System and method for interfacing legacy IP-PBX systems to SIP networks
View Patent ↗A system and method for integrating a legacy IP-PBX to a session initiation protocol (SIP) network supporting one or more SIP sets. A SIP-PBX proxy server coupled to the legacy IP-PBX and the SIP network maintains a logical IP set for each SIP set on the SIP network. The logical IP set is configured to maintain IP-based signaling and media connectivity with the legacy IP-PBX. The SIP-PBX proxy server receives media directed to a logical IP set associated with a particular SIP set, and redirects the media to the particular SIP set. In doing so, the SIP-PBX converts messages that adhere to a private, vendor-specific protocol, to messages that adhere to the SIP protocol.
1. A data communications system integrating a voice switch adhering to a first protocol with a network of one or more first devices adhering to a second protocol, the system comprising:
a server coupled to the voice switch and the network of one or more first devices, the server maintaining for each of said at least one of the first devices a separate logical IP address that is different from and maps to an IP address of each of the at least one of the first devices connected to the server, the server further receiving media directed to at least one of the logical IP addresses at a converter within the server wherein the converter consults a mapping table to ascertain the IP address of the one or more first devices that corresponds with the at least one of the logical IP addresses and redirects the media to the corresponding first device and wherein the converter converts the media from the first protocol to the second protocol.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first protocol is a private signaling and voice protocol.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second protocol is a session initiation protocol (SIP).
4. A method for integrating a voice switch adhering to a first protocol with a network of one or more devices adhering to a second protocol, the method comprising:
receiving from the voice switch a first message indicative of a first communication port to be used by a particular device for receiving media;
maintaining for each of the one or more devices a separate logical IP address that is different from and maps to an IP address for each of the one or more devices;
receiving from the particular device a second message indicative of a second communication port to be used by the particular device for receiving the media; and
reconciling a difference between the first communication port and the second communication port using a mapping table wherein a converter also consults the mapping table to ascertain the IP address of the particular device that corresponds with the separate logical IP address for the particular device.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the reconciling of the difference further comprises:
mapping the first communication port to the second communication port;
receiving media addressed to the first communication port; and
redirecting the media to the second communication port.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the mapping statically allocates the first communication port to the second communication port.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the mapping dynamically allocates the first communication port to the second communication port.
8. The method of claim 5 further comprising translating media transmitted to the first communication port according to the first protocol to media adhering to the second protocol at the converter, wherein the redirecting of the media comprises redirecting the media adhering to the second protocol to the second communication port after the converter consults the mapping table.
9. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first protocol is a private signaling and voice protocol.
10. The method of claim 4 , wherein the second protocol is a session initiation protocol (SIP).