Quality of Service Prioritization of Internet Protocol Packets Using Session-Aware Components

Abstract

A method includes receiving a first media-content packet associated with a first session within a Session over Internet Protocol (SoIP) network. The first media-content packet is associated with a quality-of-service parameter. A transmission priority value associated with the first media-content packet is identified based on a value of the quality-of-service parameter. A priority indicator associated with the first media-content packet and/or a second media-content packet is modified based on the transmission priority value. The priority indicator indicates a priority to transmit the first media-content packet and/or the second media-content packet over a connection within the first session and/or a connection within a second session.

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 a first media-content packet associated with a first session within a Session over Internet Protocol (SoIP) network, the first media-content packet being associated with a quality-of-service parameter;identifying a transmission priority value associated with the first media-content packet based on a value of the quality-of-service parameter; andmodifying a priority indicator associated with at least one of the first media-content packet or a second media-content packet based on the transmission priority value, the priority indicator indicating a priority to transmit at least one of the first media-content packet or the second media-content packet over at least one of a connection within the first session or a connection within a second session.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying is performed at a session controller that is session-aware.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the quality-of-service parameter is a layer-3 session-layer parameter.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying is based on a threshold condition received from a priority database.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising modifying a priority indicator included in a signaling packet based on the transmission priority value.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first media-content packet is from a plurality of media-content packets, the value of the quality-of-service parameter is calculated based on the plurality of media-content packets.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising calculating the value of the quality-of-service parameter based on a mid-network collection technique.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the value of the quality-of-service parameter is included in a session-detail record.

9. A method, comprising: receiving a value of a quality-of-service parameter associated with a media-content packet transmitted over a SoIP network, the media-content packet being associated with a session within the SoIP network;receiving session data associated with a signaling packet being transmitted over the SoIP network, the signaling packet being associated with the session; andidentifying a transmission priority value based on the value of the quality-of-service parameter and the session data.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the session data includes at least one of a value of a layer-5 session-layer parameter or a value of an extrinsic parameter.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the media-content packet is a first media-content packet, the method further comprising: modifying, based on the transmission priority value, a priority indicator associated with at least one of the first media-content packet or a second media-content packet.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the media-content packet is a first media-content packet, the priority indicator indicates a priority to transmit at least one of the first media-content packet or a second media-content packet over the session.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the media-content packet is from a plurality of media-content packets, the value of the quality-of-service parameter is based on the plurality of media-content packets.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising calculating the value of the quality-of-service parameter based on a mid-network collection technique.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the identifying is based on a threshold condition included in a priority database.

16. An apparatus, comprising: an input port configured to receive a first media-content packet over a first session within a SoIP network, the first media-content packet being associated with a quality-of-service parameter value; anda processor configured to identify a transmission priority value associated with the first media-content packet based on the quality-of-service parameter value, the processor being further configured to modify a priority indicator associated with at least one of the first media-content packet or a second media-content packet based on the transmission priority value, the priority indicator indicating a priority of at least one of the first media-content packet or the second media-content packet when transmitted over at least one of the first session or a second session.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processor and the input port are integrated into a session-aware component.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processor is configured to identify the transmission priority value based on a threshold condition received from a priority database.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the media-content packet is from a plurality of media-content packets, the quality-of-service parameter value is associated with the plurality of media-content packets.

20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the quality-of-service parameter value is included in a session-detail record.