Methods and apparatus for forwarding IP calls through a proxy interface

• US 8,547,962 B2
• Filed: 06/28/2006
• Issued: 10/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Genband US LLC (Ribbon Communications, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Genband US LLC (Ribbon Communications, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ramachandran, Sridhar, Tyagi, Paritosh, Mallesan, Saravanan, Kulshreshtha, Gaurav, Shetty, Sohan, Raman, Rohini, Bhatia, Medhavi
• Primary Examiner(s): Phung, Luat
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ansari, Najeebuddin
• Application Number:
  US11/427,171
• Publication Number:
  US 20060291450A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,652 Days
• Field of Search: 370352-356, 370/401
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/6418 Hybrid transport
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 Policy-based network configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/04 Interdomain routing, e.g. hierarchical routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/3065 for real time traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/00 Traffic control in data switching networks arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received H04L1/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1046 Call controllers; Call servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1066 Session management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1072 Discovery involving ranked list compilation of candidate peers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/126 Interworking of session control protocols

Abstract

A session controller configured to be coupled to a communications network is disclosed. The session controller is configured to receive an indication of a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) registration request at a first time from an endpoint having a third-party registration, and to receive a signaling message from the endpoint at a second time later than the first time. The session controller is further configured to forward an indication of the VoIP registration request and a signaling message to an application server, such that at least a portion of the topology of the communications network beyond the session controller is hidden to the endpoint.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a session controller configured to be coupled to a communications network and to provide services to endpoints in the communications network, the session controller configured to receive an indication of a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) registration request at a first time from an endpoint in the communications network, the endpoint to be registered at an application server,

the session controller being further configured to receive a signaling message from the endpoint at a second time later than the first time, the signaling message for requesting a service,

the session controller being further configured to forward an indication of the VoIP registration request and the signaling message to the application server,

the session controller being further configured to forward an indication of the VoIP registration request and the signaling message such that at least a portion of the topology of the communications network beyond the session controller is hidden to the endpoint, wherein the at least a portion of the topology hidden includes an identity of the application server;

wherein the session controller is configured to forward the indication of the VoIP registration request and the signaling message to the application server based on a uniform resource identifier;

wherein the session controller is configured to forward the indication of the VoIP registration request and the signaling message transparently such that the identity of the application server is unidentifiable by the endpoint; and

wherein the session controller comprises at least one processor.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the session controller is configured to define a dynamic endpoint state on a realm of the application server and to apply a media routing characteristic of the realm to a call originating from or terminating at the endpoint.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the session controller is configured to process a SIP 3XX redirect message code.

4. A computer program stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the computer program comprising:

a first receiving instruction to receive, at a session controller coupled to a communications network for providing services to endpoints in the communications network, an indication of a VoIP registration request from an endpoint in the communications network, the endpoint to be registered at a third party application server;

a second receiving instruction to receive, at the session controller, a signaling message from the endpoint at a second time later than the first time, the signaling message for requesting a service;

a forwarding instruction to transparently forward an indication of the VoIP registration request and the signaling message to an application server such that at least a portion of the topology of the communications network beyond the session controller is hidden to the endpoint, wherein the at least a portion of the topology hidden includes an identity of the application server;

wherein the forwarding instruction is further to forward transparently such that the identity of the application server is unidentifiable by the endpoint; and

wherein the forwarding instruction is further to forward based on a uniform resource identifier of the application server.

5. The computer program stored on a computer-readable medium of claim 4, the computer program further comprising a definition instruction to define a dynamic endpoint state on a realm of the application server and further to apply a media routing characteristic of the realm to a call originating from or terminating at the endpoint.

6. The computer program stored on a computer-readable medium of claim 4, the computer program further comprising a processing instruction to process a SIP 3xx redirect message code.