Patent Document

RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The presently disclosed subject matter claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/876,497, filed Dec. 20, 2006; the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The subject matter described herein relates to a media gateway. More particularly, the subject matter described herein relates to methods, systems, and computer program products for source-aware IP routing at a media gateway. 
     BACKGROUND 
     A media gateway (MG) is a network node straddling two network domains and mediating between two different networks while providing media level physical resources appropriate to a specific connected network. Typically, media gateways are situated between a public switched telephone network (PSTN) network and an Internet protocol (IP) network. When a connection requiring MG services is made, such as a voice over IP (VOIP) call, MGs may communicate with other MGs over an IP network. Often, MGs are connected together by multiple routes in an IP communications network. A conventional MG uses destination-based IP routing tables and destination-based routing algorithms to route IP packets to other MGs. For example, the routing table in a conventional MG includes an entry containing routing information associated with each destination. Thus, all packets addressed to a particular MG are routed via the route defined in the destination-based routing table entry corresponding to that destination. 
     Additionally, conventional media gateways typically route packets based on data flows, such as a transmission control protocol (TCP) or user datagram protocol (UDP) sessions. Packets belonging to the same data flow as those previously transmitted are transmitted to the destination via the same route as the previously transmitted packets in the data flow. Because the route used to transmit a packet may depend on the route used to route a previous packet, the destination node must initially transmit one or more packets before subsequent dataflow-based packet forwarding may be used. 
     One problem associated with data flow based packet forwarding used in conventional media gateways is that complex logic is required to process data flow packets. This additional complexity increases the cost and transmission delay for packets routed at a MG using conventional routing methods. 
     Another problem associated with destination-based IP routing used in conventional MGs is an inability to route packets over multiple routes to a single destination. Because destination-based IP routing tables associate a single destination with a single route, all packets addressed to a particular destination address are transmitted over only one of the available routes. 
     Yet another problem associated with destination-based IP routing in conventional MGs is an inability to load-balance IP traffic between MGs connected by multiple routes. For example, a conventional MG routing table contains one entry for each destination address, where each entry contains information associated with a route to the destination. For example, packets addressed to a first destination may be routed via a first outgoing interface and a first nexthop address. Therefore, if two MGs are connected by multiple outgoing interfaces and multiple nexthop addresses, the routing tables for each conventional MG specifies only one route, not multiple routes. As the number of IP packets transmitted between MGs increases, the importance of load-balancing IP traffic over multiple routes between MGs grows. 
     Accordingly, a need exists for improved methods and systems for load-balancing IP traffic between media gateways connected by multiple routes. 
     SUMMARY 
     The subject matter described herein includes methods, systems, and computer program products for source-aware IP routing at a media gateway. According to one aspect, a method for source-aware IP routing at a media gateway is provided. The method includes providing a packet including a layer  3  source address and a layer  3  destination address at a media gateway having a source-aware routing table. Using the destination address included in the packet, at least one entry corresponding to the destination address is located in the source-aware routing table, where the located entry includes or is indexed by at least a portion of a source IP address and at least a portion of a destination IP address and includes routing information including an interface identifier and a next hop identifier. From among the at least one located entry corresponding to the destination IP address in the packet, at least one entry corresponding to the source IP address included in the packet is located. Based on the routing information located in the routing table, the packet is routed to the destination. 
     The subject matter described herein for source-aware IP routing at a media gateway may be implemented using a computer program product comprising computer executable instructions embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium. Exemplary computer readable media suitable for implementing the subject matter described herein include chip memory devices, disk memory devices, programmable logic devices, and application specific integrated circuits. In addition, a computer program product that implements the subject matter described herein may be implemented using a single device or computing platform or may be distributed across multiple devices or computing platforms. 
     An object of the presently disclosed subject matter having been stated hereinabove, and which is achieved in whole or in part by the presently disclosed subject matter, other objects will become evident as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings as best described hereinbelow. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a network diagram of two media gateways capable of performing source-aware routing of IP packets that are connected by multiple routes according to an embodiment of the subject matter described herein; 
         FIG. 2  is a flow chart of exemplary steps for performing source-aware routing of IP packets between media gateways connected by multiple routes according to an embodiment of the subject matter described herein; and 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary internal architecture of a media gateway including a source-aware routing table according to an embodiment of the subject matter described herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is a network diagram illustrating an exemplary network  100  including media gateways  102  and  104  capable of performing source-aware IP routing of IP packets over multiple routes. Referring to  FIG. 1 , network  100  is an Internet protocol (IP) network and media gateway (MG)  102  is connected to MG  104  by multiple routes. 
     In  FIG. 1 , MG  102  includes two voice server modules (VSMs)  106  and  108  configured to process packets received by MG  102 . VSM  106  and  108  are each identified by a unique IP address. Upon processing a packet, VSM  106  and  108  may modify header information contained in the packet to include its IP address of the VSM  106  or  108  as the source IP address for the packet. For example, VSMs  106  and  108  may contain IP addresses 123.456.789.000 and 123.456.789.001, respectively. Packets processed by VSM  106  may include source address 123.456.789.000, and packets processed by VSM  108  may therefore include source address 123.456.789.001. By assigning source addresses based on the VSM processing the packet, greater routing precision may be achieved than if all packets processed by MG  102  included the same source address. 
     For packets transmitted by MG  102 , a lookup is performed in source-aware routing table  113 . A routing function  115  may perform the lookups described herein in source aware routing table  113 . In  FIG. 1 , MG  102  includes source-aware routing table  113  containing entries associating source and destination IP addresses with routing information used for routing packets from the source address to the destination address. Routing information contained in source-aware routing table  113  may include, for example, an outgoing interface, a nexthop address, and/or route cost information. The details of source-aware routing table  113  will be described in greater detail below. 
     Upon locating a matching entry in source-aware routing table  113 , a packet may be internally routed to one of outgoing interfaces  110  or  112 . For example, a packet processed by VSM  106  may be routed to interface  110  or  112  based on information contained in source-aware routing table  113  located at MG  102 . 
     Upon being routed to one of outgoing interfaces  110  or  112 , a packet may be routed to nexthop address  114  or  116 . In the example illustrated in  FIG. 1 , nexthop addresses  114  and  116  correspond to interfaces located at routers  118  and  120 , respectively. It is appreciated that routers  118  and  120  may include multiple interfaces. Moreover, while  FIG. 1  illustrates a single link connecting interface  110  to interface  114 , it is appreciated that interface  110  may also connect to interface  116  or any other number of interfaces. Similarly, interface  112  may also be cross-connected to multiple additional interfaces, such as interface  114  on router  118 . 
     Continuing the example described above, a packet received at either router  118  or  120  is then routed to MG  104  through IP network  122 . More specifically, packets are routed to interface  124  located at MG  104 . Because MG  104  may include multiple interfaces, packets intended for MG  104  include a destination address corresponding to a particular interface at MG  104 , such as interface  124 . Packets received by MG  104  therefore include a source address corresponding to VSM  106  or  108  and a destination address corresponding to interface  124 . 
     Typically, packets transmitted between MGs  102  and  104  constitute a two-way data flow, such as a voice over Internet protocol (VolP) call. In these situations, it is important to maintain similar transmission delays for each direction of the data flow so that the VolP call is “in sync”. For example, packets associated with a VolP call between a first client device connected to MG  102  (not shown) and a second client device connected to MG  104  (not shown), may be routed using routing tables located on MGs  102  and  104 . These routing tables, such as routing table  113 , may be configured so that packets belonging to the same session transmitted in one direction do not suffer significantly higher delays than packets transmitted in the opposite direction. This may be achieved by populating each routing table with identical entries with reversed source and destination addresses. Further, it is appreciated that routing tables coordinated in the manner described above may be located at network routing nodes in addition to the source and destination nodes. 
       FIG. 2  is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process for performing source-aware IP routing between media gateways connected by multiple routes. Referring to  FIG. 2 , in block  200 , a packet including a source address and a destination address is received at MG  102  having source-aware routing table  113 . As described above, the source address of a packet may be assigned by the voice server module (VSM) processing the packet. For example, a packet processed by VSM  106  may be identified by source address IPh1 and a packet processed by VSM  108  may be identified by source address IPh2. Additionally, a client device may be connected to MG  102  and initiate a VolP session to a terminating client device connected to MG  104 . Continuing this example, a packet received by MG  102  from the client device is processed by VSM  106 . Thus, the received packet includes source address IPh1 corresponding to VSM  106  and destination address IPr corresponding to interface  124  on MG  104 . 
     In block  202 , at least one entry corresponding to the destination address is located, where the entry contains routing information. The at least one entry may be located by performing a lookup in a routing table located on media gateway  102 . Table 1 shown below illustrates an exemplary source-aware routing table that may be located on media gateway  102 . 
                                           TABLE 1                   Exemplary Source-Aware Routing Table            Destination   Source       Outgoing   Nexthop       Address   Address   Route Cost   Interface   Address               IPr   IPh1   1   IPi1   IPn1       IPr   IPh1   2   IPi2   IPn2       IPr   IPh2   1   IPi2   IPn2       IPr   IPh2   2   IPi1   IPn1                    
In the table illustrated above, the first and second columns include destination and source address information respectively. Referring to Table 1, each of the four illustrated entries contains destination address information associated with IPr. Referring to  FIG. 1 , destination address IPr corresponds to interface  124  located at media gateway  104  and source addresses IPh1 and IPh2 correspond to voice server modules  106  and  108 , respectively. The third column contains cost information associated with each route connecting the source and destination addresses. The route cost information included in Table 1 is optionally included for illustrative purposes only. Information other than route cost information may be included in routing table  113 , such as preference values, and associated with each route entry.
 
     Returning to block  202 , at least one entry corresponding to destination address IPr is located in source-aware routing table  113 . For example, in the source-aware routing table 1 above, all four entries include destination address IPr corresponding to destination interface  124 . 
     Next, in block  204 , at least one entry corresponding to source address IPh1 included in the packet is located from among the at least one entry corresponding to the destination address located in block  202 . Referring again to Table 1, from among the four entries containing destination address IPr, the first two entries contain source address IPh1. The at least one entry located in block  204  may be located using a longest prefix matching (LPM) algorithm or other suitable method whereby one or more matching entries are located from among a set of at least one entry. 
     In block  206 , the packet is routed using routing information contained in the entry located in block  204 . For some packets, a single matching entry may be located in block  204  based on the lookup performed in blocks  202  and  204 . For other packets, two or more entries may be located in block  204  based on source and destination address information contained in the packet. For such packets, additional information may be included in source-aware routing table  113  and used to differentiate multiple routes between the same source and destination address. 
     Continuing the example above, with reference to exemplary source-aware routing table 1, two entries located in block  204  corresponding to source address IPh1 and destination address IPr must be differentiated in order to route the packet. Therefore, in order to determine the single route to be used to route the packet to the destination, a user-configurable value associated with each entry may be used to differentiate routes sharing a common source and destination. 
     In one embodiment, source-aware routing table  113  includes a user-configurable route cost value associated with each entry. In the event that two or more entries exist in the routing table containing the same destination and source address, the route cost may be used to determine the entry to be used to route the packet. For example, the packet may be routed based on the routing information associated with the least expensive route. 
     It is appreciated that within a plurality of entries containing identical source and destination addresses, unique route cost values are assigned. This is so that when route cost values are used to differentiate routes, no two entries in source-aware routing table  113  include identical source addresses, destination addresses, and route costs. In the example illustrated in Table 1, a lower route cost value indicates a preferred route. Therefore, the packet processed by voice server module  106  and intended for destination interface  124  may be routed by either outgoing interface  110  and  114  or by interfaces  112  and  116 , depending on the route cost. Referring to Table  1 , the packet including source IPh1 and destination IPr is routed via outgoing interface IPi1 (corresponding to interface  110 ) and nexthop IPn1 (corresponding to interface  114 ) because the entry for this route contains the lowest route cost value. In Table 1, the route cost for route  110 / 114  is 1 and the route cost associated with route  112 / 116  is 2. In the event that the operator of MG  102  wished to reduce the load on route  110 / 114 , the route cost for route  110 / 114  may be increased, such as to a value of 3, so as to make route  112 / 116  the preferred route for packets between IPh1 and IPr. 
     In another embodiment, the user-configurable value, such as the route cost described above, may be automatically assigned. For example, media gateway  102  may be configured to monitor IP traffic for various network conditions and automatically adjust one or more user-configurable values associated with one or more entries in the routing table. 
     In one embodiment, media gateway  102  may be configured to generate and send a test message including a source and destination IP address based on routing information located in the routing table. Upon receiving a test message response, media gateway may generate a packet log indicating the measured delay between the transmission of the test message and the reception of the test message response. Media gateway  102  may then be configured to automatically adjust the user-configurable value associated with the two or more entries based on the packet log and the delay. 
