Prioritization Within a Session Over Internet Protocol (SOIP) Network

Abstract

A method includes receiving, at a session controller, session data from a session-detail record. The session data is associated with at least a portion of a call over a Session over Internet Protocol (SoIP) network. A priority indicator associated with an Internet Protocol (IP) packet transmitted over the call is modified at the session controller based on the session data. The priority indicator indicates a priority to transmit the IP packet.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a system block diagram of a Session over Internet Protocol (SoIP) network, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for changing a priority indicator associated with an Internet Protocol (IP) packet transmitted over a SoIP network, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a table that illustrates a priority database with transmission priorities and corresponding threshold conditions, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a system block diagram of an end-to-end call between a source endpoint and a destination endpoint via a session border controller (SBC), according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram that illustrates the IP packet transmissions shown in FIG. 4 categorized as signaling connections and media connections, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is an example of a flowchart that can be implemented to cause a priority indicator to be changed at an endpoint, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is schematic diagram that illustrates an implementation of multistage prioritization, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is schematic diagram that illustrates an implementation of multistage prioritization, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates a schematic diagram of a session controller configured to process a priority-modification instruction, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a system block diagram that shows an SBC transmitting IP packets between a source gateway and a destination gateway, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11 is a system block diagram that illustrates a session controller that is designed for changing a priority indicator associated with an IP packet transmitted over a SoIP network, according to an embodiment of the invention.

Claims

1. A method, comprising: receiving, at a session controller, session data from a session-detail record, the session data being associated with at least a portion of a call over a Session over Internet Protocol (SoIP) network, the session controller being a session aware component; andmodifying, at the session controller, a priority indicator associated with an Internet Protocol (IP) packet transmitted over the call based on the session data, the priority indicator indicates a priority to transmit the IP packet.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the session data is associated with a session of the call.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the session data includes a value of at least one of a session layer parameter or an extrinsic parameter.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the IP packet is from a plurality of IP packets, the modifying includes modifying a plurality of priority indicators, each priority indicator from the plurality of priority indicators is uniquely associated with an IP packet from the plurality of IP packets.

5. The method of clam 1, further comprising receiving a threshold condition from a priority database, the modifying includes modifying when the threshold condition is satisfied based on the session data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the priority indicator is a first priority indicator, the IP packet is a first IP packet, the method further comprising sending an instruction to an endpoint, the instruction being configured to trigger the endpoint to modify a second priority indicator associated with a second IP packet.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the priority indicator is a type-of-service (ToS) parameter, the ToS parameter is associated with a header of the IP packet.

8. A method, comprising: receiving a first IP packet being associated with a first session within a SoIP network, the first IP packet being associated with at least one of a session-layer parameter or an extrinsic parameter; andmodifying a priority indicator associated with at least one of the first IP packet or a second IP packet based on the at least one of a value of the session layer parameter or a value of the extrinsic parameter, the priority indicator indicates a priority to transmit the at least one of the first IP packet or the second IP packet over at least one of the first session or a second session.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising identifying a transmission priority value associated with the media content packet based on the quality-of-service parameter, the modifying being based on the transmission priority value.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the modifying includes modifying based on a threshold condition included in a priority database, the method further comprising modifying the threshold condition in the priority database based on an input value received from a user.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the session layer parameter includes a content type, the modifying is based on the content type.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the priority indicator is a type-of-service (ToS) parameter, the ToS parameter is associated with a header of the at least one of the first IP packet or the second IP packet.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the modifying includes modifying the priority indicator from a default priority indicator.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the second IP packet is associated with at least one of an endpoint, the first IP packet, the first session, or the second session.

15. The method of claim 8, wherein the second IP packet is associated with at least one of the session layer parameter or the extrinsic parameter.

16. The method of claim 8, wherein the modifying is performed at a session controller, the session controller has at least one virtual partition, the modifying is based on the virtual partition.

17. The method of claim 8, wherein the session layer parameter is a layer-5 session-layer parameter.

18. An apparatus comprising: a database configured to store a transmission priority value and an associated threshold condition, the threshold condition being based on at least one of a value of a session layer parameter or a value of an extrinsic parameter; anda processor coupled to the database, the processor configured to receive at least one of the value of the session layer parameter or the value of the extrinsic parameter, the value of the session layer parameter and the value of the extrinsic parameter being associated with an IP packet associated with a call within a SoIP network, the processor configured to associate the transmission priority value with the IP packet when the threshold condition is satisfied based on the at least one of the value of the session layer parameter or the value of the extrinsic parameter.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor is configured to modify a priority indicator associated with the IP packet based on the transmission priority value, the priority indicator indicates a priority to transmit the IP packet over a session associated with the call.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the IP packet is a first IP packet, the processor is configured to modify a priority indicator associated with a second IP packet based on the transmission priority value, the priority indicator indicates a priority to transmit the second IP packet over the SoIP network, the second IP packet being associated with the call.