Transmission of maintenance information of an active packet connection through employment of packets communicated over the active packet connection

• US 7,821,940 B2
• Filed: 04/05/2004
• Issued: 10/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Zhang, Peng, Matten, Alan H., Kott, Joseph J., Bradac, Mark G., Makowski, Steven L., Botkin, Douglas J., Sturm, Douglas W., Clark, Edward A.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, STEVEN H D
• Application Number:
  US10/818,331
• Publication Number:
  US 20050220028A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,395 Days
• Field of Search: 370/235
• US Class Current: 370/235
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/50 Testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1083 In-session procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/65 Network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS

Abstract

A maintenance component of an apparatus in one example employs one or more packets that are communicated over an active packet connection to evaluate the active packet connection.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a maintenance component configured to run on a gateway or a switch, the maintenance component having a maintenance processing component operable to generate requests for maintenance information and a storage medium operable to store tests, the maintenance component being operable to employ one or more packets that are communicated over an active packet connection to evaluate the active packet connection based on maintenance information of the active packet connection and to evaluate the active packet connection to determine a quality of service (QoS) of the active packet connection;

wherein the maintenance processing component is operable to employ the maintenance information from a far endpoint and a near endpoint of the active packet connection to make the evaluation; and

wherein the maintenance processing component is operable to generate a request for the maintenance information of the active packet connection at any one or more points of time for a call; and

wherein the maintenance processing component is operable to receive at least one response packet containing an indication of a queuing delay for the request; and

wherein the maintenance component is operable to monitor the active packet connection and execute one or more tests on the active packet connection.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the maintenance component is operable to employ employs one or more of the one or more packets that are communicated over the active packet connection to generate one or more requests for the maintenance information of the active packet connection.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the maintenance processing component is operable to make a determination to generate the one or more requests for the maintenance information of the active packet connection.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the maintenance component is operable to allow an initiation of the one or more request for the maintenance information of the active packet connection.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the one or more of the one or more packets that are communicated over the active packet connection comprise one or more request packets of the one or more packets that are communicated over the active packet connection;

and

wherein the maintenance component is operable to receive one or more responses for the maintenance information of the active packet connection through employment of one or more response packets of the one or more packets that are communicated over the active packet connection.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the maintenance component is operable to perform an evaluation of the active packet connection based on the one or more responses for the maintenance information of the active packet connection.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the maintenance component is operable to store the evaluation of the active packet connection in a maintenance database.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the active packet connection comprises a first active packet connection, and wherein the maintenance component is operable to make a determination to establish a second active packet connection based on the evaluation of the first active packet connection.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the maintenance component is operable to cooperate with a call processing component to generate the one or more packets over the active packet connection, the call processing component being operable to send and receive data that comprises interactive audio and/or video.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the maintenance component is operable to cooperate with the call processing component to employ one or more octets of the maintenance information to one or more of the one or more packets that are communicated over the active packet connection.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the maintenance component is operable to cooperate with the call processing component to insert one or more octets of the maintenance information into one or more of the one or more packets that are communicated over the active packet connection.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the maintenance component is operable to cooperate with the call processing component to obtain the maintenance information of the active packet connection from within one or more of the one or more packets that are communicated over the active packet connection.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the maintenance component comprises a first maintenance component, and wherein the first maintenance component and a second maintenance component are operable to communicate through employment of the one or more packets that are communicated over the active packet connection;

and

wherein the first maintenance component comprises the maintenance information of the active packet connection as obtained from a perspective of the first maintenance component; and

wherein the second maintenance component comprises the maintenance information of the active packet connection as obtained from a perspective of the second maintenance component; and

wherein the first maintenance component is operable to request the maintenance information of the active packet connection as obtained from the perspective of the second maintenance component from the second maintenance component through employment of one or more request packets of the one or more packets that are communicated over the active packet connection; and

wherein the second maintenance component is operable to provide the maintenance information of the active packet connection as obtained from the perspective of the second maintenance component to the first maintenance component through employment of one or more response packets of the one or more packets that are communicated over the active packet connection; and

