Abstract:
A method and system for processing session initiation protocol messages including receiving a session initiation protocol message by a front end, parsing the session initiation protocol message by the front end, grouping the token types and the token contents in the session initiation protocol message respectively, and setting up corresponding links between the token types and the token contents, wherein the session initiation protocol message, after parsing, is transformed to the session initiation protocol offload engine message with a session initiation protocol offload engine message header part, for storing message level information, a token type part, for storing token type information, wherein it comprises a plurality of fixed-length entries, and a token content part for storing token contents, wherein it comprises a plurality of variable-length entries, and processing the transformed session initiation protocol offload engine message at the server end.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The invention generally relates to the field of data communication, and particularly, relates to a method and system for processing SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) messages, and more particularly, relates to a method and system for binarizing SIP messages to reduce the load of SIP server (abbreviated as offload hereinbelow) and benefit for selectively processing SIP messages. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    One foundational session control protocol is becoming an emerging workload in the telecom Next-Generation-Network (NGN) and IT collaborative solution. SIP is one text-based message protocol. It operates independently of the underlying network transport protocols, establishing sessions between multiple users irrespective of whether the transferred data is text data, audio data, or video data. In the SIP protocol stack, however, some computation-intensive operations, such as token parsing and security processing, will occupy a large amount of CPU cycles. As SIP-based applications are becoming popular, these operations could be potential performance bottlenecks for SIP servers, such as proxy servers or application servers. 
         [0003]    To address this, SIP Offload Engine (SOE) architecture is proposed. As shown in  FIG. 1 , a front end  110  parses a SIP message, binarizes it, and generates an “SIP Offload Engine (SOE) message”, abbreviated as SOE message hereinbelow. The objective of applying such offload technology is to offload the computation-intensive operations from the server end to some special appliances, such as front ends. In particular, the front end will parse the tokens in the SIP message, and transform the text-based message to a binary SOE message, and then the server will parse the SOE message. The term “token” is defined as an indecomposable part provided to an upper-layer logic through an interface, which is a character string separated by separators, such as semicolons, spaces. Thus, at server end more CPU cycles may be freed up for upper-layer applications to improve the overall performance. 
         [0004]    The SIP protocol enables end users to communicate with each other via messages. The basic form of a message could either be a request sent from a client to a server or a reply from the server to the client. A message consists of a start-line, one or more header fields, a null line indicating the end of the header fields, and an optional message-body. The generic structure of an SIP message is shown as below: 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
                 generic-message = start-line 
               
               
                   
                     message header field 1 
               
               
                   
                     message header field 2 
               
               
                   
                     .. 
               
               
                   
                     .. 
               
               
                   
                     CRLF 
               
               
                   
                     message-body [optional] 
               
               
                   
                     start-line = Request-Line/Status-Line 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0005]    1. SIP Request Message 
         [0006]    A request may be recognized by the presence of a Request-Line as the start-line. The format of a request-line is shown as below:
       Request-Line=Method SP Request-URI SP SIP-Version CRLF       
 
         [0008]    A method is an action associated with a session between end users. The examples of a method comprise: REGISTER, INVITE, OPTIONS, ACK, CANCEL, BYE, defined in RFC3261 specification; and other methods defined in other separate RFC specifications. The Request-URI is the recipient of the SIP message. The SIP Version is currently SIP/2.0 and is to be included in all messages. The CRLF terminates the Request-Line. 
         [0009]    2. SIP Response Message 
         [0010]    A response may be recognized by the presence of a Status-Line as the start-line. The format of a status-line is shown as below:
       Status-Line=SIP-Version SP Status-code SP Reason-Phrase CRLF       
 
         [0012]    The Status-Code represents the result of the action taken due to the request. The result of a request is categorized below: 
         [0013]    (a) 100-199: A request was received, processed in progress. 
         [0014]    (b) 200-299: The request was received, understood, and accepted. 
         [0015]    (c) 300-399: Further action needs to be taken to complete the processing of the request. 
         [0016]    (d) 400-499: The request cannot be processed at the server, possibly due to bad syntax. 
         [0017]    (e) 500-599: The server failed to process the request. The request could have been invalid. 
         [0018]    (f) 600-699: Global failure. The request cannot be processed by any server. The Reason-Phrase is an English-like equivalent of the Status-Code. For example, for Status-Code 200, the Reason-Phrase is “OK”. 
         [0019]    Both the Request/Response messages may have multiple message headers. These SIP header fields form a part of the SIP message. Each header conveys some information for the destination. The format of an SIP message header is shown as below:
       field-name: [field-value]       
 
