Cisco Technology, Inc.

Vmware, Inc.

Cisco Systems Inc.

Neil Raymond Joffe

Ilya Umansky

Dhaval N Shah

Venkatram Krishnamoorthi

Alain Jebara

Neeraj Khurana

Michael Edric Tasker

Shamim Sharifuddin Pirzada

Gregory Scott Mercurio

Embodiments manage physical locations of virtual machines (VMs) in a datacenter. A computing device, such as a cloud management device, aggregates location information for the VMs executing on hosts. The computing device compares the aggregated location information with event data to identify VMs potentially affected by adverse events (e.g., severe weather, scheduled maintenance, natural disasters, etc.). The computing device initiates migration of the affected VMs from their hosts to unaffected hosts. In some embodiments, the location information includes global positioning system (GPS) coordinates obtained by the hosts and shared with the computing device.

Location based management of virtual machines in datacenters

An embodiment of the present invention includes a fax communication system for communicating fax information transmitted from a sending fax device to a fax recipient through a packet switching network. The sending fax device includes a data pump for modulating and demodulating fax information and a protocol subsystem for encoding and decoding the modulated fax information. The fax sending fax device modulates the fax information prior to transmission thereof. At least one access server is coupled between the sending fax device and the fax recipient and within the packet switching network At least one of the access servers receives modulated fax information from the sending fax device and demodulates the received fax information. The fax relay server is responsive to the demodulated fax information and operative to decode the received demodulated fax information for transmission thereof to the fax recipient, wherein the at least one access server and fax relay server function as a network distributed fax device allowing for expansion of fax functionality throughout the network while preserving the reliability and robustness of the network.

Network distributed fax device

A method and system for quickly informing a backup unit that a primary unit has failed. Normally an exception handler is activated when a software failure occurs and network controller chips or the ASIC interface to a signal bus can operate even though there is a software failure. A software failure notification packet is programmed and stored in a location that is not affected by a software system failure. When a software failure occurs, control is shifted to the exception handler. The exception handler sends a pre-established and pre-addressed packet to the network controller card which transmits this packet to the backup unit. Upon receipt of the packet, the backup unit goes into operation. In some alternate embodiments that include multiple line cards in a single unit, the exception handler sends a signal to a backup unit via a signal bus or a data bus.

Fast software fault detection and notification to a backup unit

In accordance with a method and apparatus of the present invention, a voice communication system is disclosed for use in a packet switching network environment including a host server for communicating voice information, initiated by a telephone user, to an electronic mail (email) recipient. A public switching telephone network (PSTN) includes at least one telephone device for communicating the voice information therethrough. The host server is responsive to email messages, transmitted in packet form, through the packet switching network The voice communication system includes a network device responsive to a voice message generated by the telephone user. The voice communication system is operative to convert the voice message to an email message, establish a first connection between the network device and the host server for transmission of the email message, edit the voice message pursuant to commands from the telephone user and transmit the email message, in the form of packets, to the host server for storage thereof and transmission thereafter to the email recipient, wherein the voice message may be manipulated by the telephone user prior to the transmission thereof by the network device without the use of secondary storage within the network device.

Voice-mail application on the router with no secondary storage available

The method involves transmitting plural endpoint probes to produce plural endpoint probe results indicating the preparedness of the endpoints for calls routed thereto; identifying similarly situated endpoints; and representing each of the similarly situated endpoints by a reduced number of recorded endpoint probe results that substantially represent the inter-connective preparedness of each of the similarly situated endpoints. The apparatus includes a mapping mechanism for mapping the probe results for the similarly situated endpoints into a reduced number of endpoint probe results that substantially represent the inter-connective preparedness of each of the similarly situated endpoints, and a recording mechanism for recording the reduced number of endpoint probe results. Such mapping permits an Internet operating system (IOS) router/gateway to act as an real-time responder/service assurance agent (RTR/SAA) proxy on behalf of non-RTR/SAA capable voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) endpoints.