wherein the first maintenance component is operable to perform an evaluation of the active packet connection based on the maintenance information of the active packet connection as obtained from a perspective of the first maintenance component and the maintenance information of the active packet connection as obtained from the perspective of the second maintenance component.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the maintenance component is operable to employ one or more of the one or more packets that are communicated over the active packet connection to generate one or more responses for the maintenance information of the active packet connection.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein upon receipt of one or more request for the maintenance information, the maintenance component is operable to retrieve the maintenance information of the active packet connection from a maintenance database.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the maintenance component is operable to generate the one or more tests on the active packet connection;

and

wherein the maintenance component is operable to receive the maintenance information of the active packet connection from one or more results of the one or more tests on the active packet connection.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein one or more of the one or more packets comprise one or more identifiers, and wherein the maintenance component is operable to employ the one or more identifiers to match one or more requests for the maintenance information of the active packet connection with one or more responses for the maintenance information of the active packet connection.

18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the maintenance component is operable to generate a request for maintenance information of the active packet connection based on one or more network conditions.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the maintenance component is operable to generate the request for the maintenance information of the active packet connection when a voice/data packet loss rate has exceeded a threshold for the active packet connection.

20. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the maintenance component is operable to generate a request for maintenance information of the active packet connection when the QoS has declined for another active packet connection.

21. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the maintenance component is operable to generate a request for maintenance information of the active packet connection upon establishment of the active packet connection.

22. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the maintenance component is operable to generate a request for maintenance information of the active packet connection upon teardown of the active packet connection.

23. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the maintenance component is operable to generate a request for maintenance information of the active packet connection at one or more periodic points of time of the call.

24. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the maintenance component is operable to employ the one or more packets to execute a round-trip latency test of a voice/data packet communicated over the active packet connection.

25. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the maintenance component is operable to cooperate with a call processing component to insert an initial timestamp into a voice/data packet that contains a request to initiate a test of the active packet connection.

26. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the maintenance processing component is operable to generate the requests for the maintenance information of the active packet connection through employment of an interface usable by a network administrator.

27. A method, comprising the steps of:

transmitting maintenance information of an active packet connection within one or more packets that are communicated over the active packet connection, wherein the maintenance information includes an indication of a queuing delay for a received packet that requested the maintenance information;

employing the maintenance information from a far endpoint and a near endpoint of the active packet connection to evaluate the active packet connection; and

employing an evaluation of the active packet connection to determine a quality of service (QoS) of the active packet connection;

wherein the maintenance information is transmitted to a maintenance component configured to run on a gateway or a switch, the maintenance component being operable to monitor the active packet connection and executes one or more tests on the active packet connection, and

wherein the maintenance component comprises a maintenance processing component operable to generate requests for the maintenance information and a storage medium that stores tests; and

wherein the maintenance processing component is operable to generate a request for the maintenance information of the active packet connection at any one or more points of time for the call.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the step of transmitting the maintenance information of the active packet connection within the one or more packets that are communicated over the active packet connection further comprises the steps of:

receiving one or more requests for the maintenance information of the active packet connection through employment of one or more request packets of the one or more packets that are communicated over the active packet connection;

obtaining the maintenance information of the active packet connection; and

transmitting one or more responses for the maintenance information of the active packet connection within one or more response packets of the one or more packets that are communicated over the active packet connection.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the active packet connection comprises a first active packet connection, and wherein the step of transmitting the one or more responses for the maintenance information of the active packet connection within the one or more response packets of the one or more packets that are communicated over the first active packet connection further comprises the steps of:

obtaining the one or more responses for the maintenance information from within the one or more response packets of the one or more packets that are communicated over the first active packet connection;

performing one or more evaluations of the first active packet connection based on the one or more responses for the maintenance information; and

making one or more determinations to establish a second active packet connection based on the one or more evaluations.

30. An apparatus, comprising:

a maintenance component configured to run on a gateway or a switch, the maintenance component having a maintenance processing component operable to generate requests for maintenance information and a storage medium operable to store tests, the maintenance component being operable to employ one or more packets that are communicated over an active packet connection to evaluate the active packet connection based on maintenance information of the active packet connection and to evaluate the active packet connection to determine a quality of service (QoS) of the active packet connection, wherein the maintenance processing component is operable to employ the maintenance information from a far endpoint and a near endpoint of the active packet connection to make the evaluation, and wherein the maintenance processing component is operable to receive at least one packet containing an indication of a queuing delay in response to a request for the maintenance information.