply to the originator.

As such, a fixed pool of substitute addresses may be leveraged for establishing communications between an unlimited number of users, as long as the recipient can be uniquely determined based on the originator and the substitute address. Advantageously this can permit a relatively very small pool, or multiple small pools, to be used to establish communications between a very large number of users. This is to be contrasted with the approach where substitute addresses in the pool are each allocated to a unique recipient, or from a pool associated with the recipient, thereby limiting the number of recipients to the size of the pool.

Alternatively, the first substitute address may be selected from a virtual stack οτ queue comprising a plurality of substitute addresses that are shared by multiple originators. In this case, a substitute address is "popped" off the stack every time a substitute address is allocated to a originator-recipient pair. Similarly, the same substitute address can be used by two originators to establish communications with different users.

Communication between the originator and the recipient may be mutually anonymous. In this case, the processing unit may further:

allocate a second substitute address to the recipient for communication with the originator without making a private address of the originator available to the recipient, wherein the private address of the originator is determined by the processing unit based on the recipient and the second substitute address.

The second substitute address not only protects the private address of the originator from the recipient, but also allows the originator to be uniquely identified. To reply, the recipient simply directs any calls or messages to the second substitute address.

The second substitute address may be selected from a pool of substitute addresses associated with the recipient. The second substitute address may be the next available substitute address in the pool of substitute addresses associated with the recipient. The second substitute address may be the same as the first substitute address. This allows the originator and the recipient to use the same substitute address to establish communication with each other.

The second substitute address may also be selected from a virtual stack or queue comprising a plurality of substitute addresses that are shared by multiple recipients.

In step (b), the processing unit may determine the private address of the recipient based on the combination of the first substitute address and the originator, the originator being identifiable by a private address of the first communications device.

The recipient may be contaetable at multiple private addresses. In this case, the processing unit may determine the private address of the recipient in step (b) by selecting me private address from a list of private addresses of the recipient. The apparatus also facilitates one-to-many communication. In this case, the recipient may represent a plurality of recipients and in step (b), the processing unit determines a private address associated with each of the plurality of recipients for establishing communication. The private address of the recipient may be selected based on the type of communication received from the originator. For example, the communication may be for a phone call or a message.

The substitute or private address may be one of the following:

mobile phone number,

landline phone number,

email address,

internet Protocol address,

instant messaging alias and

social networking account identifier.

In a second aspect, there is provided a communications method for establishing communications between users of a communications network:

(a) receiving communication from a first communications device associated with an originator and addressed to a first substitute address;

. (b) determining a private address associated with the recipient for the received communication, wherein determination is based on the originator and the first substitute address; and

(c) establishing communication between the originator and the recipient at the determined private address without making the private address available to the originator.

In a third aspect, there is provided a computer program to implement the communications apparatus according to the second aspect. Brief Description of Drawings

Non-limiting examples of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig, 1 is a schematic diagram of a communications system exemplifying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of steps for allocating a substitute address.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart of steps for establishing communication between an originator and a recipient.

Fig. 4(a) is an exemplary communication in the form of a message addressed by an originator to a substitute address selected from the originator's pool of addresses.

Fig. 4(b) is the message in Fig. 4(a) when viewed by the recipient, the return address or sender identifier being set to a substitute address selected from the recipient's pool of addresses.

Fig. 5 is an exemplary communications network for supporting anonymous messaging and voice calls.

Detailed Description of the Invention

Referring first to Fig. 1, communications system 100 comprises a communications apparatus 110 and a data store 120 in communication with a plurality of users A, B, C and D over a wide area communications network 140,

Users A, B, C and D each operate a communications device 150 such as a mobile phone, landline phone and computer to communicate with other users. The devices 150A. 150B, 150C and 150D are each associated a private address 160A, 160B, 160C and 160D respectively.

The communications apparatus 110 comprises a receiving unit 112, a processing unit 1 14 and an establishment unit 116 to establish anonymous communications between an originator such as user A (or user D) and a recipient such as user B (or user C).

