A package manager of a media gateway component is described, which is
configured to receive requests to encode or decode a message containing
package descriptors. The package manager determines the type of package
descriptor, and invokes the appropriate helper function which carries out
the encoding or decoding operation. The package manager includes a
package resolver portion that interfaces with other elements of the media
gateway component, and a package helper portion that stores the helper
functions. The package resolver portion includes a package list that
describes the correlation between package descriptors and the
corresponding helper functions.