Cisco Technology, Inc.

Cisco Systems Inc.

Chandrasekar Krishnamurthy

Krishna Sundaresan

Mahesh Chellappa

Michel Khouderchah

Doron Oz

Carlos M Pignataro

Huaqing Zeng

Stephen Eugene Morrow

David Delano Ward

Jan Medved

Warren Scott Wainner

John Ellis

Jisu Bhattacharya

Jerry B Scott

Alex Van Truong

Nir Ben-Dvora

Daniel Cauchy

Lakshminarayanan Venkataraman

Alistair H Woodman

Mahash Chellappa

Thomas C Redman

A session border controller includes a first port to communicate with a user using a first signaling protocol, a second port to communicate with a content provider using a second signaling protocol, and a processor coupled to the first and second ports. The session border controller may send a PLAY message to the content provider to begin delivery of a content destined for the user. The session border controller may further receive a first media stream including the content and content provider information from the content provider. The session border controller may further create a second media stream that includes the content without the content provider information, and deliver the second media stream to the user.

Method and apparatus for providing video on demand

In one embodiment, a method for receiving a request from a first interface to establish a session with at least a second interface in a communication network is provided. The request is transmitted to an application layer signaling device via an application layer signaling protocol dialog, wherein the application layer signaling protocol dialog is configured to facilitate communication between the first interface and the application layer signaling device. The method further includes communicating parameters for establishing a session tunnel to a first edge router via the application layer signaling protocol dialog, wherein the first edge router is configured to dynamically establish the session tunnel between the first edge router and at least a second edge router, wherein the second edge router is positioned proximate to the at least second interface in the communication network.

System and method for establishment of a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) tunnel

Methods and devices for managing traffic are described. Traffic from a source in a virtual private network (VPN) is received. The traffic is directed to a virtual interface that is designated to receive traffic from the VPN. The virtual interface is configured to associate the traffic with an identifier that uniquely identifies the VPN to a session border controller (SBC). The SBC can use the identifier to determine whether the source and the destination of the traffic are in the same VPN.

Managing traffic within and between virtual private networks when using a session border controller

In one embodiment, a router receives a call request for establishing a multimedia exchange between two remote endpoints. The router selects a processing entity to manage a subset of connections with the remote endpoints according to an endpoint identification such as a remote address included in the call request. A different processing entity manages the remaining connections with the remote endpoints. Accordingly, the load of managing signaling for establishing the multimedia exchange is balanced between a plurality of processing elements that appear externally as a single entity such that modification of remote endpoint behavior is not required.

Session border control using multiple processors

An improved mechanism for analysing connection establishment/teardown process or identifying failure points (i.e. nodes) in a PNNI network through the use of a novel debug IE (information element) that is propagated along the communication path for a given connection to activate diagnostic functions on targeted switching devices. The mechanism comprises a method that is initiated by embedding a debug information element (IE) in a data packet that is propagated to various switching devices (the nodes) along the communication path. The debug IE is encoded such that it will be recognized by selected switching devices along the path, but ignored by other non-selected switching devices. Further encoding identifies targeted switching devices that are suspected to be possible failure points to confirm that they are functioning properly. Upon receipt and extraction of the debug IE from the data packet, the targeted switching devices are instructed to automatically perform one or more analysis functions to verify their operation. The results of these tests are then forwarded to an operator of the targeted switching devices, such as a network operator or a vendor that supplies the targeted switching devices to the network.

Network-wide connection-based debug mechanism

Methods and devices for managing traffic at a session border controller (SBC) are described. A signal portion of traffic en route from a source in a virtual private network (VPN) to a destination is received. The signal portion has embedded therein an identifier that uniquely identifies the VPN. The identifier is accessed to determine whether the destination is also in the VPN. A decision whether to direct a media portion of the traffic to an SBC is made depending on whether or not the destination is outside of the VPN.

A network-based call interface device is used for real-time packet protocol calls, such as, but not limited to, interfacing real-time calls between client devices and call services/destination devices. The network-based call interface device includes a virtual phone and a virtual server-phone communicating with each other. The virtual phone communicates with the call server making the network-based call interface device appear to the call server as a client device; and the virtual server-phone communicates with the client device making the network-based call interface device appear to the client device as call server.

