Switching system control arrangements

In an arrangement comprising a plurality of terminal end points, each having a unique terminal end point identifier, connected to a switching network by access lines, said access lines being capable of a plurality of concurrent communications, each communication being associated with a data channel for conveying control information packets to said switching network for controlling connections therethrough, the method comprising:

• creating a control process for each communication in said network;
• creating a data structure for each communication in said network, each data structure including the terminal end point identifier of the terminal end point of the associated communication, a call reference value, and the identity of the control process of the associated communication;
• transmitting, by a given one of said terminal end points, a control information packet relating to a given communication in the one of said data channels associated with said given communication, said control information packet including the terminal end point identifier of the given terminal end point and a call reference value;
• searching, in response to said control information packet, only those data structures relating to communications associated with the data channel conveying said control information packet to locate a data structure including the same terminal end point identifier and call reference value included by said control information packet.

In a communication system having a plurality of channels, a lesser plurality of said channels being capable of conveying data for a plurality of concurrent communications, each communication having a unique identity, an arrangement comprising:

• a control process associated with each communication in said arrangement;
• a data structure associated with each communication in said arrangement each data structure including the unique identity of the communication and call control process associated therewith;
• means for transmitting a message for a given communication in a given one of said lesser plurality of channels, said message comprising the unique identity of said given communication;
• and
• searching means responsive to said message for searching only those data structures associated with said given one of said lesser plurality of channels to identify a control process associated with said given communication.