ARCHITECTURE TO SUPPORT PUBLIC VOICE VPN SERVICES OVER AN IP NETWORK

• US 20090168781A1
• Filed: 03/04/2009
• Published: 07/02/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property II LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Denny Ko, Eberhard F. Wunderlich, Emmanuel K. Sam, Fang Wu, Kwok T. Fung
• Inventors: Wu, Fang, Wunderlich, Eberhard F., Fung, Kwok T., Ko, Denny, Sam, Emmanuel K.
• Granted Patent: US 7,983,269 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/395.100
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0272 Virtual private networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 379/90 Internet, e.g. Internet phone, webphone, internet-based telephony
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 379/901 Virtual networks or virtual private networks

Abstract

The presently disclosed architecture enables a service provider to support public voice VPN services over an IP VPN network. The architecture utilizes a customer VPN, a designated gateway for the customer VPN, an IP VPN transport network, and a Call Control Element/router Complex which uses IP technology to map between the IP VPN and the voice VPN. With such an arrangement, the customer VPN is extended to the gatekeeper of the Call Control Element/router Complex, thereby enabling the provision of voice VPN services over an IP network.

Claims

1. A method for enabling a telecommunications carrier to provide a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service over an Internet Protocol (IP) VPN Network, comprising:

receiving a call in a VPN network that originated from a customer VPN;

routing the call to a gatekeeper along with a number for an autonomous system (AS) that uniquely identifies the customer VPN; and

mapping at the gatekeeper the AS into a connection group to facilitate routing of the call.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving is performed through an IP subnet.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said routing is performed through a permanent virtual circuit (PVC).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said routing is performed using an IP tunneling protocol.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said mapping is performed to a per-VPN management information base (MIB).

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said IP VPN network comprises at least one of:

a MPLS over frame relay, an ATM, or an IP network with DifffServ.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said VPN service comprises at least one of:

H.323, SIP, XGCP, and H.248.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein said IP tunneling protocol comprises L2TP.

9. An apparatus for enabling a telecommunications carrier to provide a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service over an Internet Protocol (IP) VPN Network, comprising:

means for receiving a call in a VPN network that originated from a customer VPN;

means for routing the call to a gatekeeper along with a number for an autonomous system (AS) that uniquely identifies the customer VPN; and

means for mapping at the gatekeeper the AS into a connection group to facilitate routing of the call.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said receiving means receives the call through an IP subnet.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said routing means routes the call through a permanent virtual circuit (PVC).

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said routing means routes the call using an IP tunneling protocol.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said mapping means maps the AS to a per-VPN management information base (MIB).

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said IP VPN network comprises at least one of:

a MPLS over frame relay, an ATM, or an IP network with DifffServ.

15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said VPN service comprises at least one of:

H.323, SIP, XGCP, and H.248.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said IP tunneling protocol comprises L2TP.