Patent ID: 7827307

Claim:
A method for fast switchover and recovery of a media gateway, said method comprising: continuously monitoring a network interface of a first local router for a network interface failure, wherein said first local router is configured to receive media data over a network using a network protocol, and wherein said first local router is communicatively coupled to said media gateway over a primary data path, wherein the primary data path is associated with a redundant path; wherein the continuously monitoring comprises actively testing local access to the network through the network interface by sending polling packets to the network interface and waiting a predetermined time period for a response to the polling packets; responsive to an absence of a response to the polling packets within the time period detecting a network interface failure at said network interface indicating inoperability of local communication with the network through the network interface independently of data being transferred between the first local router and the media gateway; generating a network interface failure notification message, wherein the notification message directs the media gateway to use the associated redundant path to a second router for egress traffic; translating said network interface failure notification message from said network protocol into a media gateway protocol understood by said media gateway and different than said network protocol, in response to detecting said network interface failure; and transmitting said network interface failure notification message from said first local router to said media gateway using said gateway protocol over said primary data path, wherein responsive to said network interface failure notification message said media gateway switches over to the associated redundant path communicatively coupling said media gateway to the second router configured to receive said media data over said network using said network protocol, wherein said primary data path corresponds to a dynamic route advertised over a dynamic routing protocol wherein the dynamic route requires time for reconvergence, and wherein said redundant path corresponds to an unadvertised static route wherein the static route is always available for IP convergence and wherein using the static route eliminates the time required for dynamic router reconvergence.