METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IMPLEMENTING A HIGH-RELIABILITY LOAD BALANCED EASILY UPGRADEABLE PACKET TECHNOLOGY

• US 20080205384A1
• Filed: 05/06/2008
• Published: 08/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Christopher P. Gilboy, James C. Ehlinger, Marius J. Gudelis
• Original Assignee: Christopher P. Gilboy, James C. Ehlinger, Marius J. Gudelis
• Inventors: Gilboy, Christopher P., Gudelis, Marius J., Ehlinger, James C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,582,568 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/22 using redundant apparatus to increase reliability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways

Abstract

A network is defined with several alternative softswitches/proxies, which may be used for communication. Each softswitch/proxy has a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address. The softswitches/proxies receive configuration data from a centralized user-profile server, which maintains user-profile information. A centralized call-detail record (CDR) server also is connected to each softswitch/proxy and maintains CDRs on each user on each softswitch/proxy. Based on the network configuration, an end-device configuration system generates a provisioning file. The provisioning file includes the IP addresses of each softswitch/proxy. The provisioning file is communicated to user devices. Each user device accesses the provisioning file and uses the IP address for communication. Should the communication fail for any reason, the user device may autonomously access the provisioning file and initiate another call using the next IP address in the provisioning file. This process may continue until a call is completed.

Claims

1. A network comprising:

a user profile server storing user profile information;

a first switch comprising a first Internet Protocol (IP) address in communication with the user profile server and storing first configuration data in response to the user profile information stored in the user profile server;

a second switch comprising a second IP address in communication with the user profile server and storing the first configuration data in response to the user profile information stored in the user profile server; and

a configuration system in communication with the first switch and in communication with the second switch, the configuration system provisioning the network and generating a provisioning file including the first IP address and the second IP address, wherein said first IP address is different from the second IP address.

2. The network of claim 1, further comprising,

a user device receiving the provisioning file generated by the configuration system, wherein the user device is for generating a call in response to the first IP address and in response to the second IP address included in the provisioning file.

3. The network of claim 1, wherein the first switch and the second switch are softswitches.

4. A method of operating a network, comprising:

storing user profile information;

storing first configuration data in association with a first Internet Protocol (IP) address in response to the user profile information;

storing the first configuration data in association with a second IP address in response to the user profile information; and

provisioning the network and generating a provisioning file comprising the first IP address and the second IP address, wherein said first IP address is different from the second IP address.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

sending the provisioning file to a user device.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein said first configuration data is stored in one or more softswitches.

7. A network comprising:

means for storing user profile information;

means for storing first configuration data in association with a first Internet Protocol (IP) address in response to the user profile information;

means for storing the first configuration data in association with a second IP address in response to the user profile information stored in the user profile server; and

means for provisioning the network using a provisioning file including the first IP address and the second IP address, wherein said first IP address is different from the second IP address.

8. The network of claim 7, further comprising,

means for receiving the provisioning file, wherein the receiving means is for generating a call in response to the first IP address and in response to the second IP address included in the provisioning file.

9. The network of claim 7, wherein the means for storing said first configuration data comprises one or more softswitches.

10. A user device comprising:

an interface receiving a provisioning file, the provisioning file comprising a first Internet Protocol (IP) address and a second IP address;

a memory storing the provisioning file including the first IP address and the second IP address; and

a processor coupled to said memory, for generating a call request to the first IP address and after a predefined time causing the processor to generate a call request to the second IP address, wherein said first IP address is different from the second IP address.

11. The user device of claim 10, wherein the user device is an Internet Protocol (IP) telephone.

12. The user device of claim 10, wherein the user device is a multi-media terminal adaptor.

13. The user device of claim 10, wherein the user device is a Public Service Telephone Network gateway.

14. A method of operating a user device, comprising:

receiving a provisioning file, the provisioning file comprising a first Internet Protocol (IP) address and a second IP address;

storing the provisioning file; and

generating a call request to the first IP address and after a predefined time generating a call request to the second IP address in response to the provisioning file, wherein said first IP address is different from the second IP address.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein load balancing is initiated in response to said generating a call request to the first IP address and after a predefined time generating a call request to the second IP address.