GB2472985A

GB2472985A - Media Resource Broker Location Function

Info

Publication number: GB2472985A
Application number: GB0914751A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Christopher James Boulton; Michael Anthony Bardzinski; John Gordon Dally
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2009-08-24
Filing date: 2009-08-24
Publication date: 2011-03-02
Also published as: GB0914751D0

Abstract

Media Resource Broker Location Function (MLF) (1 from Figure 1), receives requests from clients (3 from Figure 1) requiring the location of an appropriate Media Resource Broker (MRB). The MRB inspects the request and makes a decision on which MRB should be used to service the request. Depending on the protocol used by the client to query for an MRB, the MLF will either return the address of the MRB to the client (3 from figure 1) or forward the request directly to the MRB using the Session Initiation Protocol (5 from Figure 1). The MRB is then able to service the request.

Description

Media Resource Broker (MRB) Location Function This invention relates to a proposed new entity in telecommunications networks which selects an appropriate Media Resource Broker (MRB) for servicing a request for media based resources.

In short, an MRB Location Function (MLF) is a network entity that examines the context of a request from a client requiring an MRB and supplies the location of an MRB which is capable of successfully servicing the request.

Internet Protocol (lP) communication has emerged in recent times as the replacement for the traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) system. An increased number of voice and other multimedia communications now take place over IP with well known services such as Skype. As adoption levels of such (P based technologies rise, PSTN systems will be replaced with new IP based networks. A major functional entity within lP based networks is a Media Server. The Media Server provides familiar services such as voicemail, automated menu systems and conferences. It also includes advanced features such as Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) and Text To Speech (ITS). As IP based networks grow, so does the number of Media Servers required for servicing potentially millions of subscribers. A network will often consist of a heterogeneous mix of Media Servers with varying capabilities and capacities, from a range of different vendors. To manage such a situation, an entity called a Media Resource Broker (MRB) has emerged that tracks the status of Media Servers in the network and allocates an appropriate Media Server to a request.

As networks grow, so will the number of MRBs required to cope with the management of large numbers of Media Servers. In such a scenario, an MRB entity would need to track every Media Server in the network to allow for accurate distribution and allocation of service requests needing media resources, to an appropriate Media Server. While this is possible for small scale deployments, larger deployments with multiple MRBs will not be effective at tracking and managing a large number of Media Servers.

The MLF entity is an network element which is used to select a suitable MRB for a client which requires the use of media resources. The MRB selection process used by the MLF entity may be based on the availability of MRBs within the network, or network specific configuration, or a custom pluggable algorithm.

The MLF can work in two modes of operation. The first is called the SIP MRB Location Function (SMLF) mode which relies on the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for interactions between its immediate neighbours in the network. The second is called Non-SIP MRB Location function (NMLF) mode which uses other protocols for its interactions between its immediate neighbours in the network.

More details of both SMLF and NMLF modes of operation are discussed later.

The invention will now be described in detail along with accompanying diagrams which consist of: -Figure 1 shows a high level architecture for an MLF.

-Figure 2 shows an MLF acting as a SIP MRB Location function (SMLF).

-Figure 3 shows an MLF acting as a Non-SIP MRB Location Function (NMLF).

Figure 1 illustrates the basic network positioning of the new MLF entity (1 from Figure 1) and its basic interactions with surrounding components. The MRB Client (2 from Figure 1) represents an entity that requires media resources from the network and has the ability to interact with the MLF entity (3 from Figure 1).

The MLF is capable of interacting directly with the MRB entity (4 from Figure 1) using an appropriate interface (5 from Figure 1). The MRB Client is also capable of interacting directly with the MRB entity (6 from Figure 1).

Figure 2 illustrates a scenario where the MLF (1 from Figure 2) is acting in SIP MRB Location Function (SMLF) mode. In SMLF mode, the MLF consumes the request from the client requesting a media server (2 from Figure 2) using the appropriate interface (3 from Figure 2) using the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) as the underlying network transport protocol. The MLF then makes a decision on an appropriate MRB to service the request based on contextual information received in the SIP request. The request is then forwarded onwards directly to the MRB (4 from Figure 2). This forwarding is carried out using a direct interface between the MLF and MRB (5 from Figure 2) using the SIP protocol.

Figure 3 illustrates an alternative to the MLF directly forwarding the request to an MRB, as discussed from Figure 2, and allows the client to connect to the MRB directly. This is known as Non-SIP MRB Location Function (NMLF) mode. The MLF (1 from Figure 3) receives the request using the interface (3 from Figure 3) between the MRB Client (2 from Figure 3) and the MLF using a non-SIP based network protocol. The MLF completes the same selection process as it does when it forwards the request directly to the MRB in SMLF mode. It then returns the MRB selection result to the MRB Client using the same interface (3 from Figure 3). The MRB Client is then free to connect directly to the MRB (4 from Figure 3) using an appropriate mechanism (5 from Figure 3).

Claims

Claims 1. A Media Resource Broker (MRB) Location Function (MLF) is a software entity that selects an appropriate MRB network entity to service a request for media resources.
2. The MLF entity according to claim 1, has an interface between itself and a number of elements (or clients) requiring the use of an MRB.
3. The MLF entity according to claim 1, has an interface between itself and a number of MRBs.
4. An interface according to claim 2, receives a request using the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) from a client requiring the use of an MRB.
5. An interface according to claim 2, receives a request using a non-SIP protocol from a client requiring the use of an MRB.
6. A request received by the MLF according to claim 4, is used to select an appropriate MRB.
7. A request received by the MLF according to claim 5, is used to select an appropriate MRB
8. The selection of an appropriate MRB according to claim 6, can be connected directly to the MRB on behalf of the client requiring the use of an MRB using the interface according to claim 3 using the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) when acting in SIP MRB Location Function Mode (SMLF) mode.
9. The selection of an appropriate MRB according to claim 6, can be returned to the client requiring the use of an MRB using the interface according to claim 2 when acting in Non-SIP MRB Location Function (NMLF) mode.