Allocating Substitute Addresses

To conceal the private address (160A, 160B, 160C and 160D) of the users (A, B, C and D) from each other, the communications apparatus 110 maintains a pool of substitute addresses 122 in the data store 120, which can be represented by as follows:

P = {Ρ₁, Ρ₂,_...., Ρ_n. . .., Ρ_N}.

where Pi is the first address in the pool, P₂ is the second address, P„ is the nth address, N is the size of the pool, and

Each originator has a personal pool of substitute addresses that is less than or equal to the size N of the system pool. Mapping between the substitute addresses and the private addresses of the recipients is stored in a mapping table 124 in the data store 120. An exemplary mapping table 124 for user A's pool of substitute addresses is shown as follows:

Consider the example where originator user A wishes to establish communications with, recipient user B. As user A views user B's profile on a website and requests contact details of a recipient, user A is presented with a substitute address from user A's personal pool of substitute addresses to address their communication to user B, "Communication " may be in the form of a voice call, video call, email, instant message (TM), text message (SMS) or multimedia message (MMS). Referring to the flowchart in Fig. 2, the receiving unit 112 of the communications apparatus 1 10 receives an allocation request from the originator (user A); see step 210. Upon receiving the allocation request, the processing unit 114 first determines whether the originator 150 is a registered user, and if not, the originator 150 is requested to register; see steps 220 and 230. During registration, users must provide at least one private address 160 to the communications apparatus 110 to be recorded in the data store 120.

If the originator is a registered user, processing unit 114 retrieves mapping table 124 from the data store 120, and allocates the next available substitute address in the originator's personal pool of substitute addresses; see step 240. Referring to the mapping table 124 above, the next available (i.e. unallocated) substitute address in user A's personal pool is the second substitute address (P₂) because the first address (Pi) has been allocated to another recipient (user C). The processing unit 114 then allocates the second substitute address (P₂) for the originator (user A) to establish communications with the recipient (user B) and updates the mapping table 124 with the following entry:

where relationship symbol means "uniquely mapped to"; see step 250. The updated mapping table 124 is as follows:

Processing unit 114 then notifies the originator (user A) of the second substitute address (P₂) without making the recipient's private address (160B) available to the originator; see step 260. This way, the private address 160B of the recipient (user B) remains hidden from the originator (user A).

In other words, the recipient is uniquely mapped to the combination of the originator and the substitute address allocated by the processing unit 114 for the originator to establish communications with the recipient. By not mapping the substitute address to the recipient or the sender alone, the same substitute address (P₂) can be allocated to another pair of originator and recipient. In fact, the same substitute address (P₂) can be used when user B is replying to user A, or used by a different originator to establish communication with recipient user B. As such, a substitute address may be used one or more times by one or more originators or recipients. A substitute address may also be generated dynamically. It will be appreciated that the recipient (user B) may not know the substitute address assigned to them for communication with an originator. In fact, only the originator (user A) needs to be aware of the substitute address such that communications can be established with the recipient (user B). A recipient may have multiple substitute addresses, each generated by a different service provider depending on the originator.

For example, when user D requests the contact details of user C, or the system initiates contact with user C, an allocation request is also sent to the communications apparatus 110. The receiving unit 112 receives the allocation request and the processing unit 114 retrieves the mapping table 124:

In this case, the next available address in user D's pool is also the second substitute address (P2). The processing unit 114 allocates the second substitute address (P₂) to user D for establishing communications with user C. The mapping table 124 is then updated with the entry

user C, resulting in the following table 124:

Subsequent substitute addresses in the originator's pool are allocated in the same manner. If the originator (user A) wishes to request details of another user (user D), processing unit 114 will allocate the next available substitute address in the originator's pool. In this example, the third substitute address (P3) is allocated. The mapping table 124 is updated by the processing unit 114 with a new entry

Recipient user D, resulting in the following:

It will be appreciated that the same substitute address can be allocated to a single recipient for multiple originators. - In the example below, the first substitute address (Pi) is allocated for Users E and D to establish communication with User B. Similarly, the third substitute address (P3) is allocated for Users A and E to establish communication with Users D and C respectively_^.

Establishing Communication

Users A and D can now address any communication to substitute address P₂ to establish communication with users B and C respectively. Any communication addressed by the originator to an allocated substitute address will be directed by the comrnunications apparatus 110 to the intended recipient.

