| Patent application number | Description | Published |
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| 20080198839 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF COMMUNICATION IN AN IP MULTIMEDIA SUBSYSTEM NETWORK - A system and method of communication in an IMS network is disclosed. An apparatus that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a call processing server having a controller element that receives from a terminal device a calling ID for establishing communications with a called party, submits to a telephone number mapping (ENUM) server a query corresponding to the calling ID, receives from the ENUM server a plurality of communication identifiers retrieved from a Naming Authority Pointer record according to a grade of service (GoS) of the called party, and selects according to the GoS of the called party a communication identifier from the plurality of communication identifiers to establish communications with the called party. Additional embodiments are disclosed. | 08-21-2008 |
| 20080285544 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING MOBILITY FOR A VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL SERVICE - A method and an apparatus for providing mobility for a Voice over Internet Protocol Service (VoIP) provided on packet networks are disclosed. For example, the method receives a register request from a user endpoint device and retrieves an Access Point-address parameter from a contact header in the register request. The method then determines a physical location of an access point device in accordance with the Access Point-address parameter and updates location information for the user endpoint device in accordance with the physical location of the access point device. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080316931 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF MONITORINIG NETWORK PERFORMANCE - A method of monitoring network performance is disclosed and includes receiving a session initiation protocol (SIP) response message from one of a plurality of serving-call session control function (S-CSCF) systems at a centralized error monitoring server of an Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). The SIP response message includes at least one error code that matches an error monitoring initial filter criterion included in a subscriber profile. The method also includes sending an alert message to a fault management system of the IMS when at least one threshold related to SIP error codes is met or exceeded based on the at least one error code. | 12-25-2008 |
| 20080316999 | SYSTEM FOR DEPLOYING VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL SERVICES - A system for deploying Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services is provided. A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a Call Session Control Function (CSCF) having a controller element to receive a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)message from an originating communication device requesting communications with a terminating communication device, and establish an Internet Protocol (IP) connection between the originating communication device and an advertisement media system to present at the originating communication device an advertisement message that replaces a ringback tone associated with the terminating communication device. Additional embodiments are disclosed. | 12-25-2008 |
| 20090037573 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF HEALTH MONITORING AND FAULT MONITORING IN A NETWORK SYSTEM - A method of monitoring a network is disclosed and includes receiving an enrollment message at a heartbeat manager from a heartbeat agent associated with a first application stored at a first network entity. The method also includes automatically associating a heartbeat interval with the first application based at least partially on the enrollment message. In another embodiment, a system of monitoring a network is disclosed and includes a network entity having processing logic and memory accessible to the processing logic. The memory stores an application including a heartbeat agent portion having instructions executable by the processing logic to enroll with a heartbeat management server communicating with the network entity and including a heartbeat monitor including instructions to subscribe to notifications indicating an operational status of an application residing at a second network entity. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090067409 | SYSTEM FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN INTERNET PROTOCOL MULTIMEDIA SUBSYSTEM NETWORKS - A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a Telephone Number Mapping system operating in a first IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) communication system having a controller adapted to receive first contact information of a communication device registered through a terminating Serving Call Session Control Function (S-CSCF) operating in a second IMS communication system and second contact information of at least one among an Interrogating CSCF (I-CSCF) of the second IMS communication system and the terminating S-CSCF. Additional embodiments are disclosed. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090097471 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CALL PROCESSING FOR SIP AND ISUP INTERWORKING - A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a server having a controller to adjust a call processing logic for Session Initiated Protocol to Integrated Services Digital Network User Part (ISUP) calls based at least in part on interworking profiles assigned to ISUP trunk groups supporting the calls. Additional embodiments are disclosed. | 04-16-2009 |
| 20090154451 | Method and System to Provide Contact Services in a Communication Network - A communication system includes an application server that includes logic to recognize that preference data in each of a plurality of data record entries of a subscriber record has a common value. Each data record entry includes a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), and the subscriber record is stored in a telephone number mapping (ENUM) server. The application server also includes logic to issue a command to initiate contact concurrently with devices identified by URIs in the subscriber record via an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). | 06-18-2009 |