         [0021]    It is noted that the field value could extend over multiple lines. 
         [0022]    The type of a header field can be thought of to be based on the function performed by that header. 44 types of headers are defined in RFC3261 specification. The major header types comprise, but not limit to: 
         [0023]    1. Originator fields: From, To 
         [0024]    2. Routing fields: Via 
         [0025]    3. Authentication: Proxy-Authenticate 
         [0026]    It can be seen from above that an SIP message has the following three features: a) a large number of token values with variable lengths; b) line-by-line structure; and c) multiple tokens in each line. Therefore, how to binarize SIP messages is critical for the implementation of the offload technology. 
         [0027]    As one of the existing approaches, ASN.1 can be used for accommodating the token information in a way of &lt;Type, Length, Value&gt; (TLV). But this TLV approach is not efficient since most of the values in an SIP message are strings with variable lengths, then the parser will have to go through the whole message to get the information needed. 
         [0028]    Another existing approach is to allocate a fixed position for each token. But this approach also has multiple defects. First, the storage efficiency is affected, as there will be waste storage space between tokens with different lengths. Second, the blank storage space must be skipped while processing messages, which also affects the processing efficiency. Third, there is no sufficient space reserved for “optional” tokens. 
         [0029]    Therefore, there is a need for an approach to binarize an SIP message efficiently. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0030]    The invention is proposed in order to solve the above problems. According to one aspect of the invention, a method for processing session initiation protocol messages is proposed, comprising the following steps: 
         [0031]    receiving a session initiation protocol message by a front end; 
         [0032]    parsing the session initiation protocol message by the front end, grouping the token types and the token contents in the session initiation protocol message respectively, and setting up corresponding links between the token types and the token contents, wherein the session initiation protocol message, after parsing, is transformed to the session initiation protocol offload engine message with the following three parts: a session initiation protocol offload engine message header part, for storing message level information; a token type part, for storing token type information, wherein it comprises a plurality of fixed-length entries; and a token content part, for storing token contents, wherein it comprises a plurality of variable-length entries; and 
         [0033]    processing the transformed session initiation protocol offload engine message at the server end. 
         [0034]    According to another aspect of the invention, a system for processing session initiation protocol messages is proposed, comprising: 
         [0035]    a front end, which comprises a message parser; 
         [0036]    a server, which comprises a message processing means; 
         [0037]    wherein, 
         [0038]    a session initiation protocol message is received by the front end; 
         [0039]    the session initiation protocol message is parsed by the message parser, the token types and the token contents in the session initiation protocol message are grouped respectively, and corresponding links are set up between the token types and the token contents, the session initiation protocol message, after parsing, is transformed to the session initiation protocol offload engine message with the following three parts: a session initiation protocol offload engine message header part, for storing message level information; a token type part, for storing token type information, wherein it comprises a plurality of fixed-length entries; and a token content part, for storing token contents, wherein it comprises a plurality of variable-length entries; and 
         [0040]    the transformed session initiation protocol offload engine message is processed by the message processing means. 
         [0041]    According to still another aspect of the invention, there is provided a program product embodied in a computer readable medium comprising computer executable program code for performing steps of the above method. 
         [0042]    The method and system for binarizing SIP messages for offload and selective processing proposed by the present invention transform text-based SIP messages to binary-based SOE messages efficiently and rapidly, thereby significantly reducing the working load of the server while taking the storage efficiency into account. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0043]    The invention itself and its preferred mode, together with further objects and advantages, will be best appreciated from the reading of the following detailed description of the illustrative embodiments taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which: 
           [0044]      FIG. 1  illustrates an illustrative diagram of the SOE architecture; 
           [0045]      FIG. 2  illustrates an illustrative diagram of the overall structure of an SOE message according to a preferable embodiment of the invention; 
           [0046]      FIG. 3  illustrates the data structure of an SOE message according to a preferable embodiment of the invention; 
           [0047]      FIG. 4  illustrates a flowchart of a method for binarizing SIP messages according to an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0048]      FIG. 5A  illustrates an illustrative diagram of the SOE header part according to a preferable embodiment of the invention; 
           [0049]      FIG. 5B  illustrates an illustrative diagram of the token type part according to a preferable embodiment of the invention; 
           [0050]      FIG. 5C  illustrates an illustrative diagram of the encoding for the fixed-length value in the token content part according to a preferable embodiment of the invention; 
           [0051]      FIG. 5D  illustrates an illustrative diagram of the encoding for the variable-length value in the token content part according to a preferable embodiment of the invention; 
           [0052]      FIG. 6  illustrates a flowchart of a method for selectively processing messages at the server end; 
           [0053]      FIG. 7  illustrates a structural schematic diagram of processing SIP messages in different granularities and in different time sequences according to preferable embodiments of the invention; and 
           [0054]      FIG. 8  illustrates a schematic diagram of a system for processing SIP messages according to a preferable embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0055]    In order to binarize SIP messages efficiently, the invention proposes a new SOE message structure. As seen from  FIG. 2 , the overall structure of an SOE message according to a preferable embodiment of the invention comprises three parts:
       An SOE header part  210 , for storing the SOE message level information.   A token type entry part  220 , for storing the token type information, wherein it may comprise a plurality of fixed-length (aligned) entries.   A token content entry part  230 , for storing the token value, wherein it may comprise a plurality of variable-length entries.       
 
         [0059]      FIG. 3  illustrates the data structure of an SOE message according to a preferable embodiment of the invention. Referring to  FIG. 3 , in the present invention, the tokens contained in an SIP message are transformed to token type entries  310  and token content entries  320  in a certain format, and both are grouped respectively. The token type is denoted with TYPE_A.TYPE_B in the type entries  310 , wherein, the TYPE_A part distinguishes which header the token is in, and the TYPE_B part tells the detailed type information of the token. Such type denotation just fits the characters of the SIP message format and semantic. Each of them has a fixed length. In the type entries  310 , the type entries of all tokens are grouped together, for enabling fast information retrieval. The type entries  310  also comprise VALUE_OR_PTR fields, in each of which it contains a pointer to the location where there is the certain value in the content entry corresponding to the type entry field, or, if the certain value is less than the field length defined for the field, then the value is stored directly in the VALUE_OR_PTR field. The content entries  320  are stored separately from the type entries  310 . The content entries of all tokens are grouped together, and indexed by the VALUE_OR_PTR fields in the type entries. Thus, the complete information of each token can be accessed independently. 
         [0060]    It can be seen from above that in the SOE message structure according to the preferable embodiment of the invention, since the type entries of all tokens are grouped together, stored with a plurality of fixed-length (aligned) entries, and indexed by the VALUE_OR_PTR between the type entries and the content entries, it is possible to rapidly retrieve the information of some certain token. Thus, not only does the SOE message structure according to the preferred embodiment of the invention reduce the load of the SIP server and improve the processing efficiency of the SIP server, but also it facilitates the SIP server to selectively process the information of the certain tokens in an SIP message according to a particular application. 
         [0061]    Based on the above SOE message structure, the invention first proposes a method for binarizing SIP messages in conjunction with the preferable embodiment. A front end will parse each token in SIP messages by taking full advantage of its message processing ability and encode them into SOE messages. The binarizing transformation performed according to the method of the present invention has the following features:
       No information is lost during the transformation;   The transformation is performed per message based on stateless principles, that is, the front end does not need to maintain any state for message transformation when the message passes through it;   No string parsing is needed at the server end;   Space storage efficiency is considered for the SOE message.       
 
         [0066]    Now referring to  FIG. 4 ,  FIG. 4  is a flowchart of a method for binarizing SIP messages according to an embodiment of the invention. It is noted that the details of the above-mentioned three parts of the SOE message are to be introduced in detail with respect to  FIG. 5A-5D  in the process of describing the method of the invention. In  FIG. 4 , the method starts with Step  400 , and then proceeds to Step  405 , in which an SIP message is received by a front end. Then in Step  415 , the token count is reset, that is, the token count is set to zero. Then in Step  420 , each token in the SIP message is parsed. In Step  425 , it is determined whether a new line is being parsed in the SIP message. If so, then in Step  430  the line type is obtained and the process proceeds to Step  435 . If not, it proceeds to Step  435  directly. In Step  435 , the token type is obtained. Then in Step  440 , the token type is attached to the type field part of the token type entry part  220 , as shown in  FIG. 5B .  FIG. 5B  is an illustrative diagram of the token type entry part  220 . In the token type entry part  220 , every 4 bytes will contain the encoding of one token and one value or a pointer to one value. For processing efficiency, each entry is restricted to the 4-byte boundary. For message space efficiency, each entry may be placed right after the previous one. In either case, the required value can be determined accurately with the pointer and the value length. 
         [0067]    All the tokens will be encoded in the format of TYPE_A.TYPE_B, which is denoted as a token in the style of Method.Field or Header.Field. Namely, the token type part  220  comprises three fields: TYPE_A, TYPE_B, and VALUE_OR_PTR. The descriptions for each field in the token type entry part  220  are introduced in the following Table 1. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Field descriptions for token type entry part 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Field 
                   
               
               
                 Field Name 
                 Width 
                 Field Definition 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 TYPE_A 
                 1 Byte 
                 In the TYPE_A part, each method has a 
               
               
                   
                   
                 corresponding code, and some codes are reserved 
               
               
                   
                   
                 for more methods to be appeared in the future. And 
               
               
                   
                   
                 the response is encoded with one value despite of 
               
               
                   
                   
                 the detailed status code, which is treated as a field 
               
               
                   
                   
                 to be encoded in TYPE_B. Likewise, the header 
               
               
                   
                   
                 type is also encoded in the TYPE_A part, and some 
               
               
                   
                   
                 codes are reserved for more headers to be appeared 
               
               
                   
                   
                 in the future. For the body, or the content, of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                 SIP message, another code will be allocated. 
               
