Methods and systems for accessing peg count information generated by signaling gateway or signal transfer point

The method of claim I wherein sending the first peg count information to a UMM includes sending the first peg count information to the UMM via a communication bus that connects the CLM and the UMM.

A system for generating and accessing usage measurements associated with signaling message packets routed through a packet routing node in a communications network, the system comprising:

• (a) a communication link module (CLM) adapted to receive a signaling message, generate and store first peg count information based on information contained within the signaling message;
• and
• (b) a first usage measurements module (UMM) for polling the CLM, receiving the first peg count information from the CLM, and for communicating the peg count information to external devices over a high-speed communication link.

A peg count collection system comprising:

• (a) a signaling gateway including first internal processing modules for generating peg count information based on received or processed signaling messages and a second internal processing module for polling the first internal processing modules to obtain the peg count information and for forwarding the peg count information to an external device via a TCP/IP connection;
• and
• (b) a general purpose computing platform external to the signaling gateway for receiving the peg count information via the TCP/IP connection and for processing the peg count information.