Port reduction for voice over internet protocol router

Abstract

An apparatus and method for increasing available ports on a voice router is provided. A first gateway and a second gateway are assigned a single port number for a data stream, the direction of packet flow is identified to determine a destination gateway. The destination gateway is one of the first and second gateways, depending on the direction of the packet flow. The packets are then forwarded to the destination gateway. The voice router can further consolidate RTCP streams from a plurality of gateways into a single port on the voice router.

1 . A method for embedding network type information within a packet header, the method comprising:
 identifying a first network type for a first gateway;   embedding a first identifier corresponding to the first network type within a packet header;   identifying a second network type for a second gateway;   embedding a second identifier corresponding to the second network type within the packet header; and   transmitting the packet on a connection between the first gateway and the second gateway.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the first identifier and the second identifier are embedded within a port number corresponding to the connection. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the first field is a two bit field and the second field is a two bit field. 
     
     
         4 . A voice router for interfacing a first network and a second network, the voice router comprising:
 a packet translation module configured to communicate with the first network on a first port number, and configured to communicate with the second network on the first port number, and configured to receive a packet on the first port number and to forward the packet from the first port number; and   a packet direction module coupled to the packet translation module configured to determine a direction in which to forward the packet.   
     
     
         5 . The voice router of  claim 4  wherein the packet direction module further comprises:
 an address comparator configured to parse a packet for a source address and to compare the source address with an address in a buffer.   
     
     
         6 . The voice router of  claim 4  wherein a plurality of gateways are configured to communicate with the packet translation module on a second port number. 
     
     
         7 . The voice router of  claim 6  wherein the packet translation module is further configured to drop packets received on the second port number. 
     
     
         8 . The voice router of  claim 6  wherein the second port number receives a RTCP stream. 
     
     
         9 . A method for increasing a quantity of available port numbers on a voice router, the method comprising:
 assigning a first data stream from a first gateway and a second gateway to a first port number;   identifying a direction for packets of the first data stream to determine a destination gateway, wherein the destination gateway is one of the first and second gateways; and   forwarding the packets to the destination gateway.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the identifying further comprises:
 parsing a packet of the first data stream for a source address;   accessing a buffer including a destination address; and   determining whether the source address matches the destination address.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9  further comprising:
 assigning a second data stream from a plurality of gateways to a second port number.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the second data stream comprises a RTCP stream. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising:
 generating a packet for the second data stream for at least one of the plurality of gateways.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  further comprising:
 dropping at least one packet corresponding to the second data stream.