End-to-end service quality for latency-intensive internet protocol (IP) applications in a heterogeneous, multi-vendor environment

• US 8,315,275 B2
• Filed: 08/10/2009
• Issued: 11/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Winterspring Digital LLC
• Original Assignee: Prom KS Mgmt LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Nag, Siddhartha
• Primary Examiner(s): Lai, Andrew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bokhari, Syed M
• Application Number:
  US12/538,677
• Publication Number:
  US 20090296734A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,198 Days
• Field of Search: 370/468, 370/341, 370/401, 370/232, 370/389, 379/229
• US Class Current: 370/468
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/18 End to end
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2416 Real-time traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/31 by tagging of packets, e.g. using discard eligibility [DE] bits
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/41 by acting on aggregated flows or links
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/724 at intermediate nodes, e.g. resource reservation protocol [RSVP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/801 Real time traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/822 Collecting or measuring resource availability data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/825 Involving tunnels, e.g. MPLS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/828 Allocation of resources per group of connections, e.g. per group of users
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/83 based on usage prediction
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0485 Networking architectures for enhanced packet encryption processing, e.g. offloading of IPsec packet processing or efficient security association look-up
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/105 Multiple levels of security
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1043 Gateway controllers, e.g. media gateway control protocol [MGCP] controllers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1106 Call signalling protocols; H.323 and related
• 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 65/752 adapting media to network capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 : Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 : in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

Apparatus and methods are provided for delivering end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. According to one embodiment, a portion of available bandwidth between a first and second network device is reserved as a Quality of Service (QoS) resource pool for real-time communication sessions among users of a first and second user community. The first network device is communicatively coupled with a packet network and associated with the first user community. The second network device is communicatively coupled with the packet network and associated with the second user community. End-to-end application QoS is provided between the first and second user communities by selectively admitting real-time communication sessions between the first user community and the second user community based upon currently available resources associated with the QoS resource pool and multiplexing the real-time communication sessions over a reservation protocol session between the first and second network devices.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

initiating reserving, by a computer-based system for voice over internet protocol (“

VoIP”

) communication, a predetermined portion of available bandwidth as a real-time bandwidth pool over a path through a network between a first media aggregation manager and a second media aggregation manager for real-time communication sessions between a first set of local applications and a second set of local applications,

wherein the first media aggregation manager is at an edge of a first local area network on which a first set of terminals of a first user community reside,

wherein the first set of terminals run the first set of local applications on behalf of which the first media aggregation manager is configured to act as a signaling and control proxy,

wherein the second media aggregation manager is at an edge of a second local area network on which a second set of terminals of a second user community reside, and

wherein the second set of terminals run the second set of local applications on behalf of which the second media aggregation manager is configured to act as a signaling and control proxy;

sharing, by the computer-based system, the real-time bandwidth pool among a plurality of real-time communication sessions by selectively admitting application sessions based upon currently available resources in the real-time bandwidth pool; and

securely communicating, by the computer-based system, between the first user community and the second user community by selectively encrypting information associated with the plurality of real-time communication sessions.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the initiating reserving of the predetermined portion of the available bandwidth between the first media aggregation manager and the second media aggregation manager includes initiating pre-allocating of a reservation protocol session over a path between the first media aggregation manager and the second media aggregation manager based upon an estimated usage of the path for individual application sessions between users of the first user community and the second user community.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the sharing the real-time bandwidth pool among a plurality of real-time communication sessions includes dynamically aggregating one or more individual application sessions by multiplexing application flows associated with the plurality of real-time communication sessions onto the pre-allocated reservation protocol session.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the pre-allocated reservation protocol session comprises a Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) session.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein at least one of the plurality of real-time communication sessions includes an H.323 session as a real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) session.

6. The method as recited in claim 3, further comprising forming, by the computer-based system, an encapsulated packet by appending a tag to a media packet received at the first media aggregation manager from a source local application associated with the first user community, the tag including information to allow the second media aggregation manager to determine a destination local application associated with the second user community.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the tag includes a network address associated with the source local application.

8. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the tag includes a network address associated with the destination local application.

9. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the tag includes a packet type indication that specifies how to further identify a subprocess within the destination local application.

10. A first media aggregation manager for voice over internet protocol (“

VoIP”

) communication configured to;

initiate reserving a predetermined portion of available bandwidth as a real-time bandwidth pool over a path through a network between the first media aggregation manager and a second media aggregation manager for real-time communication sessions between a first set of local applications and a second set of local applications,

wherein the first media aggregation manager is at an edge of a first local area network on which a first set of terminals of a first user community reside,

wherein the first set of terminals run the first set of local applications on behalf of which the first media aggregation manager is configured to act as a signaling and control proxy,

wherein the second media aggregation manager is at an edge of a second local area network on which a second set of terminals of a second user community reside, and

wherein the second set of terminals run the second set of local applications on behalf of which the second media aggregation manager is configured to act as a signaling and control proxy;

share the real-time bandwidth pool among a plurality of real-time communication sessions by selectively admitting application sessions based upon currently available resources in the real-time bandwidth pool; and

securely communicate between the first user community and the second user community by selectively encrypting information associated with the plurality of real-time communication sessions.

