Inter-Gateway Routing Agent for Network Fragmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional communication systems in converged networks face challenges in managing IP bandwidth effectively during high traffic periods and providing alternate communication paths during WAN failures, especially in single-server systems, where users cannot directly dial extensions across different network regions without manual intervention and feature transparency is lacking.
Innovation Solution
The establishment of public or private network inter-gateway connections via trunks, allowing geographically dislocated network regions to communicate using a common electronic address, automatically routing real-time communications over an alternate network like PSTN when WAN is unavailable, and enabling abbreviated extension dialing without additional administration or security risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If call admission control is used to manage IP bandwidth, then bandwidth usage is controlled, but calls are denied and forwarded to voice mail causing caller frustration
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary routing decisions by establishing alternate PSTN paths before WAN failure occurs. The media gateway is pre-configured with both IP and PSTN routing capabilities, allowing immediate switching to the alternate path when needed, thus preventing call denial while maintaining bandwidth control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces PSTN as an intermediary alternate network path between the media gateway and the destination. When IP bandwidth is insufficient or WAN fails, the call is routed through PSTN facilities, which act as a mediator to deliver the call without being denied, thus resolving the contradiction between bandwidth control and call delivery reliability.
2Reliability
If PSTN fallback is used for alternate routing, then calls can be routed over PSTN when IP trunk connection fails, but feature transparency is lost and calls appear as simple incoming/outgoing PSTN calls
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses in-band signaling to provide feedback between the calling and called network regions. This feedback mechanism transmits feature information (such as caller ID, call forwarding indicators, and other telephony features) over the PSTN path, allowing the called region to understand and properly handle the call as if it originated locally, thus maintaining feature transparency while using PSTN for reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses in-band signaling as an intermediary information carrier that travels with the call through PSTN. This signaling mechanism carries feature transparency information alongside the voice traffic, enabling the alternate PSTN path to maintain full feature capability rather than appearing as a simple voice-only connection.
3Reliability
If users dial PSTN numbers during network failure, then calls can reach destination, but manual intervention is required and subscribers without DID numbers cannot be reached
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements automatic failover where the media gateway autonomously detects WAN failure and switches routing to PSTN without user intervention. The in-band signaling automatically translates the original extension dialing into appropriate PSTN routing information, allowing subscribers to dial simple extensions while the system handles the complex alternate routing transparently, thus maintaining both reliability and ease of operation.
4Reliability
If network regions are controlled by separate media servers during WAN failure, then each server controls its endpoints, but subscribers cannot dial extensions across network regions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal dialing mechanism where the same extension dialing method works both within a single network region and across fragmented regions. The in-band signaling system provides multi-functionality by translating local extension dialing into appropriate routing information for the alternate PSTN path, allowing the media gateway to serve both local and cross-region calls through a unified interface, thus maintaining adaptability while preserving network autonomy.
Data Source
AI summary
In one configuration, the present invention is directed to an enterprise network that includes geographically dislocated first and second network regions 202 and 206 communicating with one another through first and second networks 252 and 248 and respectively comprising first and second gateways 220 and 224 and first and second groupings of trunks. A common electronic address is associated with the second grouping of trunks. A media server 200 is positioned in the first network region 202 that includes an inter-gateway routing agent 260. The first network region transmits, as part of the establishment of a real-time or near real-time communication between first and second subscribers respectively in the first and second network regions, the common address to the second gateway 224. After the outgoing communication is answered by the second gateway 224, the first network region transmits in band to the second gateway 224 a user identifier associated with the second subscriber and/or a phantom user. The user identifier is used to establish the communication with the second subscriber.