Method and apparatus for controlling call acceptance in a telecommunications network
AssigneeBritish Telecommunications public limited company
InventorsAnthony Andrew Reeder, Michael Anthony Gell, Rolando Antonio Carrasco, Dominic Piers Greenwood
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for controlling call acceptance in a telecommunications network. The volume of traffic being handled at a node of the network is periodically measured. For each measurement, a corresponding one of a set of storage locations is identified and the value stored in the identified location is incremented. An index of variation of measurement distribution is determined from the stored values in the set. In the event that the determined index exceeds a threshold value, calls for that node are re-routed or rejected.
Claims25
A method of controlling call acceptance in a telecommunications network comprising periodically measuring the volume of traffic being handled at a node of the network;
- for each measurement, identifying a corresponding one of a set of storage locations and incrementing the value stored in the identified location;
- determining from the stored values in said set an index of variation of measurement distribution;
- and, in the event that the determined index exceeds a threshold value, intervening to re-route or reject calls for that node.
A method as claimed in 4, wherein a node receives a plurality of said indices and makes said routing decision based, at least in part, on said received plurality of indices.
Apparatus for controlling call acceptance in a telecommunications network, which apparatus comprises means to measure periodically the volume of traffic being handled at a node of the network;
- a set of storage locations;
- means to identify, for each measurement, a corresponding one of said set of storage locations and to increment the value stored in the identified location;
- means to determine from the stored values in said set an index of variation of measurement distribution;
- means to compare the determined index with a threshold value and to provide an output indicative of the comparison result;
- and means responsive to a comparison output indicative that the determined index exceeded the threshold value to re-route or reject calls for the node.
In a telecommunications network comprising a plurality of nodes, at least some of which are configured for controlling call acceptance, a method comprising:
- maintaining, for each controlled node, a respective set of storage locations, each storage location of the set of storage locations for a particular controlled node corresponding to a respective count indicative of a volume of traffic at that controlled node;
- periodically measuring the volume of traffic being handled at the controlled nodes;
- for each measurement at the controlled nodes, identifying a storage location of the respective set of storage locations that corresponds to the measured volume of traffic and incrementing the value stored in the identified storage location, the value stored in each storage location thereby being indicative of the number of times the volume of traffic is measured to be a particular count;
- determining from the stored values in said respective sets of storage locations an index of variation of measurements distribution for each controlled node;
- and
- in the event that the determined index for particular ones of said controlled nodes exceeds a threshold value, intervening to re-route or reject calls for those particular nodes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.