Referring now to the flowchart in Fig. 3, the receiving unit 112 of the communications apparatus 110 receives communication from the communications device 150 associated with the originator; see step 310. The receiving unit 112 identifies the originator based on the private address (160A) of the originator (user A).

Processing unit 114 then retrieves the mapping table 124 from the data store 120, and determines the recipient based on the unique combination of (Originator, Substitute address); see step 320, For user A, the processing unit 1 14 determines the recipient from the following entry in the mapping table 124:

When the processing unit 114 receives another communication addressed to P, the identity of the recipient is similarly determined based on the originator as recorded in the mapping table 124 in the data store 120:

A recipient can have a list of private addresses 160; see step 330. In this case, the processing unit 114 selects a private address from the list based on selection criteria defined by the recipient, the originator, or the processing unit 114; see step 340. The selection criteria can be based on the mode of communication associated with the communication received from the originator. For example, recipient user B has a mobile phone number and a landline phone number and the preference of user B is to direct all voice calls to the landline phone number. In this case, the processing unit 114 determines whether the received communication is a voice call, and forwards the call to the landline phone number accordingly. Of course, the mode of delivery may be selected independently of the mode of communication associated with the communication received from the originator. The selection criteria can be set to re-direct communication to another method or type of bearer. For example, if user A is sending an SMS to user B, and user B has selected to receive messages using instant messaging channel, user B's private address for instant messaging will be selected to receive the SMS. The establishment unit 116 of the communications apparatus 110 then establishes communication between the originator and the recipient at the private address 160 without making the private address available to the originator; see step 350.

Communication can be established by a variety of means. For example, a message can be delivered to the recipient as an email or SMS. In case of the latter, the communications apparatus 110 acts as a relay. If the received communication is for a phone call, the communications apparatus 110 acts as a telephone exchange.

This method may or may not be used in conjunction with an invitation system where the recipient (user B) is asked to consent to the communication before step 350 in Fig. 3. For example, a mid-sized pool (say N = 1000), would let a site of millions of members offer display of a "personal number" by B as a standard feature. However, the establishment unit 116 may not establish communication (such as to deliver a message) until such time as the recipient (user B) has agreed to receive communication from a specific sender.

It should be understood that the communications apparatus 110 has been exemplified using a "symmetric" case where both the originator and the recipient use the same type of communications device, such as both are mobile phone users. In this case, the communications apparatus 110 act as a relay to establish communications between the originator and the recipient, and a pool of substitute addresses is maintained for the originator and for the recipient.

In an "asymmetric case" where the originator and the recipient use a different type of communications device, the "recipient" may first initiate communications with the "originator" via the communications apparatus 110. For example, originator user A wishes to receive from or send a message to recipient user C, but the user C is not on mobile but merely registered as a member of a dating site. In fact, user C may not even have a mobile and may not even know that the originator is on mobile. In this asymmetric case, a substitute address is allocated to the originator user A to establish communications with the user C and a (same or different) substitute address is allocated to the user C to establish communications with the user A. However, since the user G is not on a mobile, a message sent by user A may never be delivered to the user C. In this case, the user C will serve as the "originator" who initiates communications with user A.

Onward Transmission

Communication between an originator and a recipient can be mutually anonymous. To enable the recipient to reply, the return address or sender identifier of the originator is set to a substitute address allocated from the recipient's personal pool of substitute addresses. This is performed when communication is established between two users for the first time.

Allocation is performed in the same manner as explained with reference to step 230 in Fig. 2. In particular, processing unit 114 retrieves the mapping table 124 from the data store 120, and allocates the next available substitute address in the recipient's personal pool of substitute addresses; see step 230.

For recipient user B, the next available substitute address is the first substitute address (Pi), and the mapping table 124 is updated by the processing unit 114 with entry user A, resulting in the following:

For user C, assume that the first substitute address (Pi) has been allocated to user C for communications with user B. Accordingly, the next available substitute address is also the second substitute address (P₂), in which case both the originator (user D) and the recipient (user C) are using the same substitute address to communicate with each other. A further example of this, is where technical or regulatory restrictions require that the same substitute address be used for communication between sender and recipient. In such a case, the processing unit 114 will allocate the next available substitute address from the originator's pool that is identical to an unallocated substitute address from the recipient's pool. .

