Abstract: A telecommunications system having a software dispatcher is provided for delivering messages between dispatcher clients, i.e., software subsystems that may be in the same process, a different process, or on a different machine. The dispatcher manages a pool of threads to balance the workload. The dispatcher can process both synchronous and asynchronous messages by dispatching the message to all registered subsystems in order of their registered priority.

Abstract: During voice-over-Internet-protocol calls, data are gathered about packet loss on the path over the IP network. An algorithm (in the preferred embodiment, the Sliding Window Exponential Average Algorithm) is used to evaluate the packet loss. The Sliding Window Exponential Average Algorithm allows for past performance to be considered along with current performance. If the resulting evaluation fails to meet predetermined criteria, the path over the IP network is blocked and calls are routed over an alternative.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method for representing a given range of numbers with a plurality of entries. It is determined whether one or more portions of the given range are representable as one or more entries that utilize wildcards. If there are portions that are representable as entries having wildcards, such portions of the given range are then represented as one or more entries that utilize wildcards. All numbers of any remaining portions of the given range that are not representable as one or more entries that utilize wildcards are represented as entries that do not utilize wildcards. The entries are optimized such that a minimum number of entries are used to represent the given range.

Abstract: A jitter buffer controller (110) allows the depth of the jitter buffer (113) to be adjusted dynamically according to the varying jitter of the current sequence. The jitter buffer controller (110) maintains a cache (109) of previous jitter values. This cache contains exponentially averaged values that represent the long-term behavior of specific destination's jitter characteristics, i.e., a jitter characteristic memory. These values are used to initialize the jitter buffer's depth. The jitter cache prevents the buffer's depth from being initialized with an arbitrary value that disregards the specific destination's jitter characteristics.

Abstract: During voice-over-Internet-protocol calls, data are gathered about packet loss on the path over the IP network. An algorithm (in the preferred embodiment, the Sliding Window Exponential Average Algorithm) is used to evaluate the packet loss. The Sliding Window Exponential Average Algorithm allows for past performance to be considered along with current performance. If the resulting evaluation fails to meet predetermined criteria, the path over the IP network is blocked and calls are routed over an alternative.

Abstract: A telecommunications system having a software dispatcher is provided for delivering messages between dispatcher clients, i.e., software subsystems that may be in the same process, a different process, or on a different machine. The dispatcher manages a pool of threads to balance the workload. The dispatcher can process both synchronous and asynchronous messages by dispatching the message to all registered subsystems in order of their registered priority.