     For example, media gateway  102  may generate a test message including source address IPh1 and send it to media gateway  104 . Returning to Table 1, the test message above is routed via outgoing interface  110  to nexthop  114 . Consequently, media gateway  102  receives a test message response from MG  104  and a packet log is generated. In this example, the packet log indicates that a significant time delay occurred between the transmission of the test message on outgoing port  110  and the reception of the test message response. Therefore, media gateway  102  may automatically raise the route cost value associated with the congested route corresponding to interface  110 , and automatically lower the route cost value associated with the alternative route corresponding to interface  112 . Thus, when a second test message is generated including an identical source and destination address, it will be routed via router  120 . In this way, network traffic flow management may be achieved between media gateways connected by multiple routes. 
     In another embodiment, the routing table located at MG  104  to be a mirror image of the routing table located at MG  102 . The result is that packets transmitted from MG  102  to MG  104  traverse a network path designated in the routing table located on MG  102 , and moreover, that packets belonging to the same VolP session will traverse the same network path from MG  104  to MG  102 , as designated by the routing table located at MG  104 . Therefore, any transmission delay associated with a route is equally shared by packets in both directions. 
     It is appreciated that the structure of the source-aware routing table  113  illustrated in Table 1 is merely an example. Fields may be added, deleted, or replaced without departing from the scope of the subject matter described herein. In addition, fields in Table 1 may be distributed across multiple tables without departing from the scope of the subject matter described herein. 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary internal architecture of a media gateway including a source-aware routing table according to an embodiment of the subject matter described herein. Referring to  FIG. 3 , media gateway  102  includes a plurality of voice server modules  106  and  108  for performing voice processing functions. In the illustrated example, each voice server module  106  and  108  includes a CPU  300  and may implement real time transmission protocol (RTP), ATM adaptation layer  1 , and ATM adaptation layer  2  for sending and receiving voice packets over IP or ATM networks. Voice server modules  106  and  108  may also include circuitry for implementing one or more voice over packet protocols, such as RTP, AAL1, AAL2, or any other suitable voice over packet protocol. Further, each VSM may perform transcoding, echo cancellation, and other payload translation functions and include Ethernet interfaces  302  for communicating with other modules. CPU  300  controls the overall operation of each voice server module  106  and  108 . In order to switch packets from network interface cards  110 - 112  to the appropriate voice server module  106  or  108 , media gateway  102  includes a packet switching fabric  304 . Ethernet interfaces  306 - 308  connect each voice server module  106  and  108  to a packet switching fabric  304 . Packet switching fabric  304  may be any suitable type of switching fabric for switching packets between voice server modules  106  and  108  and Ethernet interfaces  306 - 308 . Examples of switching fabrics suitable for use with embodiments with the subject matter described herein include ATM switching fabrics and Ethernet switching fabrics. In the examples described below, it will be assumed that packet switching fabric  304  comprises an Ethernet switching fabric. 
     Packet switching fabric  304  interconnects voice servers  106  and  108  and broadband network interfaces  110 - 112 . Each network interface card  110 - 112  may implement network layer functions and packet forwarding functions, including Internet protocol (IP) forwarding functions. In the illustrated example, different packet network interface cards are provided to connect to external Ethernet, Packet Over SON ET (POS), and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks, multi-protocol label switching (MPLS), frame relay, or any other suitable packet interface. In the illustrated example, packet switching fabric  304  includes a plurality of ports, numbered 1-4. Four ports are shown for illustrative purposes only. It is understood that packet switching fabric  304  may include fewer or more than four ports, depending on the number of devices connected to packet switching fabric  304 . 
     Media gateway  102  may also include interfaces for sending and receiving media streams to and from a plurality of different types of networks. For example, the media gateway  102  may include time division multiplexed (TDM) network interface cards (NIC)  310 . TDM network interface cards  310  send and receive media streams to and from external TDM networks. TDM network interface cards  310  may implement any suitable physical layer protocol for sending and receiving messages over TDM links. For example, each TDM NIC  310  may terminate one or more TDM voice trunks. 
     Media gateway  102  also includes a time division multiplexing (TDM) matrix module  312  for switching TDM timeslots between TDM network interface cards  310  and VSMs  106  and  108 . TDM network interface cards  310  connect media gateway  102  to external TDM devices, such as TDM-enabled switching offices. 
     Control module  314  controls the overall operation of media gateway  102 , including communication between VSMs  106 - 108  and IP NICs  110 - 112  via packet switching fabric  304 . In the illustrated example, control module  314  may use information received from each voice server module  106 - 108  to perform a lookup for a matching entry in source-aware routing table  113 . 
     It will be understood that various details of the presently disclosed subject matter may be changed without departing from the scope of the presently disclosed subject matter. Furthermore, the foregoing description is for the purpose of illustration only, and not for the purpose of limitation.

Technology Category: 5