METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CLEARING HANG CALLS

• US 20110149949A1
• Filed: 12/18/2009
• Published: 06/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: BAKSHI, YURY, Noel, Eric
• Granted Patent: US 9,231,785 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0847 Transmission error
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/08 Indicating faults in circuits or apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/22 Arrangements for supervision, monitoring or testing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2254 in networks
• 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

Abstract

A method, computer readable medium and apparatus for clearing hang calls in a communication network are disclosed. For example, the method detects a failure of an adjacent call stateful network element in a signaling path, identifies one or more calls that are affected by the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element, tests a media path of the one or more calls for activity and clears the one or more calls that are affected by the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element if the media path of the one or more calls is inactive.

Claims

1. A method for clearing hang calls in a communication network, comprising:

detecting a failure of an adjacent call stateful network element in a signaling path;

identifying one or more calls that are affected by the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element;

monitoring a media path of the one or more calls for activity; and

clearing the one or more calls that are affected by the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element if the media path of the one or more calls is inactive.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element is detected via a heartbeat message or a time-out mechanism.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element is detected by at least one of:

a call stateful signaling component or a call stateful media component.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending call release notification messages via all adjacent call stateful network elements in a call release path to notify all call stateful media components of the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

propagating call release notification messages further along a call release path by all other adjacent call stateful network elements that are properly functioning in the call release path.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

waiting a predefined time period before clearing the one or more calls that are affected by the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication network is a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network.

8. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions including instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for clearing hang calls in a communication network, comprising:

detecting a failure of an adjacent call stateful network element in a signaling path;

identifying one or more calls that are affected by the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element;

monitoring a media path of the one or more calls for activity; and

clearing the one or more calls that are affected by the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element if the media path of the one or more calls is inactive.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element is detected via a heartbeat message or a time-out mechanism.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element is detected by at least one of:

a call stateful signaling component or a call stateful media component.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, further comprising:

sending call release notification messages via all adjacent call stateful network elements in a call release path to notify all call stateful media components of the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, further comprising:

propagating call release notification messages further along a call release path by all other adjacent call stateful network elements that are properly functioning in the call release path.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, further comprising:

waiting a predefined time period before clearing the one or more calls that are affected by the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the communication network is a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network.

15. An apparatus for clearing hang calls in a communication network, comprising:

means for detecting a failure of an adjacent call stateful network element in a signaling path;

means for identifying one or more calls that are affected by the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element;

means for monitoring a media path of the one or more calls for activity; and

means for clearing the one or more calls that are affected by the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element if the media path of the one or more calls is inactive.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element is detected via a heartbeat message or a time-out mechanism.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element is detected by at least one of:

a call stateful signaling component or a call stateful media component.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising:

means for sending call release notification messages via all adjacent call stateful network elements in a call release path to notify all call stateful media components of the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising:

means for propagating call release notification messages further along a call release path by all other adjacent call stateful network elements that are properly functioning in the call release path.

20. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising:

means for waiting a predefined time period before clearing the one or more calls that are affected by the failure of the adjacent call stateful network element.