# US 2016/0366189 A1 · Methods, apparatus and systems to increase media resource function availability

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- Number: US 2016/0366189 A1
- Document ID: US20160366189A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 14/812,999
- Filed: 2015-07-29
- Published: 2016-12-15
- Earliest claimed: 2015-06-09
- Assignees: Sonus Networks, Inc.
- Applicants: Sonus Networks, Inc.
- Inventors: Justin Hart; Ashish Sharma; Nagesh Kumar Bollapalli
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20160366189A1

## CPC

- H04L 65/1104: Session initiation protocol [SIP]
- H04L 41/0668: by dynamic selection of recovery network elements, e.g. replacement by the most appropriate element after failure
- H04L 43/0811: by checking connectivity
- H04L 65/65: Network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP]
- H04L 65/80: Responding to QoS
- H04L 69/40: for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection (management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06)
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)

## Abstract

Communications methods, apparatus and systems for detecting a status condition indicative of a failure of a media processing entity and providing media redirection to increase media resource function availability. One embodiment of the present invention is a method that includes directing, by a first Session Border Controller (SBC), a first media call flow of a first call through a first media content processing entity to a second SBC, detecting, at one of said first or second SBCs, a status condition indicative of a failure condition for the first media content processing entity, and redirecting, by the SBC that detects the status condition indicative of a failure condition, the first media call flow for the first call so that the first media call flow passes through a second media content processing entity instead of through the first media content processing entity without terminating the first call.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A communications method comprising:
directing, by a first Session Border Controller, a first media call flow through a first media content processing entity to a second Session Border Controller, said first media content processing entity performing a media content processing function on the first media call flow, said first media call flow being part of a first call;
detecting, at one of said first or second Session Border Controllers, a status condition indicative of a failure condition for the first media content processing entity;
redirecting, by the Session Border Controller that detects the status condition indicative of a failure condition, the first media call flow for the first call so that the first media call flow passes through a second media content processing entity instead of through the first media content processing entity without terminating the first call.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The communications method of claim 1 wherein redirecting of the first media call flow for the first call is performed without signaling towards originating or destination devices for redirecting the first media call flow, said originating device being the device that originated the first call and said destination device being the device at which the first call was received and terminated.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The communications method of claim 1 wherein said first and second media content processing entities are either Multimedia Resource Function apparatus or media recording servers.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The communications method of claim 1 wherein said detecting, at one of said first or second Session Border Controllers, a status condition indicative of a failure condition for the first media content processing entity includes:
monitoring at least one of the first media call flow or a plurality of media call flows passing through the first media processing entity to the Session Border Controller performing the detection for a status condition, said status condition being a media inactivity period;
detecting the media inactivity period;
determining if the media inactivity period is greater than a predetermined threshold, a period of media inactivity greater than said predetermined threshold being indicative of a failure condition of the first media processing entity.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The communications method of claim 4,
wherein said first media processing content entity performing a media content processing function on the first media call flow is a first Multimedia Resource Function apparatus that performs a transcoding function on said first media call flow, said first media call flow including a Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP) packet stream including a plurality of RTP packets, said media inactivity period being a period of time during which a consecutive number of the plurality of RTP packets passing through the first media content processing entity are not received by the Session Border Controller performing the detection and said predetermined threshold being determined based on the transcoding function being performed.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The communications method of claim 5, wherein the transcoding function being performed results in RTP packets being encoded by at least one of the following encoding schemes: a fixed rate audio codec encoding scheme, a variable rate audio codec encoding scheme, or a video codec encoding scheme supporting Audio/video Profile Feedback (AVPF).