Method and apparatus for call setup within a voice frame network

An embodiment of the present invention includes a fax communication system for communicating fax information between a first fax machine having error correction capability and a second fax machine. The first and second fax machines are coupled to communicate with one another across a packet switching network. A network device is coupled to received fax information from the first fax machine and accumulates a portion of the fax information and stalls the second fax machine while accumulating the fax information portion until the latter is transmitted to the second fax machine free of errors across the packet switching network. Accordingly, information traffic across the packet switching network is decreased thereby avoiding a network avalanche effect.

Facsimile (fax) relay handling in error correction mode (ECM)

The invention provides a way to fallback to a PSTN call at any time during a VoIP call when Quality of Service in a VoIP network falls below some acceptable level. The PSTN fallback calls can be retrieved 'midcall' and rerouted back over the VoIP network. This provides optimal utilization of VoIP without sacrificing the quality of the call connection. Calls are cheaper because PSTN fallback calls are only established temporarily for the amount of time that the QoS problem exists on the VoIP network. Call fallback is conducted in a VoIP gateway by first receiving an incoming call. A Voice over IP (VoIP) call is established for the incoming call over the VoIP network. VoIP packets are encoded from the voice signals in the incoming call and sent over the VoIP network. Quality of service of the VoIP network is monitored during the VoIP call and a fallback call is setup over a PSTN network at any time during the VoIP call when the monitored quality of service of the VoIP network degrades. For a time the voice signals from the incoming call are cross connected to both the output for the fallback call and the output for the VoIP call. When a destination gateway starts receiving the voice signals from the fallback call, the VoIP call is dropped. The quality of service on the VoIP network continues to be monitored during the fallback call. A new VoIP call will be reestablished over the VoIP network during the fallback call when the quality of service of the VoIP network improves. Voice from the incoming call is for a time again cross connected to both the fallback call and the new VoIP call. After the destination gateway starts receiving audio packets again over the new VoIP call, the PSTN fallback call is terminated.

Voice over internet protocol call fallback for quality of service degradation

A fax broadcasting system for use in a packet switching network environment for transferring fascimile information in the form of multiple packets which are received from a sending communications device to a plurality of receiving communications devices includes a networking device for receiving, in packet form, an email message from the sending communication device. The email message includes fascimile (fax) infomation, which is also received in packet form (packets of fax information). The networking device is utilized for transmitting the fax information to the receiving communications devices. The networking device includes a processing device having a plurality of storage spaces, each of said plurality of storage spaces for storing one packet of the fax information (a packet storage space), the processing device for receiving the email message, in packet form, having attached thereto fax information in packet form. As each fax information packet is received, the processing device stores one copy thereof in a corresponding one of the packet storage spaces and sends the stored packets of fax information to the receiving communications devices, wherein no more than one copy of the fax information is stored for broadcasting the same to at least two receiving communications devices.

Fax broadcast from a single copy of data

An email communication system employed in a packet switching network environment for transmission of an email message including at least one fax message for use by fax recipient(s), through the packet switching network environment, includes a network device for communication with one or more mail servers. The mail servers are responsive to an email message having at least one tax message received from an email user. The network device receives the email message, through a forward connection, from one of the mail servers and converts the received email message into the fax message for transmission thereof to at least one fax recipient. The network device further starts to transmit the email message with context information appended thereto, forming a reverse email message, back to one of the mail servers, wherein the mail server is used to store the reverse email message until the mail server is ready to send the same to the network device thereby avoiding the need for secondary storage within the network device.

Email to fax processing when no secondary storage is available

A fax system employed in a packet switching network environment for use by fax users for transmission of fax information includes a network device coupled, through a network interface, to one or more communications devices for transmitting a processed fax message through the network interface to one or more of the communications devices, each of the communications devices being capable of receiving fax information and having a predetermined minimum scan line time therefor. Prior to the transmission of the processed fax message, the network interface being adapted to transfer a first frame from the communications devices to the network device, said first frame for indicating whether or not a particular communications device supports Error Correction Mode (ECM) and if the particular communications device supports ECM, the network device for transmitting fax information through the network interface to the particular communications device using approximately zero minimum scan line time, wherein fax information is transmitted at a fast speed through the use of zero minimum scan line time thereby decreasing costs to the users of the fax system.

Growing community of inventors

Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

Neil Raymond Joffe