Method and apparatus for establishment and management of voice-over IP virtual private networks in IP-based communication systems
First Claim
1. A method for establishing an Internet Protocol (IP)-based Virtual Private Network (VPN) for a voice call between an originating point of a customer and a terminating point, the originating point associated with a first node and the terminating point associated with a second node, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) determining the relative location of the terminating point with respect to the originating point, including collecting and analyzing dialed digits of the terminating point to determine whether a PSTN gateway function or an inter-VPN gateway function processes the voice call;
(b) determining one or more IP addresses to propagate voice packets of the voice call from the originating point to the terminating point;
(c) adding, at the first node, a VPN identifier to each voice packet of the voice call;
(d) propagating the voice packets from the first node to the second node; and
(e) removing, at the second node, the VPN identifier from each voice packet of the voice call;
wherein the VPN identifier identifies a VPN of the customer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Establishing voice calls in an IP based VPN includes determining the relative location of a terminating point with respect to an originating point of a new communication containing the voice data, determining one or more IP addresses to egress the communication from the originating point to the terminating point, creating a VPN identifier in the new communication, passing the new communication to the terminating point and removing the VPN identifier from the new communication. The VPN identifier can be an extra field added to an encapsulation coding scheme of the voice data.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for establishing an Internet Protocol (IP)-based Virtual Private Network (VPN) for a voice call between an originating point of a customer and a terminating point, the originating point associated with a first node and the terminating point associated with a second node, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining the relative location of the terminating point with respect to the originating point, including collecting and analyzing dialed digits of the terminating point to determine whether a PSTN gateway function or an inter-VPN gateway function processes the voice call; (b) determining one or more IP addresses to propagate voice packets of the voice call from the originating point to the terminating point; (c) adding, at the first node, a VPN identifier to each voice packet of the voice call; (d) propagating the voice packets from the first node to the second node; and (e) removing, at the second node, the VPN identifier from each voice packet of the voice call; wherein the VPN identifier identifies a VPN of the customer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus for supporting IP-based VPN communications for a voice call between an originating point of a customer and a terminating point, comprising:
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a soft-switch which processes call signaling messages from endpoints of the customer, wherein said soft-switch is adapted for collecting and analyzing dialed digits of said terminating point to determine whether a PSTN gateway function or an inter-VPN gateway function processes the voice call; a packet switch having an interface to said soft-switch, said packet switch having a VPN processing module for establishing voice calls on a selection of originating and terminating IP addresses passed to said soft-switch and said packet switch, said packet switch adapted for operating as an ingress packet switch and an egress packet switch; wherein said packet switch adds a VPN identifier to voice packets of a voice call when said packet switch is operating as an ingress packet switch for the voice call; wherein said packet switch removes a VPN identifier from voice packets of a voice call when said packet switch is operating as an egress packet switch for the voice call; wherein the VPN identifier identifies a VPN of the customer. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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Specification