Patent attributes
An apparatus for and a method of simulating the functionality of the gatekeeper in a LAN telephony system. The gatekeeper simulator of the present invention enables tester personnel to manually control the behavior of the gatekeeper and its environment. The gatekeeper simulation platform utilizes a commonly available computing platform such as a personal computer (PC) adapted so as to have a LAN connection interface such as a commonly available Network Interface Card (NIC), IP communication stack and an H.323 protocol stack. A gatekeeper simulation software application runs over the IP communication stack and H.323 protocol stack which together constitute a LAN telephony platform. The gatekeeper simulator is adapted to simulate any desired request supported by the H.323 protocol suite. In addition, it is adapted to simulate all possible responses to a request as well. Further, it is adapted to simulate the responses selectively and individually for each specific user in the network. In addition, the simulator comprises a pre-programmed address translation table (i.e. IP phone table) that can be configured and programmed by a user to contain the same information it would have contained as a result of IP phones having been registered.