In certain markets, communication in the form of messages can only be sent from a Specific list of "Public Addresses". An example of a Public Addresses is a US short code, which is generally shorter than a conventional telephone number. US shortcodes and shortcode extensions may also be used. A pool of such Public Addresses or short codes facilitates the use of the same algorithms as for a poof of substitute addresses.

The processing unit 114 is updated with entry

User D, resulting in the following.

Before communication between the originator and the recipient is established, the processing unit 114 sets the return address or sender identifier of the phone call, email or message to the substitute address allocated above. As shown in Fig. 4(a), communication in the form of a SMS composed by originator user A is addressed to the second substitute address P₂, which uniquely identifies recipient user B based on the combination of (user A, P₂).

Then in Fig. 4(b), the return address ("reply to") of the message is set to the first substitute address P₁ from user B's pool such that user B can simply reply to P₁ to exchange messages with user A. For example if Pi is a telephony number, the recipient can also conveniently store P₁ on his or her mobile phone for future communication with the originator. From the recipient's perspective, it is irrelevant whether the first substitute address P₁ is a substitute or private address because calls arid messages can be established in the conventional way.

For user C, the return address of a call or message from user D is set to the second substitute address (P₂). In both cases, the private address (160A and 160D) of the . originators (users A and D) remain hidden from the recipients (users B and C).

The allocation of a substitute address for the recipient to reply to the originator is not necessarily automatic. For example, the user may be in one or more states, such as Suspended, Blocked and Uncontactable which may cause the allocation to be not performed. In some cases, the establishment unit 116 will not establish the communication at all.

Alternatively, the processing unit 114 or users may also choose to block. communication from a particular originator, or re-direct communication using another method or bearer. In the latter case, a SMS sent by an originator (user A) can be delivered to a recipient (user B) in another format, such as an instant message or email. As such, the type of substitute addresses in user B's pool may be different from that of user A's pool. For example, when originator (user A) is paying to have the message delivered, it is not important how the message is received by the recipient (user B).

The service provided by the communications apparatus 110 may be asymmetrical. From the recipient's perspective, it is irrelevant whether the return address is the originator's private address because communication can be established in the conventional way using the return address. As such, the recipient does not need to be a participant to benefit from the invention. Applications

1. Anonymous messaging service .

The communications apparatus 110 can be used for anonymous messaging such as Short Messaging Service (SMS) between users using an exemplary wireless communications network 140 in the form of a third generation (3G) Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA).

Referring to the exemplary system architecture diagram in Fig. 5, the communications apparatus 110 is in communication with a Short Messaging Service Centre (SMSC) 146 over the Internet 147 and the Core Network 145 of the WCDMA network 140, The SMSC 146 is responsible for handling the delivery of messages in the network 140. In another example, the communications apparatus 110 may be part of the SMSC itself.

Communication from an originator (user A) is in the form of a message, and the substitute and private addresses are mobile phone numbers. The message is sent from the originator to the SMSC 146 via a base station 142 , radio network controller 144 and the core network 145.

The SMSC 146 maintains a list of phone numbers managed by the communications apparatus 110. Upon receiving the message and detecting that the private address of the originator is on the list, the message will be forwarded to the communications apparatus 110 to perform the steps in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3.

A message may be a short messaging service (SMS), multimedia short messaging (MMS), or enhanced messaging service (EMS) message. SMS messages can only contain up to 160 8-bit alphanumeric or binary characters and any message longer than 160 characters must be sent in multiple messages. Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS), which uses existing SMS infrastructure, allows up to 255 SMS messages to be packaged as one EMS message having richer content such as animation, pictures, sounds and formatted text.

While illustrated with a WCDMA network 140, it will be appreciated that the invention can be used for anonymous messaging over other wireless communications standards such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access Systems (CDMA), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and fourth generation (4G) technologies such as Long Term Evolution (LTE).

2. Anonymous voice and video call

The communications apparatus 110 can also be used for anonymous (real time) voice and video calls. In this case, the communication is a voice or video call, and the private addresses of the originator and the recipient are also mobile phone numbers.

Voice or video calls are processed by a Mobile Switching Centre (MSC) - not shown - of the Core Network 145 in a similar manner. The MSC maintains a list of phone numbers managed by the communications apparatus 110. Upon receiving the voice or video call and detecting that the private address of the originator is on the list, the MSC forwards the communication to the communications apparatus 110. After a private phone number of the recipient is retrieved by the processing unit 114 based on the combination of (originator, phone number of the call), communication will be established between the users. By using multiplexing of communication threads or signals through the same phone number, multiple calls could be using the same number.

If the private phone number of the recipient is a landline telephone number, a call will be set up between the originator and the recipient via the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 148.

3. Anonymous voicemail short message service The communications apparatus 110 can be used for delivering anonymous voicemail messages, which are discrete messages like SMS. An originator simply has to record a voicemail message before sending it to a substitute address allocated for establishing communications with a recipient. The voicemail message can be stored on the user communications device 150, on a node in the network 140 or on the Internet. Depending on the selection criteria set by the recipient (see step 340 in Fig. 3), the voicemail message can be sent either to a phone number or an IP address of the recipient, or a an email attachment, or as a multimedia message.

4. Anonymous group messaging While the communications apparatus 110 has been exemplified with one-to-one communication between an originator and a recipient, the invention can also be used for one-to-many communication where users can create a "chat group" comprising multiple recipients. In this case, the recipient such as user B in Fig. 1 represents a group of recipients instead of a single user. Similarly, Upon receiving communication in the form of a message from an originator, the communications apparatus 110 retrieves the private address of each of the recipients in the chat group based on the combination of (originator, substitute address). The message is then sent to each of the recipients at their respective private address. A substitute address is also allocated from each of the recipient's personal pool of substitute addresses to reply to the message.

The recipients may reply to a received message concurrently. A reply from a recipient may be sent to all participants in the chat group or just the originator only. To allow the recipients to easily follow a conversation, messages are threaded in chronological order like in an instant messaging thread based on the time the messages are received by the communications apparatus 110.

In one approach, a substitute address in the form of a number is allocated from the sender's pool to map to multiple recipients. This way, each recipient in the chat group would have a substitute address (number) that they sent to and received from. The recipients could establish communication with each other using the same substitute address (number). In another approach, each message to arrive at the sender is allocated with a distinct number (allocated from the sender's pool) when the communication is for group messaging. However, when the communications apparatus 110 receives a reply from the sender, the reply will be automaticall sent to multiple recipients based on information stored in the mapping table 124. In this case, the message that each recipient receives shows a substitute address (number) corresponding to the mapping between the recipient's pool and the sender. For SMS, each line in the conversation would show as the distinct sending user, without having to interpose the user's name inside the message.

5. Anonymous email and instant messaging

Communication can also be in the form of an email or instant message, which is delivered using a packet-switched bearer instead of a circuit-switched bearer. In this case, the private address of the recipient is an email address, IP address, instant messaging alias or social networking alias. Again, the recipient can set selection criteria to specify how messages are sent; see step 340 in Fig. 3.

Variations

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. For example, it will be appreciated that, in some context, a "substitute" address may be known as an "alternative" address because it provides an alternative address for a recipient, such that the private address of the recipient remains hidden from the originator.

In one exemplary implementation, the pool of substitute addresses may be a variable size pool that is expressed as a shared virtual stack associated with each originator. The communications apparatus 1 10 pops a substitute address off the virtual, stack every time the originator user establishes communications with other users.

For example, when originator user A wishes to establish communications with recipient user C, substitute address P₁ is popped off the shared virtual stack. Similarly, when originator user D wishes to establish communications with recipient user B, the communications 110 pops substitute address P₁ off the virtual stack. Note that although both originator users A and D use substitute address P₁, the combination of (originator user A, P₁) and of (originator user D, P₁) uniquely identify recipient users C and B respectively. The process of popping substitute addresses P₂, P_N off the virtual stack is repeated for as users A and D establish communications with other users. For example, if user A establishes communications with users B and D respectively, substitute addresses P₂ and P₃ will be popped respectively. Also, as user D establishes communications with user C, substitute addresses P₂ will be popped from the virtual stack. When originatoi user A ends communications with recipient user C, the substitute address P₁ is pushed into the virtual stack such that P₁ can be reused (popped) for user A to establish communications with another user, say user D. The virtual stack may also be implemented using a queue.