| 20090154452 | Method and System to Provide Contact Services in a Communication Network - A communication system includes an application server including logic to receive preference data for each of a plurality of data record entries of a subscriber record from a telephone number mapping (ENUM) server, and to determine a contact sequence including a plurality of Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). The contact sequence is based at least in part on the received preference data. | 06-18-2009 |
| 20090193071 | Facilitating Deployment of New Application Services in a Next Generation Network - A disclosed application docking module (ADM) for use in a communication network includes a message monitor, an application monitor, and an anomaly handler. The message monitor monitors messages exchanged between a monitored application server and a session control layer resource of the network and the application monitor monitors a heartbeat of the application server. Based on the monitoring, the module determines when the application server is in an anomaly state. The anomaly state may indicate abnormal or otherwise unexpected application server messaging activity and/or an unexpected heartbeat status. The ADM processes application server messages on behalf of the application server when the application server is operating in an anomaly state. The ADM may, for example, block messages outgoing from the application server and process messages incoming to the application server by redirecting messages, returning messages to their sender, or generating an error code. | 07-30-2009 |
| 20090197563 | EMERGENCY RESPONSE SYSTEM - A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a computer-readable storage medium including computer instructions for receiving an emergency request to assist a subscriber, retrieving presence information of each of a plurality of parties that serve as emergency contacts for the subscriber, selecting a communication identifier of at least one of the plurality of parties according to the presence information, and notifying the at least one party of the emergency request. Additional embodiments are disclosed. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20090259768 | Application load distribution system in packet data networks - The present invention routes an application request to at least one of a plurality of sites in a packet data network. Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) messages that establish initial dialogs and SIP messages that are stand-alone requests are sent from a call session control function system to a SIP application load distribution system. The SIP application load distribution system routes a SIP message to at least one destination site, based at least in part on user-defined local state data and a user-defined application load distribution policy. Local state data is sent from a plurality of sites to an application management and health checking system. Local state data may be sent autonomously from the plurality of sites. Local state data may also be sent from the plurality of sites in response to a request issued by the application management and health checking system. | 10-15-2009 |
| 20090282137 | DISTRIBUTING USER ENDPOINT REGISTRATIONS AMONG BORDER ELEMENTS IN A NEXT GENERATION NETWORK - Disclosed methods of achieving load balancing among a plurality of border elements in a next generation networks (NGN) communication network include a method for processing and user endpoint originated messages (UEOM), such as a register or invite message, generated by a user endpoint. A work load information data structure indicative of a first border element's work load and a second border element's work load is maintained when the border elements exchange work load information. Based on the work load information, a first border element responds to a UEOM by either (1) accepting the UEOM for first border element processing, (2) determining whether to accept the UEOM for first border element processing or redirect the UEOM to a second border element for second border element processing, or (3) rejecting the UEOM. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20090288165 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR INTRUSION PROTECTION IN SYSTEMS THAT MONITOR FOR IMPROPER NETWORK USAGE - Methods and apparatus for intrusion protection in systems that monitor for improper network usage are disclosed. An example method to protect a service platform comprises detecting responses from the service platform indicative of questionable signaling protocol transactions. The example method further comprises storing transaction records corresponding to questionable signaling protocol transaction records with at least one of the transaction records identifying a signaling protocol message including an associated originating device address corresponding to a respective questionable transaction record. Additionally, the method comprises determining whether the originating device address is associated with an improper intrusion of the service platform based on at least one on the transaction records corresponding to the originating device address. | 11-19-2009 |
| 20100034085 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING CALL VOLUME - A method and apparatus for controlling a call volume for an office that serves as a protecting site for another office in a packet network are disclosed. For example, the method collects one or more customer registration counts from one or more session border controllers located in a first office, determines if the one or more customer registration counts have reached or exceeded a threshold. The method directs all of said one or more session border controllers located in said first office to enact one or more throttling rules if the one or more customer registration counts have reached or exceeded the threshold. | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100083045 | METHODS AND APPARATUS TO PERFORM QUALITY TESTING IN INTERNET PROTOCOL MULTIMEDIA SUBSYSTEM BASED COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS - Methods and apparatus to perform quality testing in Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia subsystem (IMS) based communication systems are disclosed. An example IMS-based system comprises a web portal to allow a user to configure quality testing for a user endpoint and to present results of the quality testing, a test server to exchange packets with the user endpoint to perform the testing, an IMS application server to implement a state machine to establish a test session between the test server and a test module of the user endpoint, the packets to be exchanged between the test server and the test module via the session, and a data analyzer to determine one or more parameters representative of performance of the session based on the exchanged packets, and to provide the same to the web portal, the web portal to present information representative of the one or more parameters to the user. | 04-01-2010 |
