MGCP fallback mechanism enhancement
First Claim
1. A method of communication by a client over a network having plural servers, one of the servers assigned to the client, the method comprising:
- registering a virtual endpoint with the assigned server;
upon inactivity with the assigned server, sending a keep-alive message to the server, the keep-alive message including an endpoint identifier that identifies the registered virtual endpoint; and
upon failure to receive a response to the keep-alive message from the assigned server, initiating a fallback mechanism from a first call control protocol to a second call control protocol.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A mechanism provides for communication of “keep-alive” messages from clients to servers in a packet telephony network environment. The servers may be call agents and the clients may be gateways or MGCP-controlled IP phones. A client (e.g., gateway) registers a virtual endpoint. Upon a period of inactivity in which the client does not receive any commands or acknowledgments from an assigned server (e.g., call agent), the client starts to send keep-alive messages periodically to the server. The keep-alive message may include an endpoint identifier that identifies the registered virtual endpoint. If the server fails to respond to the keep-alive messages after a period of time, the client initiates a fallback mechanism from a first call control protocol (e.g., MGCP) to a second call control protocol (e.g., H.323 or SIP), to provide call control handling using a default application. The keep-alive messages may be sent to other servers among the plural servers that are configured to operate with the client before determining whether to initiate the fallback mechanism. During the fallback state, the keep-alive message may be sent periodically until a response is received from the server. Communications with the assigned server may be reestablished thereupon based on the first call control protocol.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method of communication by a client over a network having plural servers, one of the servers assigned to the client, the method comprising:
-
registering a virtual endpoint with the assigned server;
upon inactivity with the assigned server, sending a keep-alive message to the server, the keep-alive message including an endpoint identifier that identifies the registered virtual endpoint; and
upon failure to receive a response to the keep-alive message from the assigned server, initiating a fallback mechanism from a first call control protocol to a second call control protocol. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A method of communication by a gateway over a VoIP network having plural call agents, one of the call agents assigned to the gateway, the method comprising:
-
establishing communications with the assigned call agent based on Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP);
registering a virtual endpoint with the assigned call agent;
upon a period of inactivity with the assigned call agent, sending a an MGCP MESG message to the call agent, the MGCP MESG message including an endpoint identifier that identifies the registered virtual endpoint; and
upon failure to receive a response to the keep-alive message from the assigned call agent, initiating a fallback mechanism from MGCP to a second call control protocol. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. Apparatus for communication over a network having plural servers including an assigned server, the apparatus comprising:
-
means for registering a virtual endpoint with the assigned server;
means for sending a keep-alive message to the assigned server upon inactivity with the assigned server, the keep-alive message including an endpoint identifier that identifies the registered virtual endpoint; and
means for initiating a fallback mechanism from a first call control protocol to a second call control protocol upon failure to receive a response to the keep-alive message from the assigned server.
-
-
16. A client for communicating over a network having plural servers, one of the servers assigned to the client, the client comprising:
-
a virtual endpoint registration routine for registering a virtual endpoint with the assigned server;
a keep-alive messaging routine for sending a keep-alive message to the server upon inactivity with the assigned server, the keep-alive message including an endpoint identifier that identifies the registered virtual endpoint; and
a fallback routine for initiating a fallback mechanism from a first call control protocol to a second call control protocol upon failure to receive a response to the keep-alive message from the assigned server. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification