System and method for message management across a network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020257579-A1
Application number	US-202016859510-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 27, 2020
Priority date	Jul 24, 2018
Publication date	Aug 13, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for managing service calls over a network may include a signal routing engine with a maintained forwarding table for various network functions and micro-services in a services back end for the network. The signal routing engine can include a call conversion service for converting REST API calls to an internal network call protocol for increasing network function processing speeds, decreasing bandwidth usage, and improving network responsiveness and manageability.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
identifying a plurality of connections associated with a plurality of network function (NF) endpoints; receiving, from a requestor, a first protocol call of a first protocol type directed to a first NF endpoint of the plurality of NF endpoints; converting the first protocol call to a second protocol call of a second protocol type different the first protocol type; transmitting, to a second NF endpoint of the plurality of NF endpoints, the second protocol call over a first connection from the first NF endpoint to the second NF endpoint, the first connection comprising one of the plurality of connections associated with the plurality of NF endpoints; receiving, from the second NF endpoint, a first protocol response over a second connection from the second NF endpoint to the first NF endpoint, the second connection comprising a different one of the plurality of connections associated with the plurality of NF endpoints; converting the first protocol response to a second protocol response, the second protocol response being based on the protocol associated with the first protocol call; and transmitting, to the requestor, the second protocol response.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, from a second requestor, a third protocol call directed to the first NF endpoint, the third protocol call of the first protocol type; converting the third protocol call to a fourth protocol call of the second protocol type; transmitting, to the second NF endpoint, the fourth protocol call over the first connection; receiving, from the second NF, a third protocol response over the second connection, the third protocol response being based on the different protocol associated with the second protocol call; converting the third protocol response to a fourth protocol response, the fourth protocol response being based on the protocol associated with the first protocol call; and transmitting, to the second requestor, the fourth protocol response.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first NF endpoint is within a first service provider network and the second NF endpoint is within a second service provider network.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second protocol call is a gRPC Remote Procedure Call (gRPC) call.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first protocol call is a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) call to a representational state transfer (REST) application programming interface (API).

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second protocol call comprises a binary protocol call.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing a plurality of NF endpoint addresses associated with the plurality of NF endpoints, wherein the plurality of connections is based on the plurality of NF endpoints.

8 . A system comprising:
one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to:
identify a plurality of connections associated with a plurality of network function (NF) endpoints;
receive, from a requestor, a first protocol call directed to a first NF endpoint of the plurality of NF endpoints;
convert the first protocol call to a second protocol call associated with a different protocol than a protocol associated with the first protocol call;
transmit, to a second NF endpoint of the plurality of NF endpoints, the second protocol call over a first connection from the first NF endpoint to the second NF endpoint, the first connection comprising one of the plurality of connections associated with the plurality of NF endpoints;
receive, from the second NF endpoint, a first protocol response over a second connection from the second NF endpoint to the first NF endpoint, the second connection comprising a different one of the plurality of connections associated with the plurality of NF endpoints;
convert the first protocol response to a second protocol response, the second protocol response being based on the protocol associated with the first protocol call; and
transmit, to the requestor, the second protocol response.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to:
receive, from a second requestor, a third protocol call directed to the first NF endpoint, the third protocol call being based on the protocol associated with the first protocol call; convert the third protocol call to a fourth protocol call, the fourth protocol call being based on the different protocol associated with the second protocol call; transmit, to the second NF endpoint, the fourth protocol call over the first connection; receive, from the second NF, a third protocol response over the second connection, the third protocol response being based on the different protocol associated with the second protocol call; convert the third protocol response to a fourth protocol response, the fourth protocol response being based on the protocol associated with the first protocol call; and transmit, to the second requestor, the fourth protocol response.

10 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the first NF endpoint is within a first service provider network and the second NF endpoint is within a second service provider network.

11 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the second protocol call is a gRPC Remote Procedure Call (gRPC) call.

12 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the first protocol call is a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) call to a representational state transfer (REST) application programming interface (API).

13 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the second protocol call comprises a binary protocol call.

14 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to:
store a plurality of NF endpoint addresses associated with the plurality of NF endpoints, wherein the plurality of connections is based on the plurality of NF endpoints.

15 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
identify a plurality of connections associated with a plurality of network function (NF) endpoints; receive, from a requestor, a first protocol call directed to a first NF endpoint of the plurality of NF endpoints; convert the first protocol call to a second protocol call associated with a different protocol than a protocol associated with the first protocol call; transmit, to a second NF endpoint of the plurality of NF endpoints, the second protocol call over a first connection from the first NF endpoint to the second NF endpoint, the first connection comprising one of the plurality of connections associated with the plurality of NF endpoints; receive, from the second NF endpoint, a first protocol response over a second connection from the second NF endpoint to the first NF endpoint, the second connection comprising a different one of the plurality of connections associated with the plurality of NF endpoints; convert the first protocol response to a second protocol response, the second protocol response being based on the protocol associated with the first protocol call; and transmit, to the requestor, the second protocol response.

16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
receive, from a second requestor, a third protocol call

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Shekhar Ravi
• Ghosh Ameo
• Campbell Ian Mcdowell

Classifications

• H04L45/745

  Address table lookup; Address filtering · CPC title

• G06F9/547 Primary

  Remote procedure calls [RPC]; Web services · CPC title

• H04L67/02 Primary

  based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP] · CPC title

• H04L45/306

  Route determination based on the nature of the carried application · CPC title

• H04L45/60

  Router architectures · CPC title