Patent Abstract:
Monitoring conditions within a switching network interconnecting two host systems engaged in a media call and adjusting the media parameters used by the host systems to improve call conditions.

Full Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates to communications systems and, in particular, to the transmission of media information through a switching network. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The use of packet switching networks to transport media information, such as human voice and video, suffers from a number of well known problems introduced by the packet network itself, as well as, by a host system that is executing the media processing application. (Within the prior art, the media processing application is also referred to as a VoIP application, VoIP End-Point, Packet End-Point, IP Telephone, or Soft Phone, etc.) This means that media quality of calls will vary greatly as different conditions effect the network and the host system. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The aforementioned problems are solved and a technical advance is achieved in the art by an apparatus and method that monitors conditions within a switching network interconnecting host systems engaged in a media call and adjusts the media parameters within the host systems to improve call conditions. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  illustrates, in block diagram form, an embodiment for implementing the invention; 
         FIGS. 2 and 3  illustrate, in flowchart form, operations performed by one embodiment of a host system in implementing the invention; and 
         FIG. 4  illustrate, in block diagram form, an embodiment of a host computer system. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  illustrates two host systems  101  and  102  that are running applications to provide media call operations via network  103 . The media information transferred between host system  101  and  102  may be voice over IP, video plus voice or other packet switching techniques that are well known to those skilled in the art. Advantageously, network  103  may be the Internet, Intranet, wide area network (WAN), or ATM switching network. One skilled in the art would readily realize that network  103  could be composed of other elements and implement other network protocols. 
     In one embodiment of the invention, once the call is established between host system  101  and host system  102 , host system  101  monitors the resources being utilized by the media processing application executing on the host system in comparison to the total utilization of host system  101 . In addition, host system monitors the quality of packet transmission through network  103  to host system  102  with respect to quality of the media information. If packets containing media information are being lost or substantially delayed within network  103  before reaching host system  102 , host system  101  may utilize a higher compression media processing application for transmitting media information to host system  102 . The higher compression media processing application will implement a coder/decoder algorithm that reduces the number of bits needed to transmit the media information. Before switching to a higher compression media processing application, host system  101  will negotiate with host system  102  to ascertain that host system  102  can implement this new media processing application. In addition, host system  101  and host system  102  continue to use the original media processing application until the new media processing application is fully operational so that there is no interruption in the media communication between host system  101  and host system  102 . 
     Host system  101  monitors the quality of transmission through network  103  by utilizing information that is returned to host system  101  on the quality of media packets received by host system  102  via control packets received back from host system  102  utilizing the Real Time Control Protocol (RTCP). Also, host system  101  may monitor network  103  by interrogating the different switching elements within network  103  to determine the delay that is being experienced in these switching elements. 
     In addition to monitoring the performance of network  103 , host system  101  also monitors the utilization of processing and memory resources of host system  101 . If the media processing application is utilizing more than a predefined amount of the processing or memory capacity of host system  101 , host system  101  may reduce the level of processing and memory required to implement the media processing application. This reduction in resources being utilized by the media processing application executing on host system  101  is performed by utilizing a lower compression algorithm that requires more data transmission bits but is less computational intense. In addition, host system  101  can change the non-compression media operations so that these also are less computational intense. The non-compression media operations that can be adjusted by host system  101  are, for example, automatic gain control or level of filtering that is applied to media information being received from a user before compression, and use or non-use of echo cancellers for voice information. 
       FIGS. 2 and 3  illustrate in flowchart form, operations performed by a host system. In this regard, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in  FIGS. 2 and 3  or may include additional functions without departing significantly from the functionality of an embodiment of the invention. For example, two blocks shown in succession in  FIGS. 2 and 3  may in fact be executed substantially concurrently, the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, or some of the blocks may not be executed in all instances, depending upon the functionality involved, as will be further clarified below. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and to be protected by the accompanying claims. 
     After being started by block  201  of  FIG. 2 , decision block  212  determines if it is necessary to check operations of the media processing application. This determination can be periodically performed or may be the result of a stimulus from another application or device. If the answer in decision block  212  is no, control is transferred to block  213  that performs normal processing before returning control to block  212 . 
     If the answer in decision block  212  is yes, block  202  obtains the host system usage statistics. Decision block  203  then utilizes these usage statistics to determine if the media processing application is utilizing more than a predefined amount of the host system resources. If the answer is yes, block  204  marks the host system resources usage as high and transfers control to block  207 . 