11. The first media aggregation manager as recited in claim 10, wherein to initiate reserving of a predetermined portion of available bandwidth between the first media aggregation manager and the second media aggregation manager is to initiate pre-allocating of a reservation protocol session over a path between the first media aggregation manager and the second media aggregation manager based upon an estimated usage of the path for individual application sessions between users of the first user community and the second user community.

12. The first media aggregation manager as recited in claim 11, wherein to share the real-time bandwidth pool among a plurality of real-time communication sessions is to dynamically aggregate one or more individual application sessions by multiplexing application flows associated with the plurality of real-time communication sessions onto the pre-allocated reservation protocol session.

13. The first media aggregation manager as recited in claim 12, wherein the pre-allocated reservation protocol session comprises a Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) session.

14. The first media aggregation manager as recited in claim 12, wherein the first media aggregation manager is further configured to form an encapsulated packet by appending a tag to a media packet received at the first media aggregation manager from a source local application associated with the first user community, the tag including information to allow the second media aggregation manager to determine a destination local application associated with the second user community.

15. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangible computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a computer-based system for voice over internet protocol (“

VoIP”

) communication, cause the computer-based system to perform operations comprising;

initiating reserving, by the computer-based system, a predetermined portion of available bandwidth as a real-time bandwidth pool over a path through a network between the first media aggregation manager and a second media aggregation manager for real-time communication sessions between a first set of local applications and a second set of local applications,

wherein the first media aggregation manager is at an edge of a first local area network on which a first set of terminals of a first user community reside,

wherein the first set of terminals run the first set of local applications on behalf of which the first media aggregation manager is configured to act as a signaling and control proxy,

wherein the second media aggregation manager is at an edge of a second local area network on which a second set of terminals of a second user community reside, and

wherein the second set of terminals run the second set of local applications on behalf of which the second media aggregation manager is configured to act as a signaling and control proxy;

sharing, by the computer-based system, the real-time bandwidth pool among a plurality of real-time communication sessions by selectively admitting application sessions based upon currently available resources in the real-time bandwidth pool; and

securely communicating, by the computer-based system, between the first user community and the second user community by selectively encrypting information associated with the plurality of real-time communication sessions.

16. The article as recited in claim 15, wherein the initiating reserving of a predetermined portion of available bandwidth between the first media aggregation manager and the second media aggregation manager includes initiating pre-allocating of a reservation protocol session over a path between the first media aggregation manager and the second media aggregation manager based upon an estimated usage of the path for individual application sessions between users of the first user community and the second user community.

17. The article as recited in claim 16, wherein the sharing the real-time bandwidth pool among a plurality of real-time communication sessions includes dynamically aggregating one or more individual application sessions by multiplexing application flows associated with the plurality of real-time communication sessions onto the pre-allocated reservation protocol session.

18. The article as recited in claim 17, wherein the pre-allocated reservation protocol session comprises a Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) session.

19. The article as recited in claim 17, further comprising forming, by the computer-based system, an encapsulated packet by appending a tag to a media packet received at the first media aggregation manager from a source local application associated with the first user community, the tag including information to allow the second media aggregation manager to determine a destination local application associated with the second user community.

20. A first media aggregation manager for voice over internet protocol (“

VoIP”

) communication comprising;

means for initiating reserving a predetermined portion of available bandwidth as a real-time 7 bandwidth pool over a path through a network between the first media aggregation manager and a second media aggregation manager for real-time communication sessions between a first set of local applications and a second set of local applications,

wherein the first media aggregation manager is at an edge of a first local area network on which a first set of terminals of a first user community reside,

wherein the first set of terminals run the first set of local applications on behalf of which the first media aggregation manager is configured to act as a signaling and control proxy,

wherein the second media aggregation manager is at an edge of a second local area network on which a second set of terminals of a second user community reside, and

wherein the second set of terminals run the second set of local applications on behalf of which the second media aggregation manager is configured to act as a signaling and control proxy;

means for sharing the real-time bandwidth pool among a plurality of real-time communication sessions by selectively admitting application sessions based upon currently available resources in the real-time bandwidth pool; and

means for securely communicating between the first user community and the second user community by selectively encrypting information associated with the plurality of real-time communication sessions.

21. A first media aggregation manager configured to:

initiate reserving a predetermined portion of available bandwidth as a real-time bandwidth pool over a path through a network between the first media aggregation manager and a second media aggregation manager for real-time communication sessions between a first set of local applications and a second set of local applications;

initiate establishing a reservation protocol session with the second media aggregation manager prior to admission of any of multiple application flows that share resources associated with the reservation protocol session, the multiple application flows being between one or more local terminals of a local user community and one or more remote terminals of a remote user community;

provide admission control for the multiple application flows based at least in part on availability of the resources as indicated by a resource manager;

allow interoperation among heterogeneous voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) environments via the reservation protocol session by performing signaling translation between different proprietary signaling protocols employed at the local and remote user communities; and

multiplex media packets of the multiple application flows onto the reservation protocol session.

22. The first media aggregation manager as recited in claim 21, further configured to perform signaling translation between the one or more local terminals of the local user community and a first call management agent associated with the local user community.

23. The first media aggregation manager as recited in claim 22, wherein the first call management agent is a first Internet Protocol (IP) Private Branch Exchange (PBX) that is different from a second call management agent that is a second IP PBX associated with the remote user community.

24. The first media aggregation manager as recited in claim 23, wherein the first IP PBX performs call management signaling for the one or more local terminals of the local user community, and the first media aggregation manager acts as an H.323 gateway for the first IP PBX.

25. The first media aggregation manager as recited in claim 21, further configured to perform media translation between the one or more local terminals of the local user community and a first call management agent associated with the local user community.

26. The first media aggregation manager as recited in claim 21, wherein the one or more local terminals are from one vendor, and the one or more remote terminals are from a different vendor.

27. The first media aggregation manager as recited in claim 21, wherein the allowing the interoperation among the heterogeneous voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) environments via the reservation protocol session by performing signaling translation between different proprietary signaling protocols employed at the local and remote user communities, occurs between the first media aggregation manager and the second media aggregation manager.

28. A method comprising:

initiating reserving, by a computer-based system for voice over internet protocol (“

VoIP”

) communication, a predetermined portion of available bandwidth as a real-time bandwidth pool over a path through a network between a first media aggregation manager and a second media aggregation manager for real-time communication sessions between a first set of local applications and a second set of local applications;

initiating establishing, by the computer-based system, a reservation protocol session between the first media aggregation manager and the second media aggregation manager prior to admission of any of multiple application flows that share resources associated with the reservation protocol session, the multiple application flows being between one or more local terminals of a local user community and one or more remote terminals of a remote user community;

providing, by the computer-based system, admission control for the multiple application flows based at least in part on availability of the resources as indicated by a resource manager;

allowing, by the computer-based system, interoperation among heterogeneous VoIP environments via the reservation protocol session by performing signaling translation between different proprietary signaling protocols employed at the local and remote user communities; and

multiplexing, by the computer-based system, media packets of the multiple application flows onto the reservation protocol session.

29. The method as recited in claim 28, further comprising performing, by the computer-based system, signaling translation between the one or more local terminals of the local user community and a first call management agent associated with the local user community.

30. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein the first call management agent is a first Internet Protocol (IP) Private Branch Exchange (PBX) that is different from a second call management agent that is a second IP PBX associated with the remote user community.

31. The method as recited in claim 28, further comprising performing, by the computer-based system, media translation between the one or more local terminals of the local user community and a first call management agent associated with the local user community.

32. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangible computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a computer-based system for voice over internet protocol (“

VoIP”

) communication, cause the computer-based system to perform operations comprising;

initiating reserving, by the computer-based system, a predetermined portion of available bandwidth as a real-time bandwidth pool over a path through a network between a first media aggregation manager and a second media aggregation manager for real-time communication sessions between a first set of local applications and a second set of local applications;

initiating establishing, by the computer-based system, a reservation protocol session between the first media aggregation manager and the second media aggregation manager prior to admission of any of multiple application flows that share resources associated with the reservation protocol session, the multiple application flows being between one or more local terminals of a local user community and one or more remote terminals of a remote user community;

providing, by the computer-based system, admission control for the multiple application flows based at least in part on availability of the resources as indicated by a resource manager;

allowing, by the computer-based system, interoperation among heterogeneous VoIP environments via the reservation protocol session by performing signaling translation between different proprietary signaling protocols employed at the local and remote user communities; and

multiplexing, by the computer-based system, media packets of the multiple application flows onto the reservation protocol session.

33. The article as recited in claim 32, further comprising performing, by the computer-based system, signaling translation between the one or more local terminals of the local user community and a first call management agent associated with the local user community.

34. The article as recited in claim 33, wherein the first call management agent is a first Internet Protocol (IP) Private Branch Exchange (PBX) that is different from a second call management agent that is a second IP PBX associated with the remote user community.

35. The article as recited in claim 32, further comprising performing, by the computer-based system, media translation between the one or more local terminals of the local user community and a first call management agent associated with the local user community.

36. A first media aggregation manager comprising:

a resource manager configured to initiate reserving a predetermined portion of available bandwidth as a real-time bandwidth pool over a path through a network between a first media aggregation manager and a second media aggregation manager for real-time communication sessions between a first set of local applications and a second set of local applications;

the resource manager further configured to initiate establishing a reservation protocol session with a second media aggregation manager prior to admission of any of multiple application flows that share resources associated with the reservation protocol session, the multiple application flows being between one or more local terminals of a local user community and one or more remote terminals of a remote user community;

an admission control manager configured to provide admission control for the multiple application flows based at least in part on availability of the resources as indicated by the resource manager;

a signaling gateway configured to perform signaling translation between different proprietary signaling protocols employed at the local and remote user communities to allow interoperation among heterogeneous voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) environments via the reservation protocol session by; and

a multiplexor configured to multiplex media packets of the multiple application flows onto the reservation protocol session.