| 20100100614 | Protecting Subscriber Database Data Integrity in Geographical Redundant Deployments - Methods, systems, and computer-readable media for ensuring data integrity during data synchronization are provided. According to one method, a number of originating requests from a plurality of user endpoints are monitored across a network. A determination is made whether the number of originating requests is below a first threshold. Responsive to determining that the number of originating requests is below the first threshold, probe messages are transmitted to at least a portion of the plurality of user endpoints across the network. A number of the user endpoints that return probe replies in response to the probe messages are monitored. A determination is made whether the number of the user endpoints is below a second threshold. Responsive to determining that the number of the user endpoints is below the second threshold, a report is made to a database that the network is unavailable, thereby causing the database to stop updating time stamps. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100115034 | Systems and Methods for Transmitting Subject Line Messages - A system and method of sending subject line messages is provided. A particular method includes receiving a call setup signaling message. The call setup signaling message includes a message identifier. The method further includes determining a subject line message associated with the message identifier of the call setup signaling message. The message identifier is replaced with the subject line message. The method further includes transmitting the call setup signaling message to a called party. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100124163 | Preserving Stable Calls During Failover - According to one method for preserving stable calls during failover, during a dialog between two user endpoints, a determination is made whether a standby call processor has become operational, such as when a corresponding primary call processor is in fault. Responsive to determining that the standby call processor has become operational, a signaling protocol message is received from a requester. A determination is made whether the message includes an in-dialog signaling protocol request. Responsive to determining that the message includes the in-dialog request, a determination is made whether a call state associated with the dialog is found in memory. Responsive to determining that the call state associated with the dialog is not found in memory, a non-call terminating error response is made responding to the in-dialog request. The non-call terminating error response may cause the requester to terminate the in-dialog request but not terminate the dialog. | 05-20-2010 |
| 20100150134 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING REPEAT CALLING - A method and apparatus for providing a repeat calling service feature in a communication network are disclosed. For example, the method captures call session information between a calling endpoint and a called endpoint of a failed call due to an unavailability of required network resource. The method then receives a repeat calling service request from the calling endpoint, and processes the repeat calling service request to reestablish a call between the calling endpoint and the called endpoint. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100161806 | Optimization of Media Flows in a Telecommunications System - Disclosed are techniques for optimization of media flows within a provider network. The provider network comprises a plurality of sites, each site having one or more media servers capable of supporting a media session with a user endpoint device. The provider network further includes a media server director (MSD) that receives registration information identifying one or more user endpoint devices that have registered with a particular site. Using this registration information, as well as predetermined preference policies, the MSD prepares a preference order for the media servers of the provider network for user endpoint devices associated with the site. When an application server signals an intent to establish a media session with a user endpoint device of the site, the MSD selects a media server based on the preference order and provides an indicator of the selected media server. The application server can then contact the selected media server identified by the indicator to establish and support a media session with the user endpoint device. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100177671 | System and Method for Location Management and Emergency Support for a Voice Over Internet Protocol Device - In a particular embodiment a system and method for processing a call in a Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) network are disclosed. The method includes receiving the call associated with a private identifier (PRID) at a server, classifying a call location based on the PRID and sending the call from the server to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) with a call back number associated with the PRID. The system includes a first server interface for receiving a message containing a PRID associated with the call, a second server interface to access the data base for searching for the PRID in the data structure; a third server interface to receive an output from the database indicating whether a PRID has been found in the data structure; and a fourth server interface to send the call to a PSAP. | 07-15-2010 |
| 20100232403 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANAGING EMERGENCY CALLS - A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a network element operably couplable to an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem network where the network element has a controller to receive an SIP request associated with a call, determine whether the SIP request comprises an identifier associated with an Emergency Call Session Control Function (E-CSCF) where the identifier was added to the SIP request by the E-CSCF, and provide the call to an emergency network when the identifier is associated with the E-CSCF. Other embodiments are disclosed. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100271975 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DEPLOYING NETWORK ELEMENTS - A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a server having a controller adapted to determine at least one network element to be designated as being in a probation mode where the network element is operably coupled to an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network and is adapted to utilize Session Initiation Protocol, and determine communication devices to be designated as testing devices where the communication devices are user end point devices, wherein use of the network element for communication between user end points over the IMS network is limited to the testing devices. Other embodiments are disclosed. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100272101 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF COMMUNICATION IN AN IP MULTIMEDIA SUBSYSTEM NETWORK - A system and method of communication in an IMS network is disclosed. An apparatus that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a call processing server having a controller element that receives from a terminal device a calling ID for establishing communications with a called party, submits to a telephone number mapping (ENUM) server a query corresponding to the calling ID, receives from the ENUM server a plurality of communication identifiers retrieved from a Naming Authority Pointer record according to a grade of service (GoS) of the called party, and selects according to the GoS of the called party a communication identifier from the plurality of communication identifiers to establish communications with the called party. Additional embodiments are disclosed. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100332915 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING COMMUNICATION SERVICES FOR USER ENDPOINT DEVICES - A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, an edge device having a controller to receive a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message from a user endpoint device (UE) requesting communication services, forward the SIP message to a network element of a Server Office, receive from the network element a first error message indicating communication services at the Server Office are unavailable, replace the first error message with a second error message, the second error message indicating a temporary unavailability of communication services, and transmit the second error message to the UE. Additional embodiments are disclosed. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20110026395 | Preserving Stable Calls During Failover - According to one method for preserving stable calls during failover, during a dialog between two user endpoints, a determination is made whether a standby call processor has become operational, such as when a corresponding primary call processor is in fault. Responsive to determining that the standby call processor has become operational, a signaling protocol message is received from a requester. A determination is made whether the message includes an in-dialog signaling protocol request. Responsive to determining that the message includes the in-dialog request, a determination is made whether a call state associated with the dialog is found in memory. Responsive to determining that the call state associated with the dialog is not found in memory, a non-call terminating error response is made responding to the in-dialog request. The non-call terminating error response may cause the requester to terminate the in-dialog request but not terminate the dialog. | 02-03-2011 |
| 20110078229 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING USER ENDPOINT DEVICES IN A COMMUNICATION NETWORK - A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a user endpoint device having a controller to submit a query to a Domain Name System (DNS) for information associated with a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) assigned to at least one of a Local Access Transport Area (LATA) or rate center of the user endpoint device, and receive from the DNS one or more descriptors of one or more session border controllers, wherein the one or more descriptors are associated with the FQDN of the user endpoint device. Additional embodiments are disclosed. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110082919 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING REHOMING OF USER ENDPOINT DEVICES IN A COMMUNICATION NETWORK - A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a Domain Name System (DNS) server having a controller to receive new provisioning information for updating a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), and update the FQDN with the new provisioning information. The new provisioning information can include among other things a start time for rehoming one or more user endpoint devices (UEs) assigned to a current session border Controller (S/BC), a move-from record comprising a descriptor of at least the current S/BC, a move-to record comprising a descriptor of at least a new S/BC to which to rehome the one or more UEs, a transfer window representing a total time for the rehoming the one or more UEs to the new S/BC, and a pacing parameter for rehoming the one or more UEs to the new S/BC during the transfer window. Additional embodiments are disclosed. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110090900 | Controlling registration floods in VoIP networks via DNS - A mechanism controls global synchronization, or registration floods, that may result when a large number of endpoints in a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network such as an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) come online simultaneously after a catastrophic failure. The mechanism allows the Domain Name System (DNS) infrastructure to efficiently control the overload condition by registering user end points with backup border elements, and by staggering and by randomizing the time-to-live (TTL) parameter in registrations with backup border elements. | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110093584 | System and method to prevent endpoint device recovery flood in NGN - A mechanism is provided for recovering from a catastrophic failure that results in a large number of user endpoints attempting to come on line simultaneously after an NGN is restored. In an enhanced DNS load balancer, DNS queries from the user end points relating to a particular NGN edge device are selectively dropped if a rate of queries for the particular edge device suddenly increases or exceeds a threshold. The query dropping may also be based in part on the class of service assigned to the user endpoint. | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110131177 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING RAPID UPDATING OF SERVICES IN AN IMS ENVIRONMENT - A method and a system for creating or updating a plurality of user profiles in an IMS network are disclosed. For example, the method generates a service profile, wherein the service profile comprises a new service profile or an updated service profile having a service profile type identifier. The method sends, via an update message, the service profile to at least one network element that is used to support at least one service defined by the service profile for updating a plurality of user profiles maintained by the at least one network element. | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110134907 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EFFICIENTLY ROUTING PACKETS ACROSS DISPARATE NETWORKS - A method, a system and a computer readable medium for routing packets across disparate networks are disclosed. For example, the method receives, via a media gateway controller (MGC), an external request from an external requestor for a reservation of a public switched telephone network (PSTN) trunk on a media gateway (MGW) for a communication session between a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) network and a PSTN network, sends, via the MGC, a H.248 request to the MGW to make the reservation, establishes via the MGW, a communication path and sending a message to the MGC, retrieves, via the MGC, an assigned Internet protocol (IP) address and IP port on the MGW from the message from the MGW, sends, via the MGC, an allocation request to a media terminating session border controller (SBC) and allocates, via the media terminating SBC, a public IP address and a public IP port from an available pool of IP addresses and IP ports at the media terminating SBC. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110138053 | Systems, Methods and Computer Readable Media for Reporting Availability Status of Resources Associated with a Network - Methods, systems, and computer-readable media for reporting an availability status of resources associated with a server in a network in a network are described. According to one aspect, a computer-implemented method of reporting an availability status of resources associated with a server in a network includes determining the availability status of resources associated with the server. The availability status of resources is then inserted into a resource availability status header of a message. The message including the availability status of resources associated with the server is then sent. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110141920 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DYNAMICALLY CONTROLLING INTERNET PROTOCOL PACKET HANDLING IN A VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL NETWORK - In one embodiment, the present disclosure is a method and apparatus for dynamically controlling Internet Protocol packet flows in a Voice over Internet Protocol network. In one embodiment, a method for controlling flows of packets in a network includes obtaining a list identifying at least one user element that is authorized to register with the network and dynamically configuring a manner in which at least one border element handles the packets in accordance with the list. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110141942 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GROWING NEXT GENERATION NETWORK USING MODULAR DESIGN - A method and system for growing a next generation network (NGN) using a modular design are disclosed. For example, the method defines a growth core module to support a specific number of subscribers, wherein the growth core module is assigned a module identifier (ID). The method upgrades existing network entities that will be impacted by an installation of the growth core module in the existing IMS network, and installs the growth core module in the IMS network. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110142031 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DYNAMICALLY ASSIGNING BORDER ELEMENTS IN A VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL NETWORK - In one embodiment, the present disclosure is a method and apparatus for dynamically assigning border elements in a Voice over Internet Protocol network. In one embodiment, a method for registering an endpoint device to a core Internet Protocol network includes selecting a border element in the network, where the border element is selected based on monitored data relating to at least one of: a condition of the network and a condition of at least one component of the network and sending a message to the endpoint device instructing the endpoint device to register with the network via the border element. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110149951 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING COMMUNICATION FAULTS - A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may utilize, for example, a method involving receiving from a first communication device a service request while providing back-up services to an out-of-service network element, detecting a deficiency in call state information to process the service request, transmitting to the first communication device an error message that prevents termination of an active Internet Protocol (IP) communication path between the first communication device and a second communication device, and receiving from the first communication device a request for an alternate IP communication path for communicating between the first and second communication devices which resolves the deficiency in call state information. Additional embodiments are disclosed. | 06-23-2011 |