               
                 TYPE_B 
                 1 Byte 
                 The TYPE_B part is used for encoding fields and 
               
               
                   
                   
                 parameters. Parameters are in the format of 
               
               
                   
                   
                 “Parameter Name = Parameter Value 
               
               
                   
                   
                 (PName = PValue)”. For fields that are not in the 
               
               
                   
                   
                 above format, a corresponding code is given for 
               
               
                   
                   
                 each possible field in TYPE_B. Some 
               
               
                   
                   
                 known/important parameters will be treated 
               
               
                   
                   
                 similarly as a field with a code allocated. All other 
               
               
                   
                   
                 parameters will be encoded with a pair of codes, 
               
               
                   
                   
                 one for “general parameter name” and the other for 
               
               
                   
                   
                 “general parameter value”. 
               
               
                 VALUE_OR_PTR 
                 2 Bytes 
                 If the value determined by TYPE_A and TYPE_B is 
               
               
                   
                   
                 a 16-bit value, then it is directly put into the field. 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Otherwise, in the field there will be a pointer to the 
               
               
                   
                   
                 content part, which is an offset from the beginning of the 
               
               
                   
                   
                 content part. 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0068]    Continuing the process of the method of the invention, after the Step  440  completes, in Step  445 , the token value is obtained. In Step  450 , it is determined whether the token value has a variable length. If not, the token value has a fixed length, and in Step  460  the token value is attached to the value part of the token content part  230 . It is noted that the token value will be directly attached to the VALUE_OR_PTR field of the above token type entry part  220  if it is less than 2 bytes. And the token value will be attached to the token content entry part  230 , as shown in  FIG. 5C  if it is more than 2 bytes.  FIG. 5C  is an illustrative diagram illustrating the encoding for the fixed-length value in the token content entry part  230 . The token content entry part  230  is used for storing the value determined according to TYPE_A and TYPE_B defined above. Referring to  FIG. 5C , if the length of the value determined by TYPE_A and TYPE_B is fixed and it exceeds 2 bytes, then the fixed-length value is directly put into this part, and is pointed to by the pointer in the corresponding token type entry part. 
         [0069]    If the determination in Step  450  is yes, then the token value has variable length, and in Step  455  the token value, together with its length, is attached to the token content entry part  230  as shown in  FIG. 5D .  FIG. 5D  is an illustrative diagram illustrating the encoding for the variable-length value in the token content entry part  230 . Referring to  FIG. 5D , if the field and the known parameter value are variable in length, then the value is stored in the format shown in  FIG. 5D , wherein the value appears after its VALUE_LENGTH field. The field descriptions for the variable-length value in the token content entry part  230  are introduced in the following Table 2. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Field descriptions for variable-length value in token content entry part 
               
             
          
           
               
                 Field Name 
                 Field Width 
                 Field Definition 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 VALUE_LENGTH 
                 2 Bytes 
                 Length of the value in bytes, 
               
               
                   
                   
                 counted from the start 
               
               
                   
                   
                 to the end of the value, 
               
               
                   
                   
                 excluding the 2 bytes 
               
               
                   
                   
                 of this field itself. 
               
               
                 VALUE 
                 Variable, and 
                 Usually a string. 
               
               
                   
                 specified by 
               
               
                   
                 VALUE_LENGTH 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0070]    It is noted that, for a general parameter, since it has a pair of codes, one for parameter name and the other for parameter value, each of them is still fit into the format shown in  FIG. 5D . 
         [0071]    It is further noted that, as the evolution of SIP standards is going on, a new method or a new header can be defined. Before a new code is assigned to it and the corresponding processing logic is ready, the new method or the new header will be encoded as an unknown method or an unknown header. For an unknown method, one code will be assigned in TYPE_A, and its value will be a string pointed by the pointer, denoting what the method is. The rest of the request line is parsed and encoded just like that for a known method. For an unknown header, it is necessary to maintain the name and the rest of the header. Therefore, the unknown header will have two codes assigned, just like those for a general parameter. 
         [0072]    Continuing the process of the method of the invention, after the Step  455  or  460  completes, it proceeds to Step  465 , in which a pointer is set up between the token type entry part  220  and the token content entry part  230 . Then in Step  470 , the token count is incremented by 1. In Step  475  it is determined whether the message ends. If not, the process returns to Step  420  to continue to parse the message. If yes, it proceeds to Step  480 , the SOE header with token count, as shown in  FIG. 6A , is constructed.  FIG. 6A  is an illustrative diagram illustrating the SOE header part  210 . The SOE header part  210  is a general part for all SOE messages. As shown in  FIG. 6A , the SOE header part  210  comprises: SOE_ID, SOE_Version, Message_Length, Entry_Number, and Reserved. The field descriptions in the SOE header part  210  are introduced in the following Table 3. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 3 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Field descriptions for SOE header part 
               
             
          
           
               
                 Field Name 
                 Field Width 
                 Field Definition 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 SOE_ID 
                 1 Byte 
                 The field is used for distinguishing SOE messages 
               
               
                   
                   
                 from SIP messages. Since SIP messages are text- 
               
               
                   
                   
                 based, one value that will not appear as a character in 
               
               
                   
                   
                 the text is selected. 
               
               
                 SOE_Version 
                 1 Byte 
                 Version of SOE Specification. Currently it is linked 
               
               
                   
                   
                 with the SIP version. The high 4 bits are the major 
               
               
                   
                   
                 version, and the low 4 bits are the minor version. 
               
               
                 Message_Length 
                 2 Bytes 
                 Length of the total message in bytes, from the 
               
               
                   
                   
                 SOE_ID to the last byte of the token content part. 
               
               
                 Entry_Number 
                 2 Bytes 
                 Number of the token entries in the token entry part. 
               
               
                 Reserved 
                 2 Bytes 
                 Reserved for further extension. 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0073]    After Step  480  completes, the process of the method of the invention ends in Step  485 . 
         [0074]    A method for binarizing SIP messages is introduced hereinabove based on the structure of the SOE message according to the preferable embodiment of the invention. The reference encoding for an SOE message and the example of the SIP-SOE message transformation is given in the end of the text. 
         [0075]    After the SIP message is binarized by the front end, the SOE message is generated. As recited above, in the SOE message according to the preferable embodiment of the invention, since the type entries of all tokens are grouped together, stored with a plurality of fixed-length (aligned) entries, and indexed by VALUE_OR_PTR between the type entries and the content entries, it is possible to rapidly retrieve the information of some certain token. Thus, the structure of the SOE message according to the preferable embodiment of the present invention also facilitates the SIP server to selectively process the information of certain tokens in an SIP message according to a particular application. 
         [0076]      FIG. 6  illustrates a flowchart of a method for selectively processing messages at the SIP server end. In  FIG. 6 , the method starts with Step  600 , and then proceeds to Step  605 , in which a message is received by the server. Then in Step  610 , it is determined whether the SOE header exists. If not, then the message is not an SOE message but an SIP message, and the process proceeds to Step  615  in which the general SIP parsing is performed directly. If so, then it proceeds to Step  620  and  625 , in which the token count and the type in the token type entry part are obtained in turn. 
         [0077]    Then in Step  630 , the line of interests in the type of the token type entry part corresponding to the application running on the server is selected. In Step  635 , the token of interests in the type of the token type entry part corresponding to the application running on the server is selected. In Step  640 , the pointer information is obtained with the line type and the token type. Then in Step  645 , the value in the token content entry part is located with the pointer. 
         [0078]    In Step  650  it is determined whether the value has a variable length. If so, in Step  655  the value is obtained with its length. Otherwise in Step  660  the value is obtained directly. After Step  655  or  660  or  615 , in Step  665  the processing corresponding to the application after message parsing is performed. After Step  665  completes, the process of the method of the invention ends in Step  670 . 
         [0079]    A method for binarizing SIP messages and a method for selectively processing messages at the server end according to the embodiments of the invention are introduced as above. 
         [0080]    In the above embodiments, in the process of binarizing SIP messages, it is the respective tokens that are parsed in the SIP messages. It is apparent for the person with ordinary skills in the art that it is possible to only parse the specified type of tokens, the specified SIP message lines in the front end according to the application running on the back-end server end. Moreover, the parsing granularity is not limited to tokens. For an SIP message not interested by the current application, it is possible to encapsulate parts of message lines or even the whole message as an entry in the SOE message. Further, at the back-end server end it is possible to only process the parts of SOE message of one&#39;s interests. Thus, the structure of the SOE message according to the invention may process SIP messages in different granularities and in different time sequences. 
         [0081]      FIG. 7  illustrates a structural schematic diagram of processing SIP messages in different granularities and in different time sequences according to preferable embodiments of the invention. In  FIG. 7 , one or more front ends and optional other functional nodes are linked to one or more servers, to form a homogeneous, hierarchical, and distributed SIP processing path, so that it is able to processing SIP messages in different granularities (which may be any of the following granularities: token, line, header, whole message) and in different time sequences. 
         [0082]    Under the same inventive concept, the invention also proposes a system for processing SIP messages.  FIG. 8  illustrates a schematic diagram of a system for processing SIP messages according to a preferable embodiment of the invention. The system comprises a front end  110  and a server  120 , wherein the front end  110  comprises a message parser  810 , a storage  820 , a communication means  830 , a granularity controller  840 , and an application profile  850 ; the server  120  comprises an SOE message processing means  860 , an SIP message processing means  870 , a selective control means  880 , and a communication means  890 . The communication means  830  in the front end  110  and the communication means  890  in the server  120  are communicated with each other to set up a data transmission mechanism. The message parser  810  is used for parsing the SIP messages received by the front end based on the information from the granularity controller  840 , wherein the parsing granularity may be any of the following granularities: token, line, header, whole message. The granularity controller  840  is used for determining the parsing granularity of the message parser  810  according to the need of the application at the server end or based on the application profile  850 . The application profile  850  is used for storing the attributes of various applications and the message lines or tokens they are interested. The SOE message processing means  860  is used for selectively processing the received messages under the control of the selective control means  880 . 
         [0083]    Reference encoding for SOE message and example of SIP-SOE message transformation 
         [0084]    In order to facilitate the understanding of the binarizing transformation of the present invention, the reference encoding for TYPE_A is provided hereinbelow by referring to Table 4. The italic parameters in Table 4 indicate that they contain other parameters or fields, which are further listed in the first column of Table 5 hereinbelow. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 4 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 TYPE_A encoding for methods and headers 
               
               
                 TYPE_A Code Table 
               
             
          
           
               
                 Type 
                 Name 
                 Code 
                 TYPE_B parameters or fields available for this TYPE_A Code 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 Unknown 
                 Unknown Method 
                 −1 
                 method-name 
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Unknown Header 
                 −2 
                 Header-name 
                 header-value 
               
               
                 Body 
                 Message Body 
                 −3 
                 Content 
               
               
                 Response 
                 RESPONSE 
                 0 
                 major-version 
                 minor-version 
                 status-code 
                 reason- 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 phrase 
               
               
                 Method 
                 INVITE 
                 1 
                 
                   addr-spec 
                 
                 major-version 
                 minor- 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 version 
               
               
                   
                 REGISTER 
                 2 
                 
                   addr-spec 
                 
                 major-version 
                 minor- 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 version 
               
               
                   
                 BYE 
                 3 
                 
                   addr-spec 
                 
                 major-version 
                 minor- 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 version 
               
               
                   
                 ACK 
                 4 
                 
                   addr-spec 
                 
                 major-version 
                 minor- 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 version 
               
               
                   
                 CANCEL 
                 5 
                 
                   addr-spec 
                 
                 major-version 
                 minor- 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 version 
               
               
                   
                 OPTIONS 
                 6 
                 
                   addr-spec 
                 
                 major-version 
                 minor- 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 version 
               
               
                   
                 REFER 
                 7 
                 
                   addr-spec 
                 
                 major-version 
                 minor- 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 version 
               
               
                   
                 SUBSCRIBE 
                 8 
                 
                   addr-spec 
                 
                 major-version 
                 minor- 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 version 
               
               
                   
                 NOTIFY 
                 9 
                 
                   addr-spec 
                 
                 major-version 
                 minor- 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 version 
               
               
                   
                 MESSAGE 
                 10 
                 
                   addr-spec 
                 
                 major-version 
                 minor- 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 version 
               
               
                   
                 INFO 
                 11 
                 
                   addr-spec 
                 
                 major-version 
                 minor- 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 version 
               
               
                   
                 PRACK 
                 12 
                 
                   addr-spec 
                 
                 major-version 
                 minor- 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 version 
               
               
                   
                 UPDATE 
                 13 
                 
                   addr-spec 
                 
                 major-version 
                 minor- 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 version 
               
               
                 Header 
                 Accept 
                 33 
                 q-param 
                 m-type 
                 m-subtype 
                 
                   m- 
                 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 
                   parameter 
                 
               
               
                   
                 Accept-Encoding 
                 34 
                 q-param 
                 encoding 
               
               
                   
                 Accept-Language. 
                 35 
                 language-range 
                 q-param 
               
               
                   
                 Alert-Info 
                 36 
                 absolute-uri 
               
               
                   
                 Allow. 
                 37 
                 method-param 
               
               
                   
                 Authentication- 
                 38 
                 
                   ain-info 
                 
               
               
                   
                 Info 
               
               
                   
                 Authorization 
                 39 
                 
                   dig-resp 
                 
               
               
                   
                 Call-ID 
                 40 
                 call-id string 
                 call-id host 
               
               
                   
                 Call-Info 
                 41 
                 absolute-uri 
                 info-param 
                 
                   generic- 
                 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 
                   param 
                 
               
               
                   
                 Contact 
                 42 
                 
                   name-addr 
                 
                 q-param 
                 expires 
                 
                   generic- 
                 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 
                   param 
                 
               
               
                   
                 Content- 
                 43 
                 disp-type 
                 
                   disp-param 
                 
               
               
                   
                 Disposition 
               
               
                   
                 Content-Encoding 
                 44 
                 Encoding 
               
               
                   
                 Content-Language 
                 45 
                 language-tag 
               
               
                   
                 Content-Length 
                 46 
                 content-length 
               
               
                   
                 Content-Type 
                 47 
                 m-type 
                 m-subtype 
                 m-parameter 
               
               
                   
                 CSeq 
                 48 
                 seq-number 
                 Method 
               
               
                   
                 Date 
                 49 
                 
                   rfc1123-date 
                 
               
               
                   
                 Error-Info 
                 50 
                 absolute-uri 
                 
                   generic-param 
                 
               
               
                   
                 Expires 
                 51 
                 delta-seconds 
               
               
                   
                 From 
                 52 
                 
                   name-addr 
                 
                 tag 
                 
                   generic- 
                 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 
                   param 
                 
               
               
                   
                 In-Reply-To 
                 53 
                 call-id-first- 
                 call-id-second- 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 part 
                 part 
               
               
                   
                 Max-Forwards 
                 54 
                 max-forwards 
               
               
                   
                 Min-Expires 
                 55 
                 delta-seconds 
               
               
                   
                 MIME-Version 
                 56 
                 major-version 
                 minor-version 
               
               
                   
                 Organization 
                 57 
                 Name 
               
               
                   
                 Priority 
                 58 
                 Priority 
               
               
                   
                 Proxy- 
                 59 
                 
                   digest-cln 
                 
                 
                   other-challenge 
                 
               
               
                   
                 Authenticate 
               
               
                   
                 Proxy- 
                 60 
                 
                   dig-resp 
                 
               
               
                   
                 Authorization 
               
               
                   
                 Proxy-Require 
                 61 
                 option-tag 
               
               
                   
                 Record-Route 
                 62 
                 
                   name-addr 
                 
                 
                   generic-param 
                 
               
               
                   
                 Reply-To 
                 63 
                 
                   name-addr 
                 
                 
                   addr-spec 
                 
                 
                   generic- 
                 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 
                   param 
                 
               
               
                   
                 Require 
                 64 
                 option-tag 
               
               
                   
                 Retry-After 
                 65 
                 delta-seconds 
                 generic-param 
               
               
                   
                 Route 
                 66 
                 
                   name-addr 
                 
                 generic-param 
               
               
                   
                 Server 
                 67 
                 product-name 
                 product-version 
               
               
                   
                 Subject 
                 68 
                 Name 
               
               
                   
                 Supported 
                 69 
                 option-tag 
               
               
                   
                 Timestamp 
                 70 
                 Timestamp 
               
               
                   
                 To 
                 71 
                 
                   name-addr 
                 
                 tag 
                 
                   generic- 
                 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 
                   param 
                 
               
               
                   
                 Unsupported 
                 72 
                 option-tag 
               
               
                   
                 User-Agent 
                 73 
                 product-name 
                 product-version 
               
               
                   
                 Via 
                 74 
                 
                   sent-protocol 
                 
                 
                   sent-by 
                 
                 
                   via-params 
                 
               
               
                   
                 Warning 
                 75 
                 warn-code 
                 
                   warn-agent 
                 
                 warn-text 
               
               
                   
                 WWW- 
                 76 
                 
                   digest-cln 
                 
                 
                   other-challenge 
                 
               
               
                   
                 Authenticate 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0085]    The possible fields and parameters are listed hereinbelow in Table 5. Some parameters/fields may appear in different headers. For completeness, the complete possibilities that these parameters/fields appear in the corresponding headers are listed. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 5 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 List of possible parameters/fields 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                   
                 VALUE_OR_PTR 
               
               
                 Dividable 
                   
                 for this TYPE_B 
               
               
                 parameters 
                   
                 code (blank 
               
               
                 or fields 
                 Parameters or fields 
                 denotes a pointer) 
               
               
                   
               
               
                   
                 method-name 
                   
               
               
                   
                 header-name 
               
               
                   
                 header-value 
               
               
                   
                 Content 
               
               
                 
                   generic-param 
                 
                 generic-param-name 
               
               
                   
                 generic-param-value 
               
               
                 
                   addr-spec 
                 
                 Scheme 
               
               
                   
                 User 
               
               
                   
                 Password 
               
               
                   
                 Host 
               
               
                   
                 Port 
                 Value 
               
               
                   
                 Scheme-data 
               
               
                   
                 uri-parameters 
               
               
                   
                 headers (each header is 
               
               
                   
                 processed as generic-param) 
               
               
                 
                   Host 
                 
                 Hostname 
               
               
                   
                 ipv4address 
               
               
                   
                 ipv6address 
               
               
                 
                   name-addr 
                 
                 Scheme 
               
               
                   
                 user/telephone-subscriber 
               
               
                   
                 password 
               
               
                   
                 Host 
               
               
                   
                 port number 
               
               
                   
                 Absolute-uri 
               
               
                   
                 display-name 
               
               
                 
                   uri-param 
                 
                 transport-param 
               
               
                   
                 user-param 
               
               
                   
                 method-param 
               
               
                   
                 ttl-param 
                 Value 
               
               
                   
                 maddr-param=host 
               
               
                   
                 lr-param 
                 Value 
               
               
                   
                 compression-param 
               
               
                   
                 other-param=generic-param 
               
               
                 
                   callid 
                 
                 call-id-first-part 
               
               
                   
                 call-id-second-part 
               
               
                   
                 algorithm 
               
               
                   
                 nonce 
               
               
                 
                   media-type 
                 
                 m-type 
               
               
                   
                 m-subtype 
               
               
                   
                 m-parameter 
               
               
                 
                   m-parameter 
                 
                 m-attribute 
               
               
                   
                 m-value 
               
               
                 
                   ainfo 
                 
                 nextnonce 
               
               
                   
                 message-qop 
               
               
                   
                 response-auth 
               
               
                   
                 nonce 
               
               
                   
                 nonce-count 
               
               
                 
                   dig-resp 
                 
                 username 
               
               
                   
                 realm 
               
               
                   
                 nonce 
               
               
                   
                 digest-uri = add-spec 
               
               
                   
                 dresponse 
               
               
                   
                 algorithm 
               
               
                   
                 cnonce 
               
               
                   
                 opaque 
               
               
                   
                 message-qop 
               
               
                   
                 nonce-count 
               
               
                   
                 auth-param 
               
               
                 
                   auth-param 
                 
                 auth-param-name 
               
               
                   
                 auth-param-value 
               
               
                 
                   digest-cln 
                 
                 realm 
               
               
                   
                 domain 
               
               
                   
                 nonce 
               
               
                   
                 opaque 
               
               
                   
                 stale 
                 Value 
               
               
                   
                 algorithm 
               
               
                   
                 qop-options 
               
               
                   
                 auth-param 
               
               
                 
                   rfc1123-date 
                 
                 wkday 
               
               
                   
                 date 
               
               
                   
                 month 
               
               
                   
                 year 
               
               
                   
                 time 
               
               
                 
