Session Border Controller MRF Failure Redirection

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current Session Border Controllers (SBCs) lack High Availability functionality, leading to inadequate media redirection and resiliency when Media Resource Function (MRF) nodes fail, resulting in service interruptions and increased signaling requirements during media call flow redirection.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a method where SBCs monitor for MRF failure conditions and redirect media call flows to alternative MRFs without terminating the call, using Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) signaling to manage the redirection, ensuring transparency to end-user devices and minimizing interruption.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If SBCs implement High Availability functionality for MRF failure detection and redirection, then service continuity and reliability are improved, but device complexity and signaling overhead increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveservice continuityVSAvoidSBC functionality

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The SBC pre-configures alternative MRF nodes and establishes monitoring mechanisms before failures occur. When a primary MRF fails, the SBC can immediately redirect media flows to pre-identified backup MRFs without requiring complex real-time decision-making or additional signaling setup, thus achieving high reliability while controlling complexity

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The SBC acts as an intermediary between endpoint devices and MRF nodes. It absorbs the complexity of failure detection and redirection logic within itself, shielding endpoint devices from these complexities. The SBC monitors MRF health status and manages media flow redirection transparently, improving service continuity without requiring endpoint devices to implement complex High Availability functionality

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If SBCs implement comprehensive MRF failure monitoring and redirection mechanisms, then service resiliency is improved, but signaling overhead increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveservice resiliencyVSAvoidsignaling overhead

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The SBC implements self-service monitoring of MRF nodes using lightweight mechanisms such as analyzing existing media flow patterns and detecting anomalies without requiring separate dedicated signaling protocols. The system leverages existing communication channels to gather health status information, reducing additional signaling overhead while maintaining comprehensive monitoring capability for service resiliency

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The SBC continuously monitors MRF health status by analyzing ongoing media flows and maintains ready-to-execute redirection paths. This continuous monitoring uses efficient algorithms that process existing traffic data without requiring periodic interruptive signaling exchanges, thereby ensuring service resiliency while minimizing signaling overhead

Inventive Principle:

Principle #20Continuity of useful action

3Loss of time

If MRF nodes are redirected without call termination, then service interruption time is reduced, but complexity of media flow management increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveservice interruption timeVSAvoidmedia flow management

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of timeVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The SBC extracts and isolates the redirection logic from the overall call management system. When a MRF failure is detected, the SBC handles media flow redirection as a separate, independent operation that bypasses complex call termination and re-establishment procedures. This extraction enables rapid switching to backup MRFs while containing the complexity within a specific module of the SBC

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The SBC pre-establishes alternative media paths and backup MRF connections before failures occur. When a primary MRF fails, the redirection simply activates a pre-configured path rather than dynamically creating new connections. This preliminary preparation dramatically reduces service interruption time while the standardized pre-configured paths keep management complexity controlled

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS11012477B2Methods, apparatus and systems to increase media resource function availability

Publication Date: 2021.05.18 RIBBON COMMUNICATIONS OPERATING CO INC

AI summary

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.