Methods and Apparatus for Load Balancing in Communication Networks

An article of manufacture storing machine readable instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to:

• route a registration request received for a user device in an Internet protocol multimedia subsystem network to a first call processor when the user device is registered with the first call processor and in an active call session with the first call processor;
• and
• query a load balancer to determine whether to assign the user device to at least one of the first call processor or a second call processor when the user device is registered with the first call processor but not in any active call sessions with the first call processor.

A system for load balancing in a communication network comprising:

• a proxy call processor to receive a registration request for a user device in an Internet protocol multimedia subsystem network;
• and
• a load balancer to collect respective performance data from a plurality of serving call processors, wherein the proxy call processor is configured to route the registration request to the load balancer when the user device is registered with a first one of the plurality of serving call processors but not in any active call sessions with any of the plurality of serving call processors, and wherein the load balancer is configured to determine whether to assign the user device to the first one or a second one of the plurality of serving call processors in response to the registration request.

(canceled)

22-34. (canceled)