Granted Patent B2

US 7,616,740 · App. 11/430,641 · Granted Nov 10, 2009

Abstract

Claims (48)

1. A method of emulating a converged network, the method comprising:

at a media gateway:

receiving, at a first interface, a test call of a first network type;

processing the test call for distribution on a second network type;

transmitting the processed test call to a second interface of the second network type; and

receiving, by way of a feedback mechanism coupled with the second interface for conveying the test call from the media gateway back to the media gateway, the processed test call, wherein the feedback mechanism includes ports of the first and second interfaces that are connected to each other, wherein the feedback mechanism returns outbound traffic of the test call from the media gateway to the media gateway, and wherein the returned test call traffic is treated as a separate call by the media gateway.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the feedback mechanism is coupled with the second interface and a third interface of the media gateway.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the feedback mechanism is coupled with a first port of the second interface and a second port of the second interface.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first network type and the second network type are respectively selected from the group consisting of a wireless network type, a public switched telephone network type, and an Internet protocol network type.

5. A method of emulating a converged network, comprising:

receiving, by a media gateway controller, a call set-up message;

obtaining a data element associated with the call set-up message;

determining the data element is allocated for a test call;

retrieving a configuration file associated with the data element that specifies one or more parameters of the test call;

generating call control messages according to the configuration file that instruct a media gateway to use a feedback mechanism connecting a first network interface of the media gateway and having a first network type to a second interface of the media gateway and having a second network type, wherein the feedback mechanism includes ports of the first and second interfaces that are connected to each other, wherein the feedback mechanism returns outbound traffic of the test call from the media gateway to the media gateway, and wherein the returned test call traffic is treated as a separate call by the media gateway; and

transmitting the call control messages to the media gateway.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein obtaining the data element comprises obtaining a termination identifier.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein retrieving a configuration file further comprises retrieving a configuration file that specifies one of more of a mapping between a physical and logical resource, a termination identifier identifying a termination point at the media gateway for making a physical connection, and media bearer parameters.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the data element comprises an interface type, a group number, and a member number of an originator of the call set-up message, and wherein determining the data element is allocated for a test call comprises determining the interface type, the group number, and the member number match a termination identifier of a trigger termination specified in the configuration file.

9. A system for emulating a converged network, the system comprising:

a media gateway controller having a call generator and a network emulator respectively implemented as computer-executable instructions, wherein the call generator generates a test call that is transmitted by the media gateway controller; and

a media gateway adapted to switch communications among a plurality of network types and communicatively coupled with the media gateway controller, wherein the media gateway is configured with a plurality of network interfaces and has a feedback mechanism for conveying the test call from the media gateway back to the media gateway, wherein the feedback mechanism includes ports of the first and second interfaces that are connected to each other, wherein the feedback mechanism returns outbound traffic of the test call from the media gateway to the media gateway, and wherein the returned test call traffic is treated as a separate call by the media gateway.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the feedback mechanism comprises a physical coupling.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of network interfaces comprises two or more interface cards selected from the group consisting of a wireless network interface card, a packet network interface card, and a wireline network interface card.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the network emulator includes a command monitor module that monitors for a test event and, in response to recognition of a test event, invokes a test call procedure.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the test event comprises identifying a match between a termination identifier of the call and a termination identifier allocated for test calls.

14. The system of claim 13 , further comprising a configuration file storage interfaced with the network emulator, wherein the network emulator reads a configuration file associated with the termination identifier from the configuration file storage.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the network emulator further comprises a command parser and a control module, wherein the command parser is adapted to parse commands from the configuration file and transmit the commands to the control module, and wherein the control module is adapted to generate call control messages in accordance with the parsed commands and transmits the control messages to the media gateway.

16. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for execution by a processing system, the computer-executable instructions for facilitating converged network emulation, comprising:

at a media gateway:

instructions that monitor for a test event;

instructions that, responsive to detection of a test event, invoke a test call procedure;

instructions that read a configuration file associated with the test event;

instructions that generate one or more call control messages from the configuration file, wherein the call control messages instruct a media gateway to use a feedback mechanism connecting a first network interface of the media gateway and having a first network type to a second interface of the media gateway and having a second network type, wherein the feedback mechanism includes ports of the first and second interfaces that are connected to each other, wherein the feedback mechanism returns outbound traffic of the test call from the media gateway to the media gateway, and wherein the returned test call traffic is treated as a separate call by the media gateway; and

instructions that transmit the one or more call control messages to the media gateway.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the test event comprises identifying a match between a termination identifier of a call and a termination identifier allocated for a test call.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the configuration file includes a plurality of contexts each defining bearer characteristics of a respective termination of the call.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein each of the plurality of contexts comprises bearer characteristics selected from the group consisting of wireless bearer characteristics, wireline bearer characteristics, and packet bearer characteristics.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the instructions that read the configuration file further comprise instructions that read the configuration file from a configuration file storage maintaining a plurality of configuration files each respectively defining a test call.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 , further comprising instructions that generate a call and transmit the call to the media gateway, wherein the call is processed according to the control messages.

22. A method for emulating a converged network, comprising:

at a media gateway:

assigning a first termination point with characteristics of a first network;

assigning a second termination point with characteristics of a second network;

configuring a connection, by way of a feedback mechanism for conveying a test call from the media gateway back to the media gateway, between the first and second termination points, wherein the feedback mechanism includes ports of the first and second interfaces that are connected to each other; and

transmitting the test call from the first termination point to the second termination point using the feedback mechanism, wherein the feedback mechanism returns outbound traffic of the test call from the media gateway to the media gateway, and wherein the returned test call traffic is treated as a separate call by the media gateway.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the characteristics of the first network comprise one or more wireline network bearer characteristics selected from the group consisting of a codec, bandwidth, and echo cancellation, and wherein the characteristics of the second network comprise one or more wireless network bearer characteristics selected from the group consisting of transcoder free operation, adaptive multi-rate speech compression type, and echo cancellation.

24. The method of claim 22 , wherein the first termination point is configured with wireless network bearer characteristics, and wherein transmitting the call from the first termination point to the second termination point emulates a wireless network handoff.

Assignments (9)