SIP-HTTP application correlator

• US 8,831,032 B2
• Filed: 09/22/2008
• Issued: 09/09/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Foti, George
• Primary Examiner(s): SMITH, MARCUS
• Application Number:
  US12/235,266
• Publication Number:
  US 20090225760A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,178 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/466
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1016 IP multimedia subsystem [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1104 Session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/142 Managing session states for stateless protocols; Signalling session states; State transitions; Keeping-state mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/085 specially adapted for interworking of IP-based networks with other networks

Abstract

Systems and methods according to the present invention facilitate communications between devices which utilize different signaling protocols. A gateway can analyze incoming messages, in a first protocol such as SIP, to identify an application instance to which the messages should be routed. The messages can then be converted into another protocol and forwarded to the identified application.

Claims

1. A method for correlating application information between an Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network and a non-IMS node, the method comprising:

receiving, at a gateway, a first message using a first signaling protocol from said IMS network, the first message being part of an IMS protocol based session;

associating the received first message with an instance of an application selected from a plurality of applications running on said non-IMS node in accordance with an application instance identification table, the application instance identification table correlating the received first message with the instance of the application running on the non-IMS node; and

transmitting a second message towards said non-IMS node using a second signaling protocol that is different from said first signaling protocol, said second message including an application instance identification corresponding to the instance of the associated application, the application instance identification being used to route the second message to the instance of the associated application running on said non-IMS node.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said gateway uses a SIP dialog for the associated instance of the application running on said non-IMS node.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving a subsequent message which is for said associated instance of the application running on said non-IMS node; and

transmitting an in-session notification message towards said non-IMS node.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said gateway has a state maintained in a memory for said instance of the associated application running on said non-IMS node.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said gateway is stateless for said associated instance of the application running on said non-IMS node.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said first message is a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message which includes information in a contact-accept header.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said information is at least one of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and an IMS Communication Service Identifier (ICSI).

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said second signaling protocol is Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a third message using said second signaling protocol from said non-IMS node which includes an application identification (ID), wherein said second message is an HTTP request message.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said application identification table contains previously stored information including URLs, ICSIs and application IDs which have been stored.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein each instance of said associated application is uniquely identified by the application instance identification.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said unique application instance identification is created from a concatenation of an application identification with a hashing of a transmission control protocol (TCP) value.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein entries are created for said table by at least one of receiving a message originating from a first instance of the application which requires a SIP dialog to be maintained and receiving a SIP message which is associated with a second instance of the application which requires a SIP dialog to be maintained.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

establishing a SIP dialog after receiving said first message;

storing additional information which links said SIP dialog and said instance of the application; and

using in-session notification for subsequently received messages from said IMS network which are associated with said instance of the application based upon said stored additional information.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

establishing a transmission control protocol (TCP) connection with said non-IMS node after initiation of said instance of the application; and

terminating said TCP connection with said non-IMS node after said instance of the application is deactivated.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein said non-IMS node is an Internet Protocol television terminal function (ITF).

17. The method of claim 1, wherein said application is at least one of a distributed application environment (DAE) application and an embedded ITF application.

18. A gateway device comprising:

a communication interface configured to transmit and receive messages, a first received message being from an IMS network, having a first signaling protocol and including information associated with an application;

a memory configured to store information that includes application instance identifications (IDs), Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), default information and IMS Communication Service Identifiers (ICSIs); and

a processor for correlating said first received message having said first signaling protocol with the information stored in the memory to associate the message with an instance of an application selected from a plurality of applications to which to route a second message using a second signaling protocol different from said first signaling protocol, said second message using said using said second signaling protocol including an application instance identification corresponding to said instance of the associated application, wherein the application instance identification is used to route the second message to the instance of the associated application on a non-IMS node.

19. The gateway device of claim 18, wherein said gateway uses a SIP dialog for said instance of the associated application running on said non-IMS node.

20. The gateway device of claim 19, further comprising:

at said communications interface, receiving a subsequent message which is for associated instance of the application running on said non-IMS node and transmitting an in-session notification message towards said non-IMS node.

21. The gateway device of claim 18, wherein said gateway has a state maintained in a memory for said associated instance of the application running on said non-IMS node.

22. The gateway device of claim 18, wherein said gateway is stateless for said associated instance of the application running on said non-IMS node.

23. The gateway device of claim 18, wherein said first message is a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message which includes said information in a contact-accept header.

24. The gateway device of claim 18, wherein said information is at least one of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and an ICSI.

25. The gateway device of claim 18, wherein said second signaling protocol is Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

26. The gateway device of claim 18 further comprising:

at said communications interface, receiving a third message using said second signaling protocol from said non-IMS node which includes an application identification (ID), wherein said second message is an HTTP request message.

27. The gateway device of claim 18 further comprising:

a pre-configured table, configured to store said previously stored information, which includes URLs, ICSIs and application IDs.

28. The gateway device of claim 18, wherein the memory maintains an instance table including each instance of said application, each instance being uniquely identified in said memory and by the application instance identification.

29. The gateway device of claim 28, wherein said unique application instance identification is created from a concatenation of an application identification with a hashing of a transmission control protocol (TCP) value.

30. The gateway device of claim 28, wherein entries are created for said memory by at least one of receiving a message originating from a first instance of the application which requires a SIP dialog to be maintained and receiving a SIP message which is associated with a second instance of the application which requires a SIP dialog to be maintained.

31. The gateway device of claim 18, wherein:

said gateway is configured to establish a SIP dialog after receiving said first message; and

said memory is configured to store additional information that links said SIP dialog and said instance of the application, wherein said gateway uses in-session notification for subsequently received messages from said IMS network that are associated with said instance of the application based upon said stored additional information.

32. The gateway device of claim 18, wherein said gateway establishes a transmission control protocol (TCP) connection with said non-IMS node after initiation of said instance of the application, and terminates said TCP connection with said non-IMS node after said instance of the application is deactivated.

33. The gateway device of claim 18, wherein said non-IMS node is an Internet Protocol television terminal function (ITF).

34. The gateway device of claim 18, wherein said application is at least one of a distributed application environment (DAE) application and an embedded ITF application.