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The communications method of claim 1 further comprising:
making a determination, by the Session Border Controller that detects the status condition indicative of a failure condition, to redirect or not to redirect said first media call flow based at least in part on the detected status condition, said determination being made prior to said redirecting of the first media call flow for the first call.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The communications method of claim 7 wherein said status condition is a media inactivity period for the first media processing entity and said making a determination to redirect or not to redirect said first media call flow comprises:
comparing, by the Session Border Controller that detects the status condition indicative of a failure condition, the detected media inactivity period for the first media processing entity to a predetermined threshold and
when said media inactivity period is greater than said predetermined threshold said Session Border Controller that detects the status condition indicative of a failure condition determines to redirect said media call flow and
when said media inactivity interval is not greater than said predetermined threshold said Session Border Controller that detects the status condition indicative of a failure condition determines not to redirect said media call flow.

### Claim 9

The communications method of claiml wherein Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) signaling is used between said first Session Border Controller, said first media content processing entity, said second Session Border Controller and said second media content processing entity, said method further comprising:
assigning by said first Session Border Controller a first dialog identifier to the first media call flow;
sending from said first Session Border Controller to said second Session Border Controller via said first media content media processing entity said first dialog identifier and an address for said first Session Border Controller;
receiving at second Session Border Controller said first dialog identifier and said address for said first Session Border Controller;
assigning by said first media content processing device a second dialog identifier to said first media call flow;
storing, at said second Session Border Controller, said first dialog identifier, said address for said first Session Border Controller and said second dialog identifier corresponding to said first media call flow;
sending from said second Session Border Controller to said first Session Border Controller via said first media content processing entity said second dialog identifier and an address for said second Session Border Controller;
receiving, at said first Session Border Controller, said second dialog identifier and said address for said second Session Border Controller;
storing, at said first Session Border Controller, said first dialog identifier, said address for said second Session Border Controller and said second dialog identifier corresponding to said first media call flow; and
using, by said Session Border Controller that detects the status condition indicative of a failure condition, the dialog identifier and Session Border Controller address received from the Session Border Controller that did not detect the status condition indicative of a failure condition, to redirect the first call flow media.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The communications method of claim 9 wherein the first dialog identifier and the address of the first Session Border Controller are sent to the second Session Border Controller via either a proprietary Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) header or as proprietary extensions to existing SIP headers.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The communications method of claim 1 wherein Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) signaling is used between said first Session Border Controller, said first media content processing entity, said second Session Border Controller and said second media content processing entity and wherein said redirecting includes:
sending, by said Session Border Controller that detects the status condition indicative of a failure condition, a SIP RE-INVITE signal to the Session Border Controller that did not detect the status condition indicative of a failure condition, said SIP RE-INVITE signal not including a Session Description Protocol message;
receiving a response to said SIP RE-INVITE signal, by the Session Border Controller that sent the SIP RE-INVITE signal, said response being a SIP 200 OK signal including a first Session Description Protocol message, said first Session Description Protocol message including an Internet Protocol Address, a Port, and Codec information corresponding to the Session Border Controller that did not detect the status condition indicative of a failure condition; and
using, the Internet Protocol Address, the Port, and the Codec information corresponding to the Session Border Controller that did not detect the status condition indicative of a failure condition included in the first Session Description Protocol message to create a session with the second media content processing entity.

