Communication Session Processing

Abstract

Measures for use in processing communication sessions in a telecommunications network are provided. Each communication session has a signalling path spanning a plurality of devices including one or more intermediate network devices and at least two endpoint devices, the signalling path comprising a plurality of signalling segments, each segment being between two devices in the plurality of devices. A first signalling message, comprising a first identifier associated with the communication session, is received via a first signalling segment for a communication session. At least part of the first identifier is transformed using a deterministic encryption algorithm to generate a second identifier. A second signalling message, comprising the second identifier, is transmitted via a second signalling segment for the communication session to associate the second identifier with the communication session.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of processing communication sessions in a telecommunications network, each communication session having a signalling path spanning a plurality of devices including one or more intermediate network devices and at least two endpoint devices, the signalling path comprising a plurality of signalling segments, each segment being between two devices in the plurality of devices, the method comprising:
 receiving, via a first signalling segment for a communication session, a first signalling message comprising a first identifier associated with the communication session;   transforming at least part of the first identifier using a deterministic encryption algorithm to generate a second identifier; and   transmitting, via a second signalling segment for the communication session, a second signalling message comprising the second identifier to associate the second identifier with the communication session.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first signalling message comprises a first communication session setup signalling message for the communication session and the second signalling message comprises a second communication session setup signalling message for the communication session. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a third signalling message comprising the first identifier;   transforming at least part of the first identifier from the third signalling message using the deterministic encryption algorithm to generate the second identifier associated with the communication session; and   transmitting a fourth signalling message comprising the second identifier generated by the transformation of at least part of the first identifier from the third signalling message.   
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the third signalling message comprises a first quality reporting signalling message for the communication session and is received via the first signalling segment, and the fourth signalling message comprises a second quality reporting signalling message and is transmitted via the second signalling segment. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first identifier is received at an intermediate network device, the method further comprising:
 determining that the received first identifier does not comprise at least a portion identifying the intermediate network device,   wherein the transforming of at least part of the first identifier is carried out in response to the determination.   
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a third signalling message comprising the second identifier;   transforming at least part of the second identifier from the third signalling message using an inverse of the deterministic encryption algorithm to generate the first identifier associated with the communication session; and   transmitting a fourth signalling message comprising the first identifier generated from the transformation of at least part of the second identifier from the third signalling message.   
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein the third signalling message comprises a first quality reporting signalling message for the communication session and is received via the second signalling segment, and the fourth signalling message comprises a second quality reporting signalling message and is transmitted via the first signalling segment. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein the second identifier is received at an intermediate network device, the method further comprising:
 determining that the received second identifier comprises at least a portion identifying the intermediate network device,   wherein the transforming of at least part of the second identifier is carried out in response to the determination.   
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 4 , wherein the first quality reporting signalling message is received during the communication session. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 4 , wherein the first quality reporting signalling message is received after termination of the communication session. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first signalling message comprises a first quality reporting signalling message for the communication session and the second signalling message comprises a second quality reporting signalling message for the communication session. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising detecting that the first signalling message is of a communication session quality reporting type, wherein the transformation is carried out in response to the detection. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first identifier includes a portion comprising a network address for at least one device in the signalling path of the communication session. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein the at least one device comprises an endpoint device, and the first signalling message is generated by the endpoint device. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein the at least one device comprises a softswitch, and the first signalling message is generated by the softswitch. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the communication session comprises a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) communication session, the first and second signalling messages comprise first and second SIP signalling messages, and the first and second identifiers are session identifiers contained in respective session identifier fields of the first and second SIP signalling messages. 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the first and second signalling messages comprise one or more of:
 SIP INVITE messages,   SIP SUBSCRIBE messages,   SIP REFER messages,   SIP NOTIFY messages, and   SIP PUBLISH messages.   
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the transformation of the first identifier is carried out by a session border controller located between the first and second signalling segments, the transformation is applied to the entire contents of the first identifier and the result of the transformation is added as a prefix to a network address of the session border controller to form the second identifier. 
     
     
         19 . A session border controller for processing communication sessions in a telecommunications network, each communication session having a signalling path spanning a plurality of devices including one or more session border controllers, a softswitch and at least two endpoint devices, the signalling path comprising a first signalling segment located between one of the endpoint devices and the session border controller, and a second signalling segment located between the session border controller and the softswitch, the session border controller comprising:
 a first interface configured to receive, via the first signalling segment for a communication session, a first signalling message comprising a first identifier associated with the communication session;   a processor configured to transform at least part of the first identifier using a deterministic encryption algorithm to generate a second identifier; and   a second interface configured to transmit, via the second signalling segment for the communication session, a second signalling message comprising the second identifier to associate the second identifier with the communication session.   
     
     
         20 . A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon, the computer readable instructions being executable by a computerized device to cause the computerized device to perform a method for processing communication sessions in a telecommunications network, each communication session having a signalling path spanning a plurality of devices including one or more intermediate network devices and at least two endpoint devices, the signalling path comprising a plurality of signalling segments, each segment being between two devices in the plurality of devices, the method comprising:
 receiving, via a first signalling segment for a communication session, a first signalling message comprising a first identifier associated with the communication session;   transforming at least part of the first identifier using a deterministic encryption algorithm to generate a second identifier; and   transmitting, via a second signalling segment for the communication session, a second signalling message comprising the second identifier to associate the second identifier with the communication session.