Managing voice over internet protocol (VoIP) communications
The disclosed embodiments include a computer implemented method for managing network communications. In one embodiment, the method includes gathering, using performance information packet (PIP) data packets, network performance information from a communications network that includes network performance information from a set of egress points between the communications network and an outside network. The method selects a network connection including an egress point and an egress packet path within the communications network to the egress point offering the best quality of service between the communications network and an outside network based on the network performance information. The method then establishes the network connection between the communications network and the outside network for routing communications.
1. A method of selecting a network path for a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication, the method comprising:
gathering network performance information from a communications network using performance information packet (PIP) data packets, wherein gathering network performance information from the communications network includes gathering network performance information from a set of egress points between the communications network and an outside network;
wherein the network performance information for each egress point is attached to an end of a performance information payload of the PIP data packets;
rating a plurality of network connections to establish a network connection with a best quality of service, wherein the rating is performed for the plurality of network connections based on at least two of jitter, packet loss, percentage of real-time traffic, or real-time bandwidth, and wherein the at least two of jitter, packet loss, percentage of real-time traffic, or real-time bandwidth are assigned a weighting factor and the rating is performed based on a weighted average of the at least two of jitter, packet loss, percentage of real-time traffic, or real-time bandwidth;
based on the rating of the plurality of network connections, selecting the network connection with the best quality of service and including an egress point and an egress packet path within the communications network to the egress point offering a best quality of service for the VoIP communication between the communications network and an outside network based on the network performance information; and
establishing the network connection between the communications network and the outside network for routing the VoIP communication.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the outside network is either of a public switched telephone network (PTSN) or a VoIP network.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the VoIP communication is an ingress communication from the outside network.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein selecting the network connection comprises choosing the network connection from a plurality of network connections, wherein the network connection least negatively affects the performance of a remainder of the communications network.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein selecting the network connection comprises avoiding network devices that are experiencing problems to establish the network connection.
6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the network devices are any of a gateway, access point, connection admission control engine, server, and network-to-network interface.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the network performance information includes historical information for the communications network.
8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: switching from the network connection to a second network connection in response to determining the second network connection provides the best quality of service.
9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: sending a PIP data packet to a network device causing network performance issues, wherein the PIP data packet gathers diagnostic data regarding the network performance issues.
10. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: compiling network performance information for a plurality of communicating networks; and sharing the network performance information among the plurality of communicating networks.
11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the network performance information is received in real-time.
12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein gathering network performance information further comprises determining transmission rates at a layer different than Layer 1 or Layer 2 of the open systems interconnection (OSI) model.
13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein gathering network performance information further comprises calculating segment utilization on a plurality of path segments along a plurality of paths, the plurality of paths including the selected egress packet path, by monitoring the PIP data packets.
14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein calculating segment utilization comprises calculating a number of real-time packets and a number of non-real-time packets communicated along a path segment between communication of successive PIP data packets.
15. A system for managing a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication, the system comprising:
a processor configured to execute a set of instructions;
a non-transitory memory configured to store the set of instructions that when executed using the processor performs operations comprising:
gathering network performance information from a communications network using performance information packet (PIP) data packets, wherein gathering network performance information from the communications network includes gathering network performance information from a set of egress points between the communications network and an outside network;
wherein the network performance information for each egress point is attached to an end of a performance information payload of the PIP data packets;
rating a plurality of network connections to establish a network connection with a best quality of service, wherein the rating is performed for the plurality of network connections based on at least two of jitter, packet loss, percentage of real-time traffic, or real-time bandwidth, and wherein the at least two of jitter, packet loss, percentage of real-time traffic, or real-time bandwidth are assigned a weighting factor and the rating is performed based on a weighted average of the at least two of jitter, packet loss, percentage of real-time traffic, or real-time bandwidth;
based on the rating of the plurality of network connections, selecting the network connection with the best quality of service and including an egress point and an egress packet path within the communications network to the egress point offering a best quality of service for the VoIP communication between the communications network and an outside network based on the network performance information; and
establishing the network connection between the communications network and the outside network for routing the VoIP communication.
16. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions for managing a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication, the computer executable instructions when executed causes one or more machines to perform operations comprising:
gathering network performance information from a communications network using performance information packet (PIP) data packets, wherein gathering network performance information from the communications network includes gathering network performance information from a set of egress points between the communications network and an outside network;
wherein the network performance information for each egress point is attached to an end of a performance information payload of the PIP data packets;
rating a plurality of network connections to establish a network connection with a best quality of service, wherein the rating is performed for the plurality of network connections based on at least two of jitter, packet loss, percentage of real-time traffic, or real-time bandwidth, and wherein the at least two of jitter, packet loss, percentage of real-time traffic, or real-time bandwidth are assigned a weighting factor and the rating is performed based on a weighted average of the at least two of jitter, packet loss, percentage of real-time traffic, or real-time bandwidth;
based on the rating of the plurality of network connections, selecting the network connection with the best quality of service and including an egress point and an egress packet path within the communications network to the egress point offering a best quality of service for the VoIP communication between the communications network and an outside network based on the network performance information; and
establishing the network connection between the communications network and the outside network for routing the VoIP communication.