It should be understood that in an asymmetric case where the originator (say user A) and the recipient (say user C) are not using the same type of communications device, the "recipient" user C may first initiate communications with the "originator" via the communications apparatus 110. In this case, the communications apparatus 110 may also have a virtual stack of substitute addresses (or reply-to addresses) for user C to reply a message to user A. The communications apparatus 110 needs to deliver a message to a recipient, whereby the recipient can reply to the message and the communications apparatus 110 can then route that reply to the originator. As such, the communications apparatus 110 pops the first reply-to address off the stack for each recipient. If that reply-to address has already been allocated to that recipient and a given originator, the communications apparatus 110 pops the second reply-to address off the stack that has yet been allocated. Similarly, the virtual stack may also be implemented using a queue.

Functionality of the communications apparatus 110 may be extended to allow mapping between multiple substitute addresses. For example, if user A is using substitute mobile number P₁ to send a message user B, P₁ is mapped to a substitute address Qi that may be being used for a different bearer. In this way, user B can reply to user A via text using P₁, and user B could also start a voice call with A via Qi. There is also a more advanced case where communications from B using P₁ is dynamically re-directed to Q₁. This is functionality is useful for voice and video applications.

It should also be understood that, unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as "receiving", "processing", "retrieving", "selecting", "determining", "displaying", "establishing" or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that processes and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, words using singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number respectively.

It should be understood that the techniques of the present invention might be implemented using a variety of technologies. For example, the methods described herein may be implemented by a series of computer executable instructions residing on a suitable computer readable medium. Suitable computer readable media may include volatile (e.g. RAM) and/or non-volatile (e.g. ROM, disk) memory, carrier waves and transmission media (e.g. copper wire, coaxial cable, fibre optic media). Exemplary carrier waves may take the form of electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals conveying digital data streams along a local network or a publically accessible network such as the internet.

Claims

1. A communications apparatus for establishing communications between users of a cornmunications network, comprising:

· (c) a establishment unit to establish communication between the originator and the · recipient at the deterrriined private address without making the private address associated with the recipient available to the originator.

2. A communications apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first substitute address is selected from a pool of substitute addresses associated with the originator.

3. A communications apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first substitute address is selected from a virtual stack or queue comprising a plurality of substitute addresses that are shared by multiple originators.

4. A cornmunications apparatus of claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the processing unit further:

allocates a second substitute address to the recipient for communication with the originator without making a private address of the originator available to the recipient, wherein the private address of the originator is determined by the processing unit based on the recipient and the second substitute address.

5. A communications apparatus of claim 4, wherein the second substitute address is selected from a pool of substitute addresses associated with the recipient.

6. A communications apparatus of claim 5, wherein the second substitute address is the next available substitute address in the pool of substitute addresses associated with the recipient.

7. A communications apparatus of claim 5 or 6, wherein the second substitute address is the same as the first substitute address.

8. A communications apparatus of claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the second substitute address is selected from a virtual stack or queue comprising a plurality of substitute addresses that are shared by multiple recipients.

9. A communications apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, wherein in step . (b), the processing unit determines the private address of the recipient based on the combmation of the first substitute address and the originator, the originator being identifiable by a private address of the first communications device.

10. A communications apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the processing unit determines the private address of the recipient in step (b) by selecting the private address from a list of private addresses of the recipient,

11. A communications apparatus of claim 10, wherein the private address of the recipient is selected based selection criteria set by the recipient.

12. A communications apparatus of claim 11, wherein the selection criteria is the type of communication received from the originator.

13. A communications apparatus of claim 12, wherein the type of communication is for a phone call or a message.

14. A communications apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the substitute or private address is one of the following:

mobile phone number,

landline phone number,

email address,

Internet Protocol address,

instant messaging alias, and

social networking account identifier.

15. A communications method for establishing communications between users of a communications network:

(b) determining a private address associated with the recipient for the received . communication, wherein determination is based on the originator and the first substitute address; and

16. Computer program to implement the communications apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 14.