System and method for shared binding maintenance

1. A method for use on a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) server for updating bindings, comprising:

receiving a SIP message concerning a particular Address-of-Record (AOR); and

updating a list of one or more bindings for the particular AOR in a shared registration repository, wherein the shared registration repository is accessible by number of SIP servers and includes bindings for multiple AORs, wherein the updating comprises:

updating a value of an idle timeout parameter in the shared registration repository, wherein the idle timeout parameter defines an idle timeout interval which specifies a time interval in which the list of one or more bindings stored in the shared registration repository for the particular AOR is permitted to remain inactive; and

removing a binding associated with the SIP message from the list of one or more bindings in the shared registration repository for the particular AOR when the idle timeout interval associated with the list of one or more bindings has expired.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the idle timeout parameter is a timestamp specifying a time at which the idle timeout interval expires.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the updating sets the value of the idle timeout parameter to a maximum value of an expiration timeout parameter, wherein the expiration timeout parameter defines an expiration interval that specifies a time interval for which a binding is valid.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining whether the idle timeout interval associated with the list of one or more bindings has expired.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the updating further comprises updating a logical location of the AOR in the shared registration repository.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the shared registration repository is a distributed cache.

7. A SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) server, comprising:

a processor configured to:

receive a SIP message concerning a particular Address-of-Record (AOR), ); and

update a list of one or more bindings for the particular AOR in a shared registration repository, wherein the shared registration repository is accessible by number of SIP servers and includes bindings for multiple AORs, wherein the updating comprises:

updating a value of an idle timeout parameter in the shared registration repository, wherein the idle timeout parameter defines an idle timeout interval which specifies a time interval in which the list of one or more bindings stored in the shared registration repository for the particular AOR is permitted to remain inactive; and

removing a binding associated with the SIP message from the list of one or more bindings in the shared registration repository for the particular AOR when the idle timeout interval associated with the list of one or more bindings has expired.

8. The SIP server of claim 7 , wherein the idle timeout parameter is a timestamp specifying a time at which the idle timeout interval expires.

9. The SIP server of claim 7 , wherein the updating sets the value of the idle timeout parameter to a maximum value of an expiration timeout parameter, wherein the expiration timeout parameter defines an expiration interval that specifies a time interval for which a binding is valid.

10. The SIP server of claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to remove a binding in the shared registration repository for the AOR when the idle timeout interval associated with the list of one or more bindings has expired.

11. The SIP server of claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether the idle timeout interval associated with the list of one or more bindings has expired.

12. The SIP server of claim 7 , wherein the updating further comprises updating a logical location of the AOR in the shared registration repository.

13. The SIP server of claim 7 , wherein the shared registration repository is a distributed cache.

14. The SIP server of claim 7 , wherein the SIP server is a SIP registrar server.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

removing the particular AOR from the shared registration repository when a last binding for the particular AOR has been removed from the shared registration repository.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the SIP message is a SIP REGISTER message which specifies the value of the idle timeout parameter.

17. A method for use on a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) network for updating bindings, comprising:

receiving, by a SIP proxy server, a first SIP message concerning a particular Address-of-Record (AOR), wherein the first SIP message is any type of SIP message sent from the AOR;

sending, by the SIP proxy server, a SIP REGISTER message concerning the particular AOR in response to receiving the first SIP message, wherein the SIP REGISTER message specifies a value of an idle timeout parameter, wherein the idle timeout parameter defines an idle timeout interval which specifies a time interval in which a list of one or more bindings stored in a shared registration repository for the particular AOR is permitted to remain inactive;

receiving, by a SIP registrar server, the SIP REGISTER message concerning the particular AOR;

updating, by the SIP registrar server, the idle timeout parameter in the shared registration repository in accordance the value of the idle timeout parameter specified in the SIP REGISTER message in response to receiving the SIP REGISTER message, wherein the shared registration repository is accessible by number of SIP servers and includes bindings for multiple AORs; and

removing a binding associated with the first SIP message from the list of one or more bindings in the shared registration repository for the particular AOR when the idle timeout interval associated with the list of one or more bindings has expired.