     If the answer in decision block  203  is no, control is also transferred to block  207 . Block  207  obtains the network transmission statistics both by utilizing information returned to the host system from the destination host system via RTCP packets, and also, it may receive information by interrogating directly the switching elements of network  103 . Block  208  then determines if the network transmission quality is acceptable. If the answer is yes, decision block  209  determines if the host system resource usage is high. If the answer is no, control is transferred back to block  212 . 
     If the answer is yes in decision block  209 , block  211  institutes the use of a lower compression rate media processing application before transferring control back to block  212 . Note, that block  211  negotiates the use of this lower compression rate media processing application with the destination host system and maintains the use of the original media processing application until the new compression media processing application is operational. After the new compression media processing application is operational, the original compression media processing application is abandoned. Returning to decision block  208 . If the network transmission quality is not acceptable, control is transferred to decision block  301  of  FIG. 3 . 
     Decision block  301  determines if the host system resource usage is high for the media processing application, if the answer is no, block  304  institutes the use of a higher compression media processing application after negotiation with the destination host system and the establishment of the parallel call before the original compression media processing application is abandoned. After execution of block  304 , control is transferred back to block  202  of  FIG. 2 . If the answer in decision block  301  is yes, decision block  302  determines if it is possible to reduce the non-compression operations. The reduction of these operations will always be performed if they have not been already reduced. If it is possible, block  303  reduces or eliminates one of the non-compression operations before transferring control back to block  202  of  FIG. 2 . The determination is not made at this time to use of a higher compression media processing application because sufficient resources may not have been made available by the execution of block  303 . If sufficient resources are available, a higher compression media processing application will be used on the next execution of decision block  301 . 
       FIG. 4  illustrates, in block diagram form, an embodiment of host system  101 . Overall control of host system  101  is provided by computer  402  executing the different application programs stored in memory  401 . Computer  402  also stores variables and constants into memory  401 . 
     Audio interface  404  provides an interface with audio input device  407  and audio output device  408  to computer  402 . Similarly, video interface  406  provides an interface with video input device  409  and video output device  411  to computer  402 . In an embodiment of the invention, computer  402  executes applications  412 – 418  to perform the operations illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . 
     Control application  416  provides the overall control of host system  101  when executed by computer  402 . Compression applications  417 – 418  are a number of compression applications each implementing a different coder/decoder algorithm to the media information. Since a different coder/decoder algorithm is utilized by each of the compression applications, different levels of compression are achieved on the media information being transmitted and received via network interface  403  to/from network  103 . 
     In addition, computer  402  executes auto-gain application  412  to provide automatic gain control over information being received from interfaces  404  and  406 . Similarly, filtering application  413  is utilized to provide filtering of information being received from interfaces  404  and  406 . Echo application  414  provides echo cancellation for audio information being received from audio input device  407 . 
     The operations of host system can be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination thereof. In the currently contemplated best mode, the operations of the host system of  FIG. 4  are implemented in software, as an executable program, that is executed by computer  402 . Computer  402  is a hardware device for executing software, particularly that stored in memory  401 . Computer  402  can be any custom made or commercially available processor. 
     The memory  401  can include any one or combination of volatile memory elements (e.g., random access memory (RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, etc.) and nonvolatile memory elements (e.g., ROM, hard drive, tape, CDROM, etc.). Moreover, the memory  401  may incorporate electronic, magnetic, optical, and/or other types of storage media. Note that the memory  401  can have a distributed architecture, where various components are situated remote from one another, but can be accessed by  402 . 
     When the operations of the host system are implemented in software, as is shown in  FIG. 4 , it should be noted that the software can be stored on any computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with any computer related system or method. In the context of this document, a computer-readable medium is an electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical device or means that can contain or store a computer program for use by or in connection with a computer related system or method. The host system can be embodied in any computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. In the context of this document, a “computer-readable medium” can be any means that can store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer-readable medium can be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a nonexhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection (electronic) having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette (magnetic), a random access memory (RAM) (electronic), a read-only memory (ROM) (electronic), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM, EEPROM, or Flash memory) (electronic), an optical fiber (optical), and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM) (optical). Note that the computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in a suitable manner if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory. 
     In an alternative embodiment, where the host system is implemented in hardware, the host system can be implemented with any or a combination of the following technologies, which are each well known in the art: a discrete logic circuit(s) having logic gates for implementing logic functions upon data signals, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) having appropriate combinational logic gates, a programmable gate array(s) (PGA), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), etc. 
     Of course, various changes and modifications to the illustrated embodiments described above will be apparent to those skilled in the art. These changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without diminishing its intended advantages. It is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the following claims except insofar as limited by the prior art.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7