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AssigneeAT&T Corp.
InventorsWarren R. Moe, Larry A. Russell, Teresa L. Russell, Catherine A. Schevon, Roger E. Stone
Estimating the term…
To facilitate the processing of an incoming telephone call associated with a respective telecommunications network service an initial address message identifying the incoming call is intercepted before the message is presented to an associated toll switch that will process the call. The intercepted message is then examined in order to identify the toll switch service logic that will process the call. The resulting identity is then appended to the message and that result is then passed to the toll switch so that the identified service logic may be invoked to process the call in accord with the requested service.
A telecommunications network formed from a plurality of switches interconnected to one another for forwarding incoming calls to respective destinations, said incoming calls being associated with respective calling services provided by said network, said network comprising
A telecommunications network formed from a plurality of switches interconnected to one another for forwarding incoming calls to respective destinations, said incoming calls being associated with respective calling services provided by said network, said network comprising
A telecommunications network formed from a plurality of switches interconnected to one another for forwarding incoming calls to respective destinations, said incoming calls being associated with respective calling services provided by said network, said network comprising
A network comprising a plurality of interconnected switches for establishing connections between individual ones of said switches to forward respective incoming calls to their intended destinations, said switches exchanging messages with one another via a communications path in order to establish said connections, said incoming calls being associated with respective services, said network comprising
A network comprising a plurality of interconnected switches for establishing connections between individual ones of said switches to forward respective incoming calls to their intended destinations, said switches exchanging messages with one another via a communications path in order to establish said connections, said incoming calls being associated with respective services, said network comprising
A method of processing an incoming call in a telecommunications system formed from a plurality of switches interconnected to one another, said incoming call being associated with a respective calling service provided by said system, said method comprising the steps of
A method of processing an incoming call in a telecommunications system formed from a plurality of switches interconnected to one another, said incoming call being associated with a respective calling service provided by said system, said method comprising the steps of
A method of processing an incoming call in a telecommunications system formed from a plurality of switches interconnected to one another, said incoming call being associated with a respective calling service provided by said system, said method comprising the steps of
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
Arrangements providing connection between exchanges: provisions for signalling
Arrangements providing connection between exchanges: provisions for intelligent networking
Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems: sLEE - service logic execution
Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems: monitoring of signaling messages, intelligent network
Term ended 27 Dec 2011 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
The invention relates to telephone networks, and more particularly relates to identifying and executing call processing logic that is associated with a particular service request.
In the prior art, several approaches have been used in an interexchange network to identify the service logic that needs to be executed to process a particular service request. One prior approach connects telephone user equipment subscribing to a particular service directly to a dedicated interexchange trunk group so that the interexchange network can identify the requested service and thus the service logic that needs to be executed to process an associated service call. However, such an approach is not economical, since most service subscribers do not provide a sufficient level of traffic (or demand) to use optimally the capacity of a dedicated trunk group.
Another prior approach attempts to optimize trunk usage by associating a trunk group, and thus the service logic, with a combination (set) of network services. Although such optimization is somewhat economical, it is not flexible. That is, in order to obtain a desired service a telephone user has to subscribe to a combination of such services, some of which the telephone user might find to be undesirable.
In the Drawing:
FIG. 1 shows a broad block diagram of a telecommunications network in which the principles of the invention may be practiced;
FIG. 2 is a broad block diagram of a CNI ring of FIG. 1;
In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, communications network 200 shown in FIG. 1 may be an interexchange network, such as, for example, the well-known AT&T public switched network that provides a plurality of services for its subscribers, such as the subscribers associated with station sets 105-1 through 105-N and 125-1 through 125-P. More specifically, Network 200 includes, inter alia, a plurality of interconnected Toll Switches (TS), three of which are shown in the FIG., namely, TS 205, 210 and 215. Such toll switches (e.g., 205, 210 and 215) may be any one of the well-known type of switching equipment, such as, for example, the No. 4ESS (Electronic Switching System) that is available from AT&T. In a typical case, a toll switch serves a number of local central (switching) offices (CO), three of which are shown in the FIG., namely COs 105, 120 and 125. As is well-known, a CO, e.g., CO 105 or CO 125, is arranged to connect a calling station (originator) that has dialed a particular telephone number to an associated toll switch, e.g., TS 105. A CO is also arranged to advance a telephone call received from an associated toll switch to an intended telephone station set.
Network 200 also includes so-called Common Channel Signaling (CCS) links 302-1 through 302-3 which implement the aforementioned SS7 signaling network (hereinafter CCS7 links). CCS7 links 302-1 through 302-3 respectively connect to toll switches 105, 110 and 120 via respective CNI ring packet switches 300-1 through 300-3. In an implementation of the invention, each of the CNI rings 300-1 through 300-3 may be of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,659 issued Nov. 19, 1985 to M. L. Blood et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,563 issued Jul. 28, 1987, to D. M. Rouse et al, which are hereby incorporated by reference. A CNI ring is the means by which a toll switch, e.g., TS 205, connects via respective ring nodes to a network 200 Signal Transfer Points (STP), one of which is shown in the FIG., namely STP 220. An STP, e.g., STP 220, may be, for example, the model 2STP that is available from AT&T. As is well-known, an STP operates to route messages between toll switches, between a toll switch and a CO, and between a toll switch and a network 200 data base, such as Network Control Point (NCP) 225.
It is seen from the FIG. that, in broad terms, a toll switch, e.g., TS 205, comprises, inter alia, a central control processor 205-1 and a Time Division Multiplexed (TDM) network 205-2. TDM network 205-2, operates under the control of processor 205-1, and connects to a CO, e.g., CO 105, via respective communications paths, e.g., path 106. TDM network 205-2 may also connect to an associated adjunct 240 via communications path 241. Adjunct 240, which may be, for example, the Conversant.RTM. (registered trademark of AT&T) voice information system available from AT&T, communicates with central control processor 205-1 via path 304, CNI ring 300-1 and path 301-1. In a conventional manner, adjunct 240 may also communicate with other toll switches, e.g., TS 210 and TS 215, via path 304, CNI ring 300-1, CCS7 link 302-1 and STP 220 for the purpose of completing a telephone call.