Method and apparatus for supporting call admission control using graph assembly and fate-share identifiers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9450882-B2
Application number	US-201213453141-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 23, 2012
Priority date	Apr 23, 2012
Publication date	Sep 20, 2016
Grant date	Sep 20, 2016

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method includes obtaining a potential bandwidth deduction at a call agent, the call agent being associated with an intercluster call admission control (CAC) arrangement in which bandwidth is shared, the potential bandwidth deduction being associated with a session. The method also includes determining whether the potential bandwidth deduction is a duplicate bandwidth deduction, deducting the potential bandwidth deduction from a bandwidth bucket when it is determined that the potential bandwidth deduction is not the duplicate bandwidth deduction, and ignoring the potential bandwidth deduction when it is determined that the potential bandwidth deduction is the duplicate bandwidth deduction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
obtaining a potential bandwidth deduction on a communications interface at a call agent, wherein the call agent is a Unified Communications Manager (UCM), and wherein the call agent includes a processor and the communications interface enables the call agent to communicate on a network, the call agent being associated with an intercluster call admission control (CAC) arrangement in which bandwidth is shared between the call agent and other call agents on the network, the potential bandwidth deduction being associated with a session;
determining whether the potential bandwidth deduction is a duplicate bandwidth deduction, wherein determining whether the potential bandwidth deduction is the duplicate bandwidth deduction includes identifying an originator of the session, identifying a terminator of the session, determining when the originator and the terminator are both Internet Protocol (IP) trunks, and determining whether the IP trunks are configured for call signaling information to pass through when it is determined that the originator and the terminator are both IP trunks, wherein when it is determined that the IP trunks are configured for the call signaling information to pass through, the potential bandwidth deduction is determined to be the duplicate bandwidth deduction, and wherein when it is determined that the potential bandwidth deduction is the duplicate bandwidth deduction, the indication is that the potential bandwidth deduction has already been accounted for;
deducting the potential bandwidth deduction from a bandwidth bucket when it is determined that the potential bandwidth deduction is not the duplicate bandwidth deduction, wherein the bandwidth bucket is locally associated with the call agent; and
ignoring the potential bandwidth deduction when it is determined that the potential bandwidth deduction is the duplicate bandwidth deduction, wherein the potential bandwidth deduction is determined not to be the duplicate bandwidth deduction when it is determined that the originator and the terminator are not both the IP trunks.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the UCM has a back-to-back-user-agent (B2BUA), and wherein determining whether the potential bandwidth deduction is the duplicate bandwidth deduction further includes:
determining if a first fate-share ID associated with the session is the same as a second fate-share ID of a previous bandwidth deduction, wherein the potential bandwidth deduction is the duplicate bandwidth deduction if the first fate-share ID is the same as the second fate-share ID, and wherein the potential bandwidth deduction is not the duplicate bandwidth deduction if the first fate-share ID is not the same as the second fate-share ID.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the call agent is one of a plurality of call agents included in the network and the CAC arrangement includes a Location Bandwidth Manager (LBM) that allows the bandwidth to be shared by the plurality of call agents, and wherein the bandwidth bucket is associated with the bandwidth shared by the plurality of call agents.

4. A method comprising:
obtaining a potential bandwidth deduction on a communications interface at a call agent, wherein the call agent is a Unified Communications Manager (UCM), and wherein the call agent includes a processor and the communications interface enables the call agent to communicate on a network, the call agent being associated with an intercluster call admission control (CAC) arrangement in which bandwidth is shared between the call agent and other call agents on the network, the potential bandwidth deduction being associated with a session;
determining whether the potential bandwidth deduction is a duplicate bandwidth deduction, wherein determining whether the potential bandwidth deduction is the duplicate bandwidth deduction includes identifying an originator of the session, identifying a terminator of the session, determining when the originator and the terminator are both Internet Protocol (IP) trunks, and determining whether the IP trunks are configured for call signaling information to pass through when it is determined that the originator and the terminator are both IP trunks, wherein when it is determined that the IP trunks are configured for the call signaling information to pass through, the potential bandwidth deduction is determined to be the duplicate bandwidth deduction, and wherein when it is determined that the potential bandwidth deduction is the duplicate bandwidth deduction, the indication is that the potential bandwidth deduction has already been accounted for;
deducting the potential bandwidth deduction from a bandwidth bucket when it is determined that the potential bandwidth deduction is not the duplicate bandwidth deduction, wherein the bandwidth bucket is locally associated with the call agent; and

ignoring the potential bandwidth deduction when it is determined that the potential bandwidth deduction is the duplicate bandwidth deduction, wherein the potential bandwidth deduction is determined not to be the duplicate bandwidth deduction when it is determined that the IP trunks are not configured for the call signaling information to pass through.

5. A method comprising:
obtaining a potential bandwidth deduction on a communications interface at a first call agent, wherein the first call agent includes a processor and the communications interface enables the first call agent to communicate on a replication network, the first call agent being associated with an intercluster call admission control (CAC) arrangement in which bandwidth is shared, the potential bandwidth deduction being associated with a session;
determining whether the potential bandwidth deduction is a duplicate bandwidth deduction, wherein when it is determined that the potential bandwidth deduction is the duplicate bandwidth deduction, the indication is that the potential bandwidth deduction has already been accounted for;
deducting the potential bandwidth deduction from a bandwidth bucket when it is determined that the potential bandwidth deduction is not the duplicate bandwidth deduction, wherein the bandwidth bucket is locally associated with the first call agent;
ignoring the potential bandwidth deduction when it is determined that the potential bandwidth deduction is the duplicate bandwidth deduction; and
assembling a local model of the network, wherein assembling the local model of the network includes communicating a first local view of the network, the first local view of the network being a view associated with the first call agent, and obtaining at least a second local view of the network, the at least second local view of the network being obtained from a second call agent included in the replication network, the second local view of the network being a view associated with the second call agent, wherein assembling the local model of the network further includes determining when the local model includes duplicate edges, and reconciling the duplicate edges when it is determined that the local model includes the duplicate edges, wherein reconciling the duplicate edges includes selecting a value for the bandwidth bucket from values associated with the duplicate edges.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the duplicate edges include a first edge and a second edge, the first edge connecting a first node and a second node of the network, the second edge connecting the first node and the second node, and wherein selecting the value for the bandwidth bucket includes choosing the smallest value associated with the duplicate edges.

7. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer program code, the computer program code, when executed by a processor, configured to:
obtain a potential bandwid

Assignees

• Pearce Christopher E
• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Pearce Christopher E

Classifications

• H04L47/70 Primary

  Admission control; Resource allocation · CPC title

• G06Q10/025

  Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation · CPC title

• H04L41/12

  Discovery or management of network topologies · CPC title

• G06Q10/02

  Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events · CPC title