                   sent-protocol 
                 
                 protocol-name 
               
               
                   
                 protocol-version 
               
               
                   
                 transport=trasport-param 
               
               
                 
                   via-params 
                 
                 via-ttl=ttl-param 
               
               
                   
                 via-maddr=maddr-param 
               
               
                   
                 via-received 
               
               
                   
                 via-branch 
               
               
                   
                 via-extension=generic-param 
               
               
                   
                 via-received 
               
               
                 
                   other-chanllenge 
                 
                 auth-scheme 
               
               
                   
                 auth-param 
               
               
                   
                 language-tag=language-range 
               
               
                 
                   sent-by 
                 
                 host 
               
               
                   
                 port 
               
               
                 
                   disp-param 
                 
                 handling-param 
               
               
                   
                 generic-param 
               
               
                   
                 absolute-uri=scheme-data 
               
               
                   
                 accept-param=q-param 
               
               
                   
                 option-tag= tag 
               
               
                   
                 content-coding=encoding 
               
               
                   
                 expires=delta-seconds 
               
               
                   
                 info-param=purpose 
               
               
                   
                 domain 
               
               
                   
                 delay 
               
               
                   
                 seq-number 
               
               
                   
                 major-version 
               
               
                   
                 minor-version 
               
               
                   
                 tag 
               
               
                   
                 option-tag 
               
               
                   
                 product-name 
               
               
                   
                 product-version 
               
               
                   
                 encoding 
               
               
                   
                 q-param 
               
               
                   
                 language-range 
               
               
                   
                 purpose 
               
               
                   
                 delta-seconds 
               
               
                   
                 wildcard 
               
               
                   
                 disp-type 
               
               
                   
                 handling-param 
               
               
                   
                 content-length 
               
               
                   
                 seq-number 
               
               
                   
                 max-forwards 
               
               
                   
                 name 
               
               
                   
                 priority 
               
               
                   
                 duration 
               
               
                   
                 via-received 
               
               
                   
                 via-branch 
               
               
                   
                 protocol-name 
               
               
                   
                 protocol-version 
               
               
                   
                 warn-code 
                 Value 
               
               
                   
                 warn-text 
               
               
                   
                 warn-agent 
               
               
                   
                 status-code 
                 Value 
               
               
                   
                 reason-phrase 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0086]    The reference encoding for TYPE_B is provided hereinbelow by referring to Table 6. In Table 6 some examples of fields or parameters are listed. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 6 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 TYPE_B encoding for parameters/fields 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                   
                 VALUE_OR_PTR 
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                 for this 
               
               
                 Parameter or Field Name 
                 Code 
                 TYPE_B code 
                 Example 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 method-name 
                 −1 
                   
                   
               
               
                 header-name 
                 −2 
               
               
                 header-value 
                 −3 
               
               
                 Content 
                 −4 
               
               
                 generic-param-name 
                 0 
               
               
                 generic-param-value 
                 1 
               
               
                 Scheme 
                 2 
                   
                 SIP 
               
               
                 User 
                 3 
                   
                 bob 
               
               
                 password 
                 4 
                   
                 abcdefg 
               
               
                 hostname 
                 5 
                   
                 biloxi.com 
               
               
                 Port 
                 6 
                 Value 
                 5060 
               
               
                 scheme-data 
                 7 
                   
                 http://www.biloxi.com 
               
               
                 IPv4address 
                 8 
                   
                 192.0.2.1 
               
               
                 IPv6address 
                 9 
                   
                 3ffe:3201:1401:1:280:c8ff:fe4d:db39 
               
               
                 display-name 
                 10 
                   
                 Bob 
               
               
                 transport-param 
                 11 
                   
                 udp 
               
               
                 User-param 
                 12 
                   
                 user=phone 
               
               
                 method-param 
                 13 
                   
                 INVITE 
               
               
                 ttl-param 
                 14 
                 Value 
                 ttl=15 
               
               
                 Maddr-param 
                 15 
                   
                 maddr=224.2.0.1 
               
               
                 lr-param 
                 16 
                 Value 
                 lr 
               
               
                 callid-first-part 
                 17 
                   
                 a84b4c76e66710 
               
               
                 callid-second-part 
                 18 
                   
                 atlanta.example.com 
               
               
                 algorithm 
                 19 
                   
                 algorithm=MD5 
               
               
                 Nonce 
                 20 
                   
                 nonce=“MzQ0a2xrbGtmbGtsZm9wb2tsc2tqaHJzZXNy9uQyMzMzMzQK=” 
               
               
                 username 
                 21 
                   
                 username=“bob” 
               
               
                 Realm 
                 22 
                   
                 Realm=“atlanta.example.com” 
               
               
                 digest-uri 
                 23 
                   
                 sip:bob@biloxi.com:5060 
               
               
                 dresponse 
                 24 
                 Ptr+Fixed 
                 response=“dfe56131d1958046689d83306477eccd” 
               
               
                 Cnonce 
                 25 
                   
                 nonce=“ea9c8e88df84f1cec4341ae6cbe5a359” 
               
               
                 Opaque 
                 26 
                   
                 opaque=“” 
               
               
                 Message-qop 
                 27 
                   
                 qop=“auth” 
               
               
                 nonce-count 
                 28 
                 Ptr+Fixed 
               
               
                 Auth-scheme 
                 29 
               
               
                 Auth-param-name 
                 30 
               
               
                 Auth-param-value 
                 31 
               
               
                 nextnonce 
                 32 
               
               
                 response-auth 
                 33 
               
               
                 m-attribute 
                 34 
                   
                 m-attribute EQUAL m-value 
               
               
                 m-value 
                 35 
               
               
                 domain 
                 36 
               
               
                 Stale 
                 37 
                 Value 
                 Stale=FALSE 
               
               
                 qop-options 
                 38 
               
               
                 timestamp 
                 39 
                 Ptr+Fixed 
               
               
                 delay 
                 40 
                 Ptr+Fixed 
               
               
                 weekday 
                 41 
                   
                 Thu 
               
               
                 Day 
                 42 
                   
                 21 
               
               
                 month 
                 43 
                   
                 Feb 
               
               
                 year 
                 44 
                   
                 2002 
               
               
                 hour 
                 45 
                   
                 12 
               
               
                 minute 
                 46 
                   
                 33 
               
               
                 second 
                 47 
                   
                 56 
               
               
                 Uri-param-name 
                 48 
               
               
                 Uri-param-value 
                 49 
               
               
                 major-version 
                 50 
                 Ptr+Fixed 
                 2 
               
               
                 minor-version 
                 51 
                 Ptr+Fixed 
                 0 
               
               
                 Tag 
                 52 
               
               
                 option-tag 
                 53 
               
               
                 product-name 
                 54 
               
               
                 product-version 
                 55 
                   
                 2.0.0 
               
               
                 encoding 
                 56 
                   
                 Gzip 
               
               
                 q-param 
                 57 
                 Ptr+Fixed 
                 0.8 
               
               
                 language-range 
                 58 
                   
                 en-gb 
               
               
                 purpose 
                 59 
               
               
                 delta-seconds 
                 60 
                 Ptr+Fixed 
                 7200 
               
               
                 wildcard 
                 61 
               
               
                 disp-type 
                 62 
               
               
                 handling-param 
                 63 
               
               
                 content-length 
                 64 
                 Ptr+Fixed 
                 142 
               
               
                 Seq-number 
                 65 
                 Ptr+Fixed 
                 314159 
               
               
                 max-forwards 
                 66 
                 Ptr+Fixed 
                 70 
               
               
                 name 
                 67 
               
               
                 priority 
                 68 
               
               
                 duration 
                 69 
                 Ptr+Fixed 
               
               
                 Via-received 
                 70 
               
               
                 Via-branch 
                 71 
                   
                 branch=z9hG4bK74b76 
               
               
                 protocol-name 
                 72 
               
               
                 protocol-version 
                 73 
               
               
                 warn-code 
                 74 
                 Value 
                 301 
               
               
                 warn-text 
                 75 
                   
                 Incompatible network address type ‘E.164’ 
               
               
                 warn-agent 
                 76 
               
               
                 status-code 
                 77 
                 Value 
                 200 
               
               
                 reason-phrase 
                 78 
                   
                 OK 
               
               
                 m-type 
                 79 
                   
                 Application 
               
               
                 m-subtype 
                 80 
                   
                 Sdp 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0087]    In the field of “VALUE_OR_PTR for this TYPE_B code”, blank denotes that there will be a variable-length value, with a “VALUE_LENGTH” field in the token content part, and “Ptr+Fixed” denotes that the value is fixed in length, so that there is no “VALUE_LENGTH” field in the token content part. 
         [0088]    The details of the fixed-length fields in the token content part are shown as below in Table 7. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 7 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Fixed-length fields in the token content part 
               
             
          
           
               
                 Field Name 
                 Appeared in 
                 Length 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 content-length 
                 Content-Length header 
                 Integer, 4 Bytes 
               
               
                 seq-number 
                 CSeq header 
                 Integer, 4 Bytes 
               
               
                 delta-seconds 
                 Expires, Retry-After and other 
                 Integer, 4 Bytes 
               
               
                   
                 headers 
               
               
                 max-forwards 
                 Max-Forwards header 
                 Integer, 4 Bytes 
               
               
                 duration 
                 Retry-After header 
                 Integer, 4 Bytes 
               
               
                 major-version 
                 SIP Version 
                 Integer, 4 Bytes 
               
               
                 minor-version 
                 SIP Version 
                 Integer, 4 Bytes 
               
               
                 q 
                 Many headers, such as Accept- 
                 Float, 4 Bytes 
               
               
                   
                 Encoding 
               
               
                 timestamp 
                 Timestamp header 
                 Float, 4 Bytes 
               
               
                 delay 
                 Timestamp header 
                 Float, 4 Bytes 
               
               
                 dresponse 
                 Many headers 
                 String, 32 Bytes 
               
               
                 nonce-count 
                 Many headers 
                 String, 8 Bytes 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0089]    Two SIP messages, one INVITE message and one REGISTER message, will be used as examples to show the SOE transformation with the encoding mechanism according to the invention by referring to Table 8 and Table 9 hereinbelow. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 8 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Encoding example of INVITE message 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 Encoding Example of INVITE Message 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Message 
                 INVITE sip:bob@biloxi.com SIP/2.0 
               
               
                   
                 in 
                 Via: SIP/2.0/UDP pc33.atlanta.com;branch=z9hG4bKnashds8 
               
               
                   
                 String 
                 Max-Forwards: 70 
               
               
                   
                   
                 To: Bob &lt;sip:bob@biloxi.com&gt; 
               
               
                   
                   
                 From: Alice &lt;sip:alice@atlanta.com&gt;;tag=1928301774 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Call-ID: a84b4c76e66710 
               
               
                   
                   
                 CSeq: 314159 INVITE 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Contact: &lt;sip:alice@pc33.atlanta.com&gt; 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Content-Type: application/sdp 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Content-Length: 142 
               
               
                   
                   
                 ...(BODY)... 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 VALUE_OR_PTR (16 bits) 
               
             
          
           
               
                 Message 
                 TYPE_A (8 bits) 
                 TYPE_B (8 bits) 
                   
                 Value or buffer content 
               
             
          
           
               
                 in Binary 
                 Name 
                 Code 
                 Name 
                 Code 
                 Type 
                 pointed by Ptr 
               
               
                   
               
               
                   
                 INVITE 
                 1 
                 scheme 
                 2 
                 Ptr 
                 “SIP” 
               
               
                   
                 INVITE 
                 1 
                 user 
                 3 
                 Ptr 
                 “bob” 
               
               
                   
                 INVITE 
                 1 
                 hostname 
                 5 
                 Ptr 
                 “biloxi.com” 
               
               
                   
                 INVITE 
                 1 
                 major-version 
                 50 
                 Ptr 
                 2 
               
               
                   
                 INVITE 
                 1 
                 minor-version 
                 51 
                 Ptr 
                 0 
               
               
                   
                 Via 
                 74 
                 protocol-name 
                 72 
                 Ptr 
                 “SIP” 
               
               
                   
                 Via 
                 74 
                 protocol-version 
                 73 
                 Ptr 
                 “2.0” 
               
               
                   
                 Via 
                 74 
                 transport-param 
                 11 
                 Ptr 
                 “UDP” 
               
               
                   
                 Via 
                 74 
                 hostname 
                 5 
                 Ptr 
                 “pc33.atlanta.com” 
               
               
                   
                 Via 
                 74 
                 via-branch 
                 71 
                 Ptr 
                 “z9hG4bKnashds8” 
               
               
                   
                 Max-Forwards 
                 54 
                 max-forwards 
                 66 
                 Ptr 
                 “70” 
               
               
                   
                 To 
                 71 
                 display-name 
                 10 
                 Ptr 
                 Bob 
               
               
                   
                 To 
                 71 
                 scheme 
                 2 
                 Ptr 
                 “SIP” 
               
               
                   
                 To 
                 71 
                 user 
                 3 
                 Ptr 
                 “bob” 
               
               
                   
                 To 
                 71 
                 hostname 
                 5 
                 Ptr 
                 “biloxi.com” 
               
               
                   
                 From 
                 52 
                 display-name 
                 10 
                 Ptr 
                 Alice 
               
               
                   
                 From 
                 52 
                 scheme 
                 2 
                 Ptr 
                 “SIP” 
               
               
                   
                 From 
                 52 
                 user 
                 3 
                 Ptr 
                 “alice” 
               
               
                   
                 From 
                 52 
                 hostname 
                 4 
                 Ptr 
                 “atlanta.com” 
               
               
                   
                 From 
                 52 
                 tag 
                 52 
                 Ptr 
                 “1928301774” 
               
               
                   
                 Call-ID 
                 40 
                 call-id-first-part 
                 17 
                 Ptr 
                 “a84b4c76e66710” 
               
               
                   
                 CSeq 
                 48 
                 seq-number 
                 65 
                 Ptr 
                 314159 
               
               
                   
