Media Gateway Seamless Switch Centralized Decentralized Streaming
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Solution Overview
Problem
In VOIP systems, switching from centralized to decentralized media streams can cause audible clipping due to synchronization issues between jitter buffers, resulting from network latency variations, congestion, and processing delays, leading to lost conversation parts and the need for repeated audio.
Innovation Solution
The method involves setting up both centralized and decentralized media streams to overlap temporally, synchronizing them by calculating differences in packet timestamps and sequence numbers, and then disconnecting the centralized stream, allowing seamless switch-over without disrupting the talk path.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If centralized media stream is switched to decentralized media stream, then media gateway is released and system efficiency is improved, but audible clipping occurs due to synchronization loss between jitter buffers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by establishing the decentralized media stream in parallel with the centralized stream before switching, and by pre-calculating synchronization offsets between the two streams. This allows the system to prepare for the transition in advance, ensuring that when the switch occurs, both streams are already synchronized and ready for seamless handover, preventing audible clipping.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses synchronization information and offset calculations as intermediaries to bridge the centralized and decentralized media streams. By introducing these synchronization mechanisms, the system can coordinate the timing between the two streams during the transition period, ensuring continuous audio playback without gaps or clipping.
2Reliability
If decentralized media stream is used from the beginning, then clipping during switch over is avoided, but dial tones from media gateway cannot be used and each IP telephone must support local tones
Solution Approach 1:
The patent establishes the decentralized media stream in advance, before the switch-over point, allowing it to be fully initialized and synchronized. This preliminary setup ensures that when the switch occurs, the decentralized stream is ready to immediately take over without causing audio interruptions, while still allowing the system to use centralized dial tones during the initial phase.
3Adaptability or versatility
If media stream is stopped and re-synchronized during switch over, then centralized to decentralized transition is achieved, but jitter buffers must be re-synchronized causing audible clipping
Solution Approach 1:
The patent maintains continuous playback from both the centralized and decentralized media streams during the transition period. By keeping both streams active and synchronized simultaneously, the system ensures uninterrupted audio output. The useful action of audio playback continues without interruption, allowing seamless transition while maintaining audio quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the synchronization parameters between the two streams by calculating and applying offset values. This parameter adjustment allows the jitter buffers of both streams to be coordinated during the transition, enabling the system to switch configurations while maintaining synchronization and preventing audible clipping through parameter optimization.
Data Source
AI summary
A media gateway is provided that enables seamless switchover between a centralized media stream passing between first and second endpoints and through the media gateway and a decentralized media stream passing between the first and second endpoints, but bypassing the media gateway. The gateway provides synchronization information to the first and second endpoints to enable synchronization of the centralized and decentralized media streams. After synchronization is completed, the centralized media stream is disconnected in favor of the decentralized media stream.