Detecting quality of service for unified communication and collaboration (UC and C) on internetworks

• US 9,413,792 B2
• Filed: 11/09/2012
• Issued: 08/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Menezes, Pascal, Yahyaoui, Wajih, Barkley, Warren
• Primary Examiner(s): Bates, Kevin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pant, Ranjan
• Application Number:
  US13/672,933
• Publication Number:
  US 20140136718A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,369 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2408 for supporting different services, e.g. a differentiated services [DiffServ] type of service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2441 relying on flow classification, e.g. using integrated services [IntServ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/41 by acting on aggregated flows or links
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1083 In-session procedures

Abstract

QoS support is detected during discovery of potential media paths between a source and a destination by examining the markings of each available media path and selecting a more suitable media candidate based on a set of QoS prioritization rules. Optionally, each endpoint may update a UC&C monitoring service with the QoS results of the candidate list discovery process so that any automated diagnostic and auditing systems can be alerted to any misconfigured Network Elements.

Claims

1. A method executed on a computing device for facilitating a communication session in a unified communication and collaboration (UC&

C) aware network, the method comprising;

detecting a request for the communication session;

during a discovery of potential media paths between a source and a destination for facilitating the communication session, detecting whether each discovered potential media path supports Quality of Service (QoS);

sorting the potential media paths based on a prioritization of the potential media paths and NAT traversal connectivity, wherein the prioritization of the potential media paths is based on one or more of a Quality of Service(QoS) support, a port configuration, and a bandwidth availability;

if one or more potential media paths support QoS, prioritizing the potential media paths that support QoS; and

if a potential media path does not support QoS, designating that media path as a last resort media path.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting one of the prioritized potential media paths; and

facilitating the requested communication session over the selected prioritized potential media path.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving packets for the communication session at a switch, wherein the switch forms expedited forwarding (EF) queues;

marking, by the switch, the packets for one of EF queues and Best Effort (BF) queues; and

detecting whether the potential media paths support the QoS by examining the markings of each available media path.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting whether the potential media paths support the QoS during Interactive Connectivity Establishment (ICE).

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating a unified communication and collaboration (UC&

C) monitoring service with QoS detection results such that one or more automated diagnostic and auditing systems are alerted to misconfigured Network Elements (NEs).

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

performing one or more trace route functions for NEs along each discovered media path.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the QoS is based on one or more standards including Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11e, Ethernet IEEE 802.1p, and IP IETF Diff Serv.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

scheduling communication traffic onto outbound trunks employing one or more of Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ) and Weighted Round Robin (WRR) at each outbound queue.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

discovering a remote UC&

C client connected to the Internet based on the UC&

C client being directly connected to a private IP address subnet where a second hop NE is on a public IP address space.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

prioritizing the potential media paths based on one or more of cost and one or more modalities of the communication session.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication session is at least one from a set of:

an audio call, an application sharing session, a data sharing session, a whiteboard sharing session, a video conference, and a collaboration exchange.

12. A computing device acting as a unified communication and collaboration (UC&

C) control server for facilitating a communication session in a UC&

C aware network, the computing device comprising;

a memory;

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor executing a UC&

C control application in conjunction with instructions stored in the memory, wherein the UC&

C control application is configured to;

detect a request for the communication session;

determine potential media paths between a source endpoint and a destination endpoint for facilitating the communication session;

sort the potential media paths based on a prioritization of the potential media paths and NAT traversal connectivity, wherein the prioritization of the potential media paths is based on one or more of a Quality of Service (QoS) support, a port configuration, and a bandwidth availability;

select one of the prioritized potential media paths; and

enable facilitation of the requested communication session over the selected media path of the prioritized potential media paths.

13. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the UC&

C control application is configured to;

for media paths not supporting QoS, discover misconfigured intermediate nodes using trace route; and

update a unified communication and collaboration (UC&

C) monitoring service with media paths not supporting QoS except for known non-QoS scenarios.

14. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the UC&

C control application is configured to;

employ a signaling exchange in a control plane to discover, to set up, and to secure two or more endpoints before the media is exchanged.

15. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the UC&

C control application is configured to;

upon establishing an initial connection between the source endpoint and the destination endpoint, enable the media to bypass the UC&

C control server and be routed directly between the source endpoint and the destination endpoint.

16. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the UC&

C control application is configured to;

detect which ports of each network element (NE) along the potential media paths are configured for communication; and

determine if a configured port is optimal for audio/video communication.

17. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the UC&

C control application is configured to;

store selected media path information for future use.

18. A method executed in a computing device for facilitating a communication session in a unified communication and collaboration (UC&

C) aware network, the method comprising;

detecting a request for the communication session;

receiving packets for the communication session at a switch, wherein the switch forms expedited forwarding (EF) queues;

marking, by the switch, the packets for one of EF queues and Best Effort (BF) queues;

during a discovery of potential media paths between a source endpoint and a destination endpoint for facilitating the communication session, detecting whether each discovered potential media path supports Quality of Service (QoS) by examining the markings of each available media path;

sorting the potential media paths based on a prioritization of the potential media paths and NAT traversal connectivity, wherein the prioritization of the potential media paths is based on one or more of a Quality of Service (QoS) support, a port configuration, and a bandwidth availability;

if one or more potential media paths support QoS, prioritizing the potential media paths that support QoS;

if a potential media path does not support QoS, designating that media path as a last resort media path;

selecting one of the prioritized potential media paths; and

facilitating the requested communication session over the selected media path of the prioritized potential media paths.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

prioritizing the potential media paths based on one or more of cost and one or more modalities of the requested communication session, wherein the communication session is at least one from a set of;

an audio call, an application sharing session, a data sharing session, a whiteboard sharing session, a video conference, and a collaboration exchange.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

using one of Real time Transport Protocol (RTP) and Secure RTP (SRTP) for audio and video media exchange; and

using Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for signaling.