Method and apparatus for providing notification of detected error conditions in a network

Abstract

Methods for managing a communication session in a communication network are disclosed. For example, a method includes detecting, by a first endpoint comprising at least one processor, an error condition associated with the communication session, sending, by the first endpoint, a notification of the error condition to a second endpoint that is using a transport layer session and receiving, by the first endpoint, a communication from the second endpoint, proposing a response to the error condition. Another method includes receiving, by a first endpoint comprising at least one processor, a notification of an error condition associated with the communication session, selecting, by the first endpoint, a response to the error condition, and sending, by the first endpoint, a communication to a second endpoint that is using a transport layer session, proposing a response to the error condition.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 detecting, by a processor of a first endpoint device, an error condition associated with a communication session, wherein the first endpoint and a plurality of additional endpoints comprising at least a second endpoint and a third endpoint are participating in the communication session;   detecting, by the processor, a threshold of a suppression timer associated with the error condition has expired; and   sending, by the processor, a notification of the error condition to the plurality of additional endpoints using a first transport layer session management message of a transport layer session, wherein the communication session includes the transport layer session, wherein a header of the first transport layer session management message includes a record type, wherein the record type indicates that a payload of the first transport layer session management message contains session management information, and wherein the notification includes a proposed response to the error condition.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the processor, a communication from the second endpoint via a second transport layer session management message of the transport layer session, the communication accepting the proposed response to the error condition or presenting a different proposed response to the error condition.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the error condition comprises an attack on the communication session. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the attack comprises an invalid re-anchor request. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the attack comprises a denial of service attack. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the proposed response comprises switching to a different set of session identifiers for the transport layer session. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the proposed response comprises re-negotiating a session key for the transport layer session. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the proposed response comprises re-anchoring the transport layer session. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the proposed response comprises transferring the transport layer session to a different endpoint. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the proposed response comprises dropping the transport layer session. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the proposed response comprises continuing the transport layer session without a modification. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the proposed response comprises renegotiating a cryptographic algorithm for the transport layer session. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the proposed response comprises changing a frequency for renegotiating a session key for the transport layer session. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the proposed response comprises re-authenticating the first endpoint. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first transport layer session management message is encrypted using a session key of the transport layer session. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the transport layer session comprises a transmission control protocol session that is identified by a requesting system session identifier and a serving system session identifier. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 sending, by the processor, a further communication via a third transport layer session management message of the transport layer session accepting the different proposed response.   
     
     
         18 . A tangible computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a first endpoint comprising at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
 detecting an error condition associated with a communication session, wherein the first endpoint and a plurality of additional endpoints comprising at least a second endpoint and a third endpoint are participating in the communication session;   detecting a threshold of a suppression timer associated with the error condition has expired; and   sending a notification of the error condition to the plurality of additional endpoints using a first transport layer session management message of a transport layer session, wherein the communication session includes the transport layer session, wherein a header of the first transport layer session management message includes a record type, wherein the record type indicates that a payload of the first transport layer session management message contains session management information, and wherein the notification includes a proposed response to the error condition.   
     
     
         19 . A first endpoint comprising:
 a processor; and   a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
 detecting an error condition associated with a communication session, wherein the first endpoint and a plurality of additional endpoints comprising at least a second endpoint and a third endpoint are participating in the communication session; 
 detecting a threshold of a suppression timer associated with the error condition has expired; and 
 sending a notification of the error condition to the plurality of additional endpoints using a first transport layer session management message of a transport layer session, wherein the communication session includes the transport layer session, wherein a header of the first transport layer session management message includes a record type, wherein the record type indicates that a payload of the first transport layer session management message contains session management information, and wherein the notification includes a proposed response to the error condition. 
   
     
     
         20 . The first endpoint of  claim 19 , the operations further comprising:
 receiving a communication from the second endpoint via a second transport layer session management message of the transport layer session, the communication accepting the proposed response to the error condition or presenting a different proposed response to the error condition.