Defining logical trunk groups in a packet-based network

1 . A method for managing calls through a packet-based network without knowledge of the topology of the packet-based network, the method comprising:

defining a plurality of logical trunk groups for a first media gateway in communication with a packet-based network, each of the logical trunk groups being associated with one or more media gateways in communication with the first media gateway over the packet-based network;

associating packet data with a particular call, the packet data being received or transmitted by the first media gateway;

associating the packet data with a first logical trunk group of the plurality of logical trunk groups; and

collecting statistical data associated with the first logical trunk group.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein associating the packet data with a first logical trunk group of the plurality of logical trunk groups comprises associating the packet data with a first logical trunk group based at least in part on a characteristic, the characteristic comprising a name, an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a signaling protocol, a transport service access point, a VLAN identifier, or any combination thereof.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the characteristic is associated with a data source, a data destination, a logical trunk group, or any combination thereof.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the characteristic is associated with a data source and a data destination.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting the first logical trunk group for association with the packet data based in part on a network address or a network mask associated with the packet-based network, a second packet-based network, or both.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein selecting the logical trunk group is based on a most specific match algorithm.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising associating a resource parameter with the first logical trunk group, wherein the resource parameter comprises a scalar parameter including a call capacity, signal processing resources, a data packet volume, a bandwidth, or any combination thereof.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising associating a resource parameter with the first logical trunk group, wherein the resource parameter comprises a vector parameter including a directional characteristic.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising associating a resource parameter with the first logical trunk group, wherein the resource parameter comprises an operational state parameter including in-service or out-of-service, or any combination thereof.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising associating a resource parameter with the first logical trunk group, wherein the resource parameter includes at least one of a scalar parameter, a vector parameter, an operational state parameter, or any combination thereof.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a first resource parameter is associated with the first logical trunk group and a second resource parameter is associated with a second logical trunk group, further comprising associating the logical trunk group and the second logical trunk group with a hierarchical group, the hierarchical group being associated with at least a portion of the first resource parameter, the second resource parameter, or both.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

associating a first hierarchical group comprising the first logical trunk group with a hierarchical combination, wherein a trunk resource parameter associated with the first logical trunk group is determined at least in part based on a combination resource parameter associated with the hierarchical combination or a group resource parameter associated the hierarchical group, or both.

13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

associating a second set of call data, received from a second data source or transmitted to a second data destination, through the packet-based network, with a second logical trunk group, wherein a network node comprises one of the data source, the second data source, the data destination, the second data destination, or any combination thereof; and

associating the first logical trunk group and the second logical trunk group with a combined communication channel in communication with the network node.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the combined communication channel is in communication with a second packet-based network.

15 . A method comprising:

associating call data, received from a data source or transmitted to a data destination, through a packet-based network, with a logical trunk group based at least in part on a characteristic of the call data, the data source, the data destination, or any combination thereof, the characteristic comprising a name, an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a signaling protocol, a transport service access point, a VLAN identifier, or any combination thereof.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the data source or the data destination comprises a gateway, a call processor, a switch, a trunk group, or any combination thereof.

17 . A method for managing calls through a packet-based network without knowledge of the topology of the packet-based network, comprising:

defining a first logical trunk group for a first media gateway in communication with the packet-based network, the first logical trunk group being associated with a second media gateway in communication with the first media gateway over the packet-based network;

associating packets corresponding to a call being routed to the second media gateway with the first logical trunk group;

generating a first set of statistics associated with the first logical trunk group;

defining a second logical trunk group for the second media gateway in communication with the packet-based network, the second logical trunk group being associated with the first media gateway in communication with the second media gateway over the packet network;

associating packets corresponding to a call being routed from the first media gateway with the second logical trunk group;

generating a second set of statistics associated with the second logical trunk group; and

associating a network quality with the packet-based network based in part on the first or second set of statistics or both.

18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

managing calls between the first media gateway and the second media gateway based on the network quality.

19 . A system comprising:

a packet-based network;

a first media gateway in communication with the packet-based network, the first media gateway including a plurality of logical trunks groups, wherein each of the plurality of logical trunk groups is associated with one or more additional media gateways over the packet network;

a first module adapted to associate packet data associated with a call with a first logical trunk group selected from the plurality of logical trunk groups for transmission through the packet-based network; and

a collection module adapted to collect statistical data associated with the first logical trunk group.

20 . The system of claim 19 , further comprising:

an allocation module adapted to associate a resource parameter with the first logical trunk group, wherein the resource parameter comprises a scalar parameter, a vector parameter, an operational state parameter or any combination thereof.

21 . A computer program product, tangibly embodied in an information carrier, the computer program product including instructions being operable to cause data processing apparatus to:

define a plurality of logical trunk groups for a first media gateway in communication with a packet-based network, each of the plurality of logical trunk groups being associated with one or more media gateways in communication with the first media gateway over a packet-based network;

associate packet data with a particular call, the packet data received or transmitted by the first media gateway;

associated the packet data with a first logical trunk group selected from the plurality of logical trunk groups; and

collect statistics associated with the first logical trunk group.