### Claim 12

A communications system comprising:
a first Session Border Controller including a media call flow direction module configured to direct a first media call flow through a first media content processing entity to a second Session Border Controller, said first media call flow being part of a first call;
said second Session Border Controller including an Input/Output interface configured to receive said first media call flow;
said first media content processing entity configured to perform a media content processing function on the first media call flow; and
at least one of said first and second Session Border Controllers including a detection module configured to detect a status condition indicative of a failure condition for the first media content processing entity and a redirection module configured to redirect the first media call flow for the first call so that the first media call flow passes through a second media content processing entity instead of through the first media content processing entity without terminating the first call when said detection module detects a status condition indicative of a failure condition for the first media content processing entity.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The communications system of claim 1 wherein said redirection module is further configured to not send any signals towards originating or destination devices, said originating device being the device that originated the first call and said destination device being the device at which the first call was received and terminated.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The communications system of claim 1 wherein said first and second media content processing entities are either Multimedia Resource Function apparatus or media recording servers.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The communications system of claim 1 wherein said detection module includes:
a monitoring module configured to monitor at least one of the first media call flow or a plurality of media call flows passing through the first media processing entity to the Session Border Controller performing the detection for a status condition, said status condition being a media inactivity period;
a media inactivity period detection module configured to detect the media inactivity period;
a determination module configured to determine when the media inactivity period is greater than a predetermined threshold, a period of media inactivity greater than said predetermined threshold being indicative of a failure condition of the first media processing entity.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The communications system of claim 15,
wherein said first media content processing entity configured to perform a media content processing function on the first media call flow is a first Multimedia Resource Function apparatus configured to perform a transcoding function on said first media call flow, said first media call flow including a Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP) packet stream including a plurality of RTP packets, said media inactivity period being a period of time during which a consecutive number of the plurality of RTP packets passing through the first media content processing entity are not received by the Session Border Controller performing the detection and said predetermined threshold being determined based on the transcoding function being performed.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The communications system of claim 16, wherein said first media processing entity includes a fixed rate audio codec, a variable rate audio codec, or a video codec supporting Audio/video Profile Feedback.

### Claim 18

The communications system of claiml wherein Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) signaling is used between said first Session Border Controller, said first media content processing entity, said second Session Border Controller and said second media content processing entity, said communications system further comprising:
a dialog identifier assignment module included in said first Session Border Controller, said dialog assignment module configured to assign a first dialog identifier to the first media call flow;
an Input/Output Interface included in said first Session Border Controller configured to send from said first Session Border Controller to said second Session Border Controller via said first media content media processing entity said first dialog identifier and an address for said first Session Border Controller;
said Input/Output Interface included in said second Session Border Controller further configured to receive said first dialog identifier and said address for said first Session Border Controller;
a dialog identifier assignment module included in said first media content processing device configured to assign a second dialog identifier to said first media call flow;
a memory storage control module included in said second Session Border Controller configured to store in memory at said second Session Border Controller, said first dialog identifier, said address for said first Session Border Controller and said second dialog identifier corresponding to said first media call flow;
said Input/Output Interface included in said second Session Border Controller further configured to send from said second Session Border Controller to said first Session Border Controller via said first media content processing entity said second dialog identifier and an address for said second Session Border Controller;
said Input/Output Interface included in said first Session Border Controller further configured to receive said second dialog identifier and said address for said second Session Border Controller;
a memory storage control module included in said first Session Border Controller configured to store in memory at said first Session Border Controller, said first Session Border Controller, said first dialog identifier, said address for said second Session Border Controller and said second dialog identifier corresponding to said first media call flow; and
said redirection module further configured to use the dialog identifier and Session Border Controller address received from the Session Border Controller that did not detect the status condition indicative of a failure condition, to redirect the first media call flow.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The communications system of claim 18 wherein the first dialog identifier and the address of the first Session Border Controller are sent to the second Session Border Controller via either a proprietary Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) header or as proprietary extensions to existing SIP headers.

### Claim 20 (depends on 1)

The communications system of claim 1 wherein Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) signaling is used between said first Session Border Controller, said first media content processing entity, said second Session Border Controller and said second media content processing entity and wherein said media redirection module is configured as part of said first media call flow redirection to:
(i) send a SIP RE-INVITE signal to the Session Border Controller that did not detect the status condition indicative of a failure condition, said SIP RE-INVITE signal not including a Session Description Protocol message,
(ii) receive a response to said SIP RE-INVITE signal, said response being a SIP 200 OK signal including a first Session Description Protocol message, said first Session Description Protocol message including an Internet Protocol Address, a Port, and Codec information corresponding to the Session Border Controller that did not detect the status condition indicative of a failure condition; and
(iii) use the received Internet Protocol Address, the Port, and the Codec information corresponding to the Session Border Controller that did not detect the status condition indicative of a failure condition included in the first Session Description Protocol message to create a session with the second media content processing entity.