Network-based call interface device for real-time packet protocol calls

A method and system for optimizing link aggregation usage during failures is disclosed. The method and system are deployed in a network having a data plane in which data traffic flows between nodes coupled by a link formed by an aggregation of a number of individual connections (e.g., an IMA comprising a plurality of Tor Elines, MPLS transport LSPs, ATM VPCs, etc.) and a control plane for controlling data traffic. The method includes communicating a bandwidth change on the link corresponding to the failure to the control plane. Flapping of the link is deterred. A component of the traffic is released based on a configured policy.

Method and system for optimizing link aggregation usage during failures

A method for enhanced crankback handling in a multi-peer group network. The method includes receiving a first connection request from a node of a first peer group. Upon detection of a call failure within the second peer group, a crankback is transmitted from the second peer group to the first peer group. The crankback specifies a blocked interface at a first link between the first peer group and the second peer group. The crankback is transmitted from a node of the second peer group. A second connection request is subsequently received from the node of the first peer group. The second connection request uses a second link to the second peer group that avoids the call failure.

Method and system for enhancing crankback handling in multi-peer group networks

A system and method for providing link, node, and PG policy based routing in PNNI based ATM networks is disclosed. A computer implemented method signals and routes a call in the network. Upon detecting the call's arrival, its service request is accessed. Upon determining that the service request relates to an attribute of a link, a routing path is sought that conforms to the service request, as by accessing information relating to the routing path and comparing the information to the service request. A conforming routing path is selected, and the call is routed via that path. A computer implemented method advertises an attribute of links, nodes, policies, etc. Data relating to the route's attribute can be provided to a node as a GAT IE component of a PNNI signaling setup message for multi-peer group networks, and advertised using PTSEs within a peer group.

System and method for providing link, node and PG policy based routing in PNNI based ATM networks

A system and method to provide node-to-node connectivity in a communications network are disclosed. A virtual connection is established between a source node coupled to a client and a destination node within the connection-oriented network using standards-based signaling. A communication session is then activated between the client and the destination node on the virtual connection.

System and method to provide node-to-node connectivity in a communications network

A method is described that involves updating an understanding of an ATM PNNI network after the reception of PTSE information. The PTSE information has SIG information that describes bandwidth which has been allocated to specific priority levels of a bandwidth resource. The bandwidth resource is within the ATM PNNI network. Then, determining a path through the network for a requested connection. The path is determined in light of the updated understanding. The requested connection has a priority level, wherein the path may result in one or more connections being dropped in order to allow bandwidth for the requested connection. Each of the dropped connections has a lower priority level than the priority level of the requested connection.

Method and apparatus for true priority based connection establishment within a PNNI ATM network

An embodiment of the invention provides a method for specifying preferred routes for SPVCs across multi-peer group PNNI networks and AINI links. A preferred route for a network connection through a network having a plurality of nodes, organized hierarchically into a plurality of peer groups, is determined. The preferred route is associated with a preferred route identifier. The preferred route identifier is carried in the PNNI SETUP message and is used to link a preferred route database in the source node with the entry border nodes of remote peer groups for a single SPVC. The entry border node of each peer group establishes a connection over a static route corresponding to the preferred route identifier. For one embodiment the preferred route identifier is carried in a generic application transport information element of the PNNI signaling SETUP message, providing a scalable preferred routing capability for SPVCs across multi-peer group PNNI networks.

Method to enhance routing control in PNNI networks

A system and method are disclosed for dividing a network into clock partitions to limit the overhead created by transmitting clock sources. A clock partition can be implemented through several methods. A first method turns off the clock topology exchange on ports connected to the nodes outside the partition. A second method appends a four-byte partition identifier to network clock distribution protocol (NCDP) messages. A third method uses private network-network interface (PNNI) peer group identification to determine the clock partition group.

Scaling dynamic clock distribution for large service provider networks

A method to provide actual network connection routing cost for use in connection grooming is disclosed for one embodiment. A setup message is transmitted from a source network node, through one or more intermediate nodes, to a destination node. A connect message, in acknowledgement of the setup message, is transmitted from the destination node, through the one or more intermediate nodes, to the source node to establish a network connection. The connect message includes an actual routing cost field. For one embodiment, an actual routing cost field is carried in a generic application transport (GAT) information element (IE) of a PNNI CONNECT message. The actual routing cost field is updated at every node as each link is traversed from the destination node to the source node. The accumulated routing cost in the GAT IE represents the actual routing cost of the SPVC, which the source node uses for connection grooming.

Growing community of inventors

Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Chandrasekar Krishnamurthy