Patent ID: 7865612

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving, in a partitioned Session Border Controller (SBC), from a first virtual partition of the SBC, a request for routing information regarding a destination endpoint associated with a second virtual partition of the SBC, wherein the first and second virtual partitions are associated with at least one realm and wherein the first and second virtual partitions are partitions of resources of the SBC; and performing the following, when a service agreement exists between a first partition management entity associated with the first virtual partition and a second partition management entity associated with the second virtual partition: sending, to the first virtual partition, a realm signaling address (RSA) of the second virtual partition; establishing a first connection between a source endpoint associated with the first virtual partition and the RSA of the second virtual partition; generating a session detail record (SDR) uniquely associated with the first virtual partition such that usage of the SBC resources are separately trackable for the first virtual partition and the first partition management entity; establishing a second connection between an RSA of the first virtual partition and the destination endpoint associated with the second virtual partition; and generating a session detail record (SDR) uniquely associated with the second virtual partition such that usage of the SBC resources are separately trackable for the second virtual partition and the second partition management entity; wherein a SoIP session is defined by the first and second connections in tandem, wherein the RSA includes a logical Internet Protocol (IP) address within the SBC that is associated with a realm and used for communicating between the partitioned SBC and endpoints configured within the associated realm, and wherein the SDR includes a source ID, a destination ID, a session duration indicator, and at least one quality-of-service (QoS) indicator.