                 CSeq 
                 48 
                 method-param 
                 13 
                 Ptr 
                 “INVITE” 
               
               
                   
                 Contact 
                 42 
                 scheme 
                 2 
                 Ptr 
                 “SIP” 
               
               
                   
                 Contact 
                 42 
                 user 
                 3 
                 Ptr 
                 “alice” 
               
               
                   
                 Contact 
                 42 
                 hostname 
                 5 
                 Ptr 
                 “pc33.atlanta.com” 
               
               
                   
                 Content-Type 
                 47 
                 m-type 
                 79 
                 Ptr 
                 “application” 
               
               
                   
                 Content-Type 
                 47 
                 m-subtype 
                 80 
                 Ptr 
                 “sdp” 
               
               
                   
                 Content-Length 
                 46 
                 content-length 
                 64 
                 Ptr 
                 142 
               
               
                   
                 Message-Body 
                 −3 
                 content 
                 −4 
                 Ptr 
                 “...(BODY)...” 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
             
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 9 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Encoding example of REGISTER message 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 Encoding Example of REGISTER Message 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Message 
                 REGISTER sip:registrar.biloxi.com SIP/2.0 
               
               
                   
                 in 
                 Via: SIP/2.0/UDP bobspc.biloxi.com:5060;branch=z9hG4bKnashds7 
               
               
                   
                 String 
                 Max-Forwards: 70 
               
               
                   
                   
                 To: Bob &lt;sip:bob@biloxi.com&gt; 
               
               
                   
                   
                 From: Bob &lt;sip:bob@biloxi.com&gt;;tag=456248 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Call-ID: 843817637684230@998sdasdh09 
               
               
                   
                   
                 CSeq: 1826 REGISTER 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Contact: &lt;sip:bob@192.0.2.4&gt; 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Expires: 7200 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Content-Length: 0 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 Message 
                 VALUE_OR_PTR (16 bits) 
               
             
          
           
               
                 in 
                 TYPE_A (8 bits) 
                 TYPE_B (8 bits) 
                   
                 Value or buffer 
               
             
          
           
               
                 Binary 
                 Name 
                 Code 
                 Name 
                 Code 
                 Type 
                 content pointed by Ptr 
               
               
                   
               
               
                   
                 REGISTER 
                 2 
                 Scheme 
                 2 
                 Ptr 
                 “SIP” 
               
               
                   
                 REGISTER 
                 2 
                 Hostname 
                 5 
                 Ptr 
                 “registar.biloxi.com” 
               
               
                   
                 REGISTER 
                 2 
                 major-version 
                 50 
                 Ptr 
                 2 
               
               
                   
                 REGISTER 
                 2 
                 minor-version 
                 51 
                 Ptr 
                 0 
               
               
                   
                 Via 
                 74 
                 protocol-name 
                 72 
                 Ptr 
                 “SIP” 
               
               
                   
                 Via 
                 74 
                 protocol-version 
                 73 
                 Ptr 
                 “2.0” 
               
               
                   
                 Via 
                 74 
                 transport-param 
                 11 
                 Ptr 
                 “UDP” 
               
               
                   
                 Via 
                 74 
                 Hostname 
                 5 
                 Ptr 
                 “bobspc.biloxi.com” 
               
               
                   
                 Via 
                 74 
                 Port 
                 6 
                 Value 
                 5060 
               
               
                   
                 Via 
                 74 
                 via-branch 
                 71 
                 Ptr 
                 “z9hG4bKnashds7” 
               
               
                   
                 Max-Forwards 
                 54 
                 max-forwards 
                 66 
                 Ptr 
                 70 
               
               
                   
                 To 
                 71 
                 display-name 
                 10 
                 Ptr 
                 Bob 
               
               
                   
                 To 
                 71 
                 Scheme 
                 2 
                 Ptr 
                 “SIP” 
               
               
                   
                 To 
                 71 
                 User 
                 3 
                 Ptr 
                 “bob” 
               
               
                   
                 To 
                 71 
                 Hostname 
                 5 
                 Ptr 
                 “biloxi.com” 
               
               
                   
                 From 
                 52 
                 display-name 
                 10 
                 Ptr 
                 Bob 
               
               
                   
                 From 
                 52 
                 Scheme 
                 2 
                 Ptr 
                 “SIP” 
               
               
                   
                 From 
                 52 
                 User 
                 3 
                 Ptr 
                 “bob” 
               
               
                   
                 From 
                 52 
                 Hostname 
                 5 
                 Ptr 
                 “biloxi.com” 
               
               
                   
                 From 
                 52 
                 Tag 
                 52 
                 Ptr 
                 “456248” 
               
               
                   
                 Call-ID 
                 40 
                 call-id-first-part 
                 17 
                 Ptr 
                 “843817637684230” 
               
               
                   
                 Call-ID 
                 40 
                 call-id-second-part 
                 18 
                 Ptr 
                 “998sdasdh09” 
               
               
                   
                 CSeq 
                 48 
                 seq-number 
                 65 
                 Ptr 
                 1826 
               
               
                   
                 CSeq 
                 48 
                 method-param 
                 13 
                 Ptr 
                 “REGISTER” 
               
               
                   
                 Contact 
                 42 
                 Scheme 
                 2 
                 Ptr 
                 “SIP” 
               
               
                   
                 Contact 
                 42 
                 User 
                 3 
                 Ptr 
                 “bob” 
               
               
                   
                 Contact 
                 42 
                 ipv4address 
                 8 
                 Ptr 
                 “192.0.2.4” 
               
               
                   
                 Expires 
                 51 
                 delta-seconds 
                 60 
                 Ptr 
                 7200 
               
               
                   
                 Content-Length 
                 46 
                 content-length 
                 64 
                 Ptr 
                 0 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0090]    The detailed descriptions of a method and system for binarizing SIP messages for offload and selective processing according to the invention are provided hereinabove with reference to the embodiments. As appreciated by the person with ordinary skills in the art, the present invention may be embodied as a method, a system, and/or a computer program product. Therefore, the present invention can be embodied in the form of hardware, software, or the combination thereof. Additionally, the present invention may be embodied as a computer program product contained on machine-readable media where the computer executable program instructions for programming a computer system to execute the process according to the invention are stored. The term “machine-readable media” used herein include any media that provide the computer system with instructions for execution. Such media may take various forms, including but not limited to: non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media commonly comprise, for example, floppy disk, floppy magnetic disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic media, CD-ROM or any other optical media, slotting card or any other physical media with hole pattern, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other media that can be read by the computer system and are appropriate for storing instructions. 
         [0091]    Additionally, it should be appreciated that each block in the flow chart or block chart and the combination of some blocks may be implemented by some computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a general purpose computer, a specific purpose computer, or a processor of other programmable data processing device, to produce a machine, in which these instructions, when executed by the computers or the processor of other programmable data processing device, can create the means for implementing the functions indicated by the blocks of the block chart and/or the flow chart. 
         [0092]    Although the present invention has been presented and described specifically by reference to the preferred embodiments, it is not intended to be exhaustive or limited the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications on forms and details will be apparent to those ordinary skills in the art without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention, the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.