US 5,636,261 A · Method and data structure for the control of switching centers in a telecommunications network

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and data structure for controlling switching centers (1, 14, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27) connected to each other by a telecommunications network. The switching centers are provided with semipermanent databases containing alterable network control information related to, inter alia, call charging and routing. The information stays constant unless separately altered by an external control. Terminals (3) such as PABX connections, conventional subscriber lines, telefax equipment etc., are connected by a telecommunications network to the switching centers, and at least one service database (5) is common to the network and contains at least a portion of the network control information. According to the invention, the switching centers are controlled to update the control information stored in the semipermanent databases with information retrieved from the service database (5). The update operation of the semipermanent databases is chained so that selected switching centers of desired telecommunications networks perform sequentially the updating of their control information with information retrieved from the service database (5), whereby normally no update request message for control information need be sent to the service database (5) separately for each processed call.

Claims24

Dependent claims

A method of controlling a plurality of switching centers connected to each other by a telecommunications network, the switching centers being operatively associated with databases containing alterable network control information, and at least one service database connected to the telecommunications network and containing at least a portion of the network control information,

said method comprising the steps of:
controlling said switching centers to update the control information stored in the databases of said switching centers with information retrieved from said service database, wherein said controlling step controls the switching centers to request update information from the service database;
and
chaining the update operation of said databases of said switching centers so that a plurality of the switching centers sequentially request update information for their associated databases from said service database.

1 more element

A method for updating control information in a plurality of switching centers operatively associated with a plurality of information databases, the switching centers being connected to at least one service database, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) transmitting a first request message from a first one of the plurality of switching centers to one of the at least one service database, the first request message requesting an update of information stored in the information database operatively associated with the first switching center;
(b) transmitting at least one response message from the service database to the first switching center in response to the first request message, the response message including update information to be stored in the information database operatively associated with the first switching center;
(c) automatically initiating, in response to receipt of the at least one response message by the first switching center, a next one of the plurality of switching centers to transmit a next request message to one of the at least one service database, the next request message requesting an update of information stored in the information database operatively associated with the next switching center;
and
(d) repeating said step (c) for subsequent switching centers, whereby the subsequent switching centers are sequentially and automatically initiated to transmit respective request messages in response to a respective previous switching center receiving at least one response message, each respective request message requesting an update of information stored in the information database operatively associated with the switching center transmitting the respective request message.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method and data structure for the control of switching centers in a telecommunications network

Life of this patent

Method and data structure for the control of switching centers in